Tina Turner was still battling kidney issues just two months before her death.
The “Best” singer said in March that, despite receiving a kidney transplant from her second husband, Erwin Bach, her body went to battle to attempt rejecting the organ.
“The months after the transplantation were marked by a never-ending up and down,” she detailed to the European Health Kidney Alliance.
“From time to time my body tried to reject the donor kidney as it frequently happens after a transplantation.”
Turner, who died Wednesday at age 83, explained that she would have to be hospitalized frequently and was left feeling “scared.”
Tina Turner revealed she was left “scared” because of unresolved kidney issues just two months before her death.
“I am on multiple prescriptions and take great care to follow my doctors’ orders meticulously,” she said.Getty Images“I kept feeling nauseous and dizzy, forgot things and was scared a lot. These problems are still not quite resolved,” she shared at the time.
“I am on multiple prescriptions and take great care to follow my doctors’ orders meticulously. For I know that I can trust them and their therapies.”
The Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll had documented her health issues publicly since the 1960s when she was first diagnosed with high blood pressure, but she took a dramatic turn in 2013 when she suffered a stroke just three weeks after her wedding to Bach.
Turner’s widower, Erwin Bach, donated a kidney to her.Getty ImagesTurner recovered but immediately turned away from homeopathic medicine in favor of medical doctors after realizing she entered a “life or death” situation.
Here's what to know about legendary singer Tina Turner
The “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll” died at 83 on Wednesday after a prolific career that spanned decades.
Tina — who was inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 2021 — sold more than 100 million records worldwide throughout her career, with songs including the anthemic hit “The Best” and her solo comeback single “What’s Love Got to Do With It.”
She scored her first and only No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the song, which kicked off her 1980s career resurgence.
Tina was 44 at the time, making her the oldest solo female artist to top the Hot 100 chart.
The singer and actress had 12 total Grammy Awards, including eight competitive awards, three Grammy Hall of Fame awards and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
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“I had not known that uncontrolled hypertension would worsen my renal disease and that I would kill my kidneys by giving up on controlling my blood pressure,” she said.
“I never would have replaced my medication by the homeopathic alternatives if I had had an idea how much was at stake for me. Thanks to my naïvety I had ended up at the point where it was about life or death.”
She died Wednesday at age 83.Getty Images The “What’s Love Got to Do With It” performer died of natural causes in her home in Switzerland.
“With her music and her boundless passion for life, she enchanted millions of fans around the world and inspired the stars of tomorrow,” her publicist Bernard Doherty announced in a statement.
“Today we say goodbye to a dear friend who leaves us all her greatest work: her music. All our heartfelt compassion goes out to her family. Tina, we will miss you dearly.”
