Just when it looks that Mrs.Bach settled quietly in her place of choice, far away from limelight and ready to enjoy her deserved retirement, unexpected tragedy struck from another side of the ocean. I mean, really, how much more tribulations can life throw at this woman? When back in 1986. her autobiography "I, Tina" shocked the world and finally revealed the truth behind carefully choreographed stage act, it presented the portrait of bruised survivor but even though it was a best-seller, it wasn't until 1993. movie adaptation "What's Love Got to Do with It" that her life story became universally known (apparently its easier to watch movies than to spend time reading) - some of my acquaintances even expressed doubt that facts are so brutal and ugly, but what do they know, opinionated in their cinema chairs and far removed from the struggle of black woman in man's world. In hindsight, it wasn't just about Ike Turner but about the way industry treated women, sexism, misogyny and ageism that kept this lady out in the cold until she eventually clawed her way back to the top.
Like the rest of the world, I celebrated her overnight success and was thrilled with the whole unprecedented spectacle of 1960s veteran experiencing complete rejuvenation and renaissance, not as some nostalgic act from another era but relevant and powerful hit maker in her own right. While there is some truth in often pointed statements that her old music might have been more exciting than later chart busters, Turner never compromised her artistic integrity and gave her 100% even if material wasn't always as exciting as her live performances. To this day I still enjoy watching her concert video clips and the way she whips audiences into frenzy, which is something she mastered decades ago - its just that back in the day her audiences were confined to small r&b clubs and it took lifetime to get out of there. Apparently there is some part of Afro-American audience that resents her international success and claim she left her roots behind, which sound like pure nitpicking to me - after all, Turner worked hard to get the recognition and once she established herself not as a black artist but as artist period the whole world was hers - moving to Europe where she was beloved, accepted and respected was simply natural step.
As it happened, her old family was left behind. Four sons with ex-husband are all grown up men now, financially cared for by hard working mother although none of them apparently made anything for themselves - the fact that press now easily ignores, pointing that she left them behind. Even worse, she was at fashion show when the news about eldest son' s suicide came. Obviously she wouldn't be there had she only had inkling what is going to happen - they had loving relationship and the guy was even there in Switzerland on her wedding, proudly displaying pictures on his Facebook profile. I can't possibly imagine what is going on in the mind of someone who is so depressed to even contemplate such action, but the guy always seemed as perfectly nice person, in fact much nicer than the rest of the bunch resentful of Turner's new life. This casts dark cloud over recent media excitement about new stage musical about her life (something she wasn't thrilled about but agreed upon as a convenient way to satisfy public clamouring for her live appearances, without actually going trough it herself) and news about upcoming book and documentary. It seems everybody is entitled on their opinions and comments in the media are mostly gleeful, but so far the lady keeps out of the spotlight and deals with grief in private as its natural - personally I think its utterly tragic anytime when parent has to bury the child - but my guess is that media won't stop hunting her because people are by nature curious and want to know about everybody's personal business. I was deeply saddened with this news and just hope that she will find peace of mind and strength in such circumstances.
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