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Tina Turner has entertained audiences for generations with her hit songs and compelling life story of persevering through life’s toughest challenges. When Turner became a global superstar in the 1980s, she met Erwin Bach, her longtime partner and eventual husband. It was a happy ending to a story that had been filled with sad moments for years.

Tina Turner
Tina Turner performs at Shoreline Amphitheatre on May 23, 1997 in Mountain View, California | Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images

Tina Turner’s abusive marriage to Ike Turner

Tina Turner married her husband, fellow musician Ike Turner, in 1962 when she was a young singer in his band. The two began touring as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue and performed with the likes of The Rolling Stones and other famous groups.

All was not well behind the scenes, however. Ike was physically and verbally abusive to Tina and was unfaithful throughout their 14-year marriage.

Tina had to rebuild her career from the ground up after she left Ike. She rose like a phoenix from the ashes with her platinum-selling album Private Dancer in 1984, which contained hits such as “What’s Love Got to Do With It” and the title track.

Tina Turner and Erwin Bach
Tina Turner and Erwin Bach | Franziska Krug/Getty Images

Tina Turner found love again with Erwin Bach

In 1986, two years after the release of Private Dancer, Turner met music mogul Erwin Bach at the airport in Düsselldorf, Germany. He was sent by her European record label, EMI, to greet her at the airport. It was love at first sight: they struck up a relationship soon after and have been together ever since, finally tying the knot in 2013.

Turner revealed details about the early days of their relationship in her 2018 book My Love Story, according to The Sun. “I saw Erwin again at a couple of dinners organized by EMI,” she recalled. “On the second occasion, we were sitting next to each other. “I said to myself: I don’t care – I’m just going to ask him.”

“‘Erwin,’ I whispered, ‘When you come to America, I want you to make love to me,'” she continued. “He turned his head slowly and just looked at me as if he couldn’t believe his ears. I couldn’t believe what I’d said either!”

Tina Turner and Erwin Bach
Singer Tina Turner and her husband Erwin Bach attend the Giorgio Armani Prive Haute Couture Fall Winter 2018/2019 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on July 3, 2018 in Paris, France | Bertrand Rindoff Petroff/Getty Images
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Erwin Bach donated a kidney to Tina Turner

Turner’s health took a turn for the worse after her and Bach’s wedding in 2013. She developed intestinal cancer and was on the verge of assisted suicide. Bach, however, came to her rescue and donated one of his kidneys to her.

“I think that’s when the idea of my death became a reality for Erwin. He was very emotional about not wanting to lose me, not wanting me to leave,” the “Proud Mary” singer remembered. “He said he didn’t want another woman, or another life; we were happy and he’d do anything to keep us together.”

Erwin Bach’s net worth

Bach is a longtime music producer as well as the director and chairman for EMI in both Germany and Switzerland. The couple has lived outside of Zürich for decades now, and Turner became a Swiss citizen upon her marriage to Bach.

Bach’s decades of work as a record executive are reflected in his lifestyle. According to MuchFeed, he’s worth $50 million today and owns several properties around the globe. Though in the case of his marriage to Turner, what’s money got to do with it?

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