Tina Turner Turns 80, Posts Empowering Message on Social Media: ‘How did I think I would be at 80?’

Getty Images | John Lamparski

Iconic singer Tina Turner has inspired generations with both her music and her resilience in a six-decades-long career. Turner celebrated her 80th birthday on Nov. 26, 2019, and took pause to reflect on both the trials she has traversed and the inner strength she has cultivated.

The star took to social media to wish herself a happy 80th birthday. “Yes, I’m 80,” Turner began. “How did I think I would be at 80? Not like this.

“How is this? Well, I look great, I feel good, I’ve gone through some very serious sicknesses that I’m overcoming. So it’s like having a second chance at life.”

Daniel J. Watts, Tina Turner, and Adrienne Warren at the "Tina: The Tina Turner Musical" opening night at Lunt-Fontanne Theater in New York City on Nov. 7, 2019 ©Getty Images | John Lamparski

Turner finished with a positive affirmation: “I’m happy to be an 80-year-old woman.”

A video circulated shortly thereafter, filled with messages of love and congratulation from an array of famous faces. Ronnie Wood, Ringo Starr, Pete Townshend, Nile Rodgers, and Deborah Cox were among the well-wishers.

Today, Turner resides at the grandly named Chateau Algonquin in Switzerland with her German husband (they married in 2013), Erwin Bach. She is thoroughly enjoying her tenth year of retirement.

“I was just tired of singing and making everybody happy,” Turner told The New York Times. “That’s all I’d ever done in my life.”

Turner’s iconic musical legacy lives on despite her retirement, however; Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, based on the star’s life and studded with her numerous hits, came to Broadway. The $16.5 million production opened at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in October 2019 with singer Adrienne Warren playing the title role.

Turner wrapped in furs as she arrives at Heathrow airport in London, England, on Feb. 10, 1978 ©Getty Images | Frank Tewkesbury

While Turner coached Warren personally, she admitted that revisiting certain aspects of her personal history was difficult. “I think I’m ashamed. I feel I told enough,” Turner said, referring to her own experience of domestic violence.

“People think my life has been tough, but I think it’s been a wonderful journey,” the singer explained to Marie Claire South Africa in 2018. “The older you get, the more you realize it’s not what happened, it’s how you deal with it.”

©Getty Images | Mark Mainz

Turner endured a 16-years-long abusive relationship with her ex-husband Ike Turner before summoning the courage to walk away, penniless but emancipated.

She suffered a stroke just three weeks after marrying Bach in 2013. But the struggle didn’t end there; Turner also had intestinal cancer and kidney disease in the years running up to her 80th birthday.

Turner had a successful kidney transplant, however, when Bach donated one of his kidneys to his wife. The operation saved the singer’s life.

Turner with her husband, Erwin Bach, at the Giorgio Armani 40th Anniversary Silos Opening and Cocktail Reception in Milan, Italy, on April 30, 2015 ©Getty Images | Jacopo Raule

Through numerous personal tragedies, an extraordinary career, and finding her soul mate later in life, Turner has continued to inspire generations of fans around the world.

“I don’t necessarily want to be a ’strong' person,” Turner reflected, speaking to The New York Times. “I had a terrible life. I just kept going. You just keep going, and you hope that something will come.”