Angela Bassett offers tribute to Tina Turner
Actor Angela Bassett who played Tina Turner in the 1993 film What’s Love Got to do With It has paid tribute to the late star in a touching statement.
Turner’s passing at the age of 83 was announced yesterday evening (May 24th), and Bassett quickly paid tribute. “How do we say farewell to a woman who owned her pain and trauma and used it as a means to help change the world?” Bassett asked.
Continuing: “Through her courage in telling her story, her commitment to stay the course in her life, no matter the sacrifice, and her determination to carve out a space in rock and roll for herself and for others who look like her, Tina Turner showed others who lived in fear what a beautiful future filled with love, compassion, and freedom should look like.”
Reflecting on their friendship following her Oscar-nominated role in the film that documented much of the domestic abuse that Turner faced during her marriage to Ike Turner and her defiance to overcome it, Bassett said: “Her final words to me — for me — were ‘You never mimicked me. Instead, you reached deep into your soul, found your inner Tina, and showed her to the world.”
She concluded: “I shall hold these words close to my heart for the rest of my days. I am honored to have known Tina Turner. I am humbled to have helped show her to the world. So on today, while we mourn the loss of this iconic voice and presence, she gave us more than we could have ever asked. She gave us her whole self. And Tina Turner is a gift that will always be ‘simply the best.’ Angels, sing thee to thy rest…Queen.”
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