Anna Mae Bullock -- better known as the singer
Tina Turner -- has come a long way in nearly 74 years of life. She has moved from an obscure background in Nutbush, Tennessee to become a highly recognizable R&B icon. During her long career in show business, Turner discovered she preferred living in Europe to residing in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. Eventually, she pitched her tent in Switzerland, which she has called home for around two decades.
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Erwin Bach and Tina Turner
(Image: today.com) |
Earlier this year, Turner, who speaks German fluently, married her long-term boyfriend, a German music producer named Erwin Bach. (No one knows if Mr. Bach became Mr. Tina Turner.)
According to an article in today's Washington Post, Ms. Turner took the oath of Swiss nationality in April of this year. Adding spice to the story, on October 24th, Tina went to the US Embassy in Bern to voluntarily "relinquish" her American citizenship. Under Yankee law, relinquishing is not quite the same as renouncing citizenship. The
Post article noted
there are certain tax advantages relinquishment provides the relinquishers, which may offer some insight into motivation for the singer's decision.
Tina Turner's high octane songs, sexual energy, and stage acts have been her meal ticket. However, my favorite tune --
What's Love Got to Do With It -- was produced during her "comeback" years. The song has a wistful sweetness and vulnerability that felt more in touch with what I imagined her off-stage personality resembled.
The YouTube of the color video version of it, circa 1984, is linked here. (Ignore the ghastly, stylized b&w version.) For connoisseurs of a vanished New York City, the street scenes are fun to see. Meanwhile, Tina's strut is a welcome reminder that when she entered a room, she was the coolest person there. Her citizenship may have changed; her coolness remains constant.
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