Tina Turner Married 2nd Husband after 27 Years of Dating, He Later Saved Her Life Literally

Tina Turner has had a memorable career, but her personal life was once full of suffering due to an abusive marriage. Now, she is in a happy marriage with her second husband, whom she's been with for over three decades.

Born Anna Mae Bullock in 1939, Tina crossed paths with Ike Turner in a local nightclub called Club Manhattan. They went on to perform together and release hit after hit.

By 1962, they got married in Tijuana, Mexico. While Tina had a child from a relationship with Ike's former bandmate Raymond Hill, the Turners would have three kids of their own.

HER TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE

In total, the pair had numerous Top 10 hits while Ike was abusing Tina behind doors. The singer revealed that the marriage counts as one of her life’s worst experiences.

Despite achieving fame, Tina tried to take her own life due to the regular physical and emotional abuse she experienced with Ike. For years, she sometimes had to force herself to sing and dance after being battered.

BOUNCING BACK FOR HERSELF

After recovering from her attempt to take her own life, she slowly started becoming aware of her strength. After a fight, she managed to flee from Ike and stay at an inn with almost no money and bloodied clothes.

The singer eventually divorced her husband, and she was left with nothing aside from her performance name and two cars. Despite finding herself in debt, she eventually staged a comeback with her album "Private Dancer."

MEETING ERWIN BACH

After several hits like the Grammy-winning "What's Love Got to Do With It," she met Erwin Bach. In 2018, Tina opened up about taking a second shot at love in her memoir “My Love Story.”

The singer recalled meeting the German record executive in 1985. He was 16 years younger, but the couple began dating shortly after.

TYING THE KNOT

By the early ‘90s, the globally acclaimed Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll was sharing a home with Bach in Germany and would later move with him to Switzerland, where they currently reside.

Tina reportedly turned down Bach's first marriage proposal, and it wasn’t until 2013, after 27 years of being a couple, that the lovebirds finally tied the knot.

THEIR PRIVATE CEREMONY

Tina and Bach got married in a civil ceremony in July 2013 near Lake Zurich in Switzerland. The couple also reportedly celebrated their union with an intimate Buddhist ceremony in honor of Tina’s faith.

Their wedding was a star-studded event, and during their wedding reception, they danced the night away with celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Gayle King, David Bowie, and Giorgio Armani. It was Bach's first marriage and Tina's second.

TINA'S HEALTH STRUGGLES

Unfortunately, the singer suffered a stroke less than one month after the wedding. So severe was her condition that she couldn’t stand on her own. About the experience, she wrote in her book:

“Terrified, I dragged myself over to a sofa, all the while thinking that I couldn’t imagine Tina Turner paralyzed.”

STANDING TOGETHER

After recovering from the stroke, Tina got another scary diagnosis in 2016: she was suffering from intestinal cancer. Through it all, Erwin remained her pillar of support.

“Erwin always radiated confidence, optimism, and joie de vivre,” she penned. “With his help, I tried to keep calm.”

A LOVING SACRIFICE

Not even when Tina’s decision to go with homeopathic remedies made matters worse did Bach turn against or criticize her. The 12-time Grammy winner’s decision led to her next life-threatening medical battle: kidney failure.

Ultimately, her husband proved just how much he loved her by stepping in to save her life. Bach willingly donated a kidney to her.

THEIR TRUE LOVE

Writing of Erwin’s decision to donate a kidney for her, Tina mused about some of the challenges their relationship has faced so far:

“There were still people who wanted to believe that Erwin married me for my money and fame. What else would a younger man want with an older woman?”

IGNORING THE HATERS

Despite what everybody else said, Tina and her husband ignored the rumors through the years. They remain strong, enjoying their time together in Switzerland, where they live.

Unfortunately, it hasn't always been good for the "Proud Mary" singer as she experienced tragedy again in July 2018 when her son, Craig, committed suicide.

“I have no idea what pulled him down, except something that followed him with loneliness,” Tina once said. Craig's body was cremated, and Tina spread his ashes off the coast of California on a day she described as her "saddest moment as a mother."

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org.