Cher.Photo: Michael Kovac/WireImage
Cheris celebrating her final moments withTina Turner.
On Wednesday, the “Believe” singer, 77, revealed she was fortunate enough to spend some quality time with the iconic singer before shedied aged 83 on Wednesdayafter a “long illness," her publicist Bernard Doherty confirmed to PEOPLE.
Speaking toMSNBCfollowing Turner’s death, Cher spoke of how she got to catch up with her old friend at her home in Zürich, Switzerland, and said the late singer “was really happy,” despite being “really sick.”
“I started going to visit her because I thought, ‘I need to put this time into our friendship, so she knows we haven’t forgotten her,’ " Cher added.
“So we all took turns going and spending time with her and it made her happy.”
“[Turner] said, ‘I can’t spend too much time,’ " Cher continued. “Then five hours later we were laughing like crazy…She was having a good time in spite of the fact that she was really sick and not wanting people to know about it.”
Tina Turner.
While the cause of Turner’s death has yet to be released, she had a long history of health struggles dating back to 1978 when she was diagnosed with hypertension.
She then suffered a stroke in 2013just three weeks after she wedher husband,Erwin Bach, 67.
After experiencing unpleasant side effects from her initial treatment, Turner turned to homeopathic remedies, which only worsened her condition and led her to have total kidney failure.
Bach then donated his own kidney to his wife in April 2017. While the procedure was largely a success, Turner stillexperienced mild symptomswhich included nausea and dizziness, according to herinterview with the European Kidney Health Alliance.
Speaking on Wednesday, Cher referred to the fact that Turner “had her dialysis machine in her house” during their meet-up, but added she remained “so strong” and “fought this sickness for such a long time.”
“But I know, towards the end, she told me once, she said, ‘I’m really ready. I just don’t want to put up with this anymore,'” the singer said of Turner.
Famously referred to as the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll”, Turner performed several times with Cher in the 1970s. The powerhouse duo met while Turner was still married to her abusive first husbandIke, and Cher recalled Turner being “so free” when she eventually left the music producer in 1978, after which time they “really got so close” as friends.
“I was so thrilled. You could just see her being able to take a big breath. Her new life was like a big, fresh breath,” Cher said.
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“She was such a force. Honestly, I think she just hit everything head-on,” she added in tribute to Turner. “She wasn’t about to stop. She might not have won every battle, but she fought every war. She was there fighting for all the things she believed in.”
“She gave me lots of strength sometimes, and I gave her lots of strength too.”
source: people.com
