Tina Turner has traveled an incredible journey throughout her career. The 81-year-old singer made it through the dark early years of her life and came out the other side stronger.
Happiness is something Tina knows quite a bit about. She's lived without it and with it, and she wants to help others get there. It's the inspiration behind her new book, Happiness Becomes You: A Guide To Changing Your Life for Good.
While Tina strives to help others with her book, she also opens up about some deeply personal subjects. One of those is her marriage to Erwin Bach. The two fell in love a decade after Tina ended her marriage to her first husband and abuser, Ike Turner. Though Tina and Erwin have been together since 1986, they only decided to tie the knot in 2013.
Tina credits Erwin with teaching her what a loving and respectful relationship should be like. She feels she's flourished in their time together and has found a new fulfillment in being able to keep her identity while being part of something bigger.
If you know anything about Tina Turner, you know she's a fighter. Tina fought through a troubled childhood and a violent marriage for her right to her career, her life, and her happiness. Having achieved all that, all the 81-year-old icon wants is to see others able to do the same.
The idea of finding your joy is at the heart of Tina's new book, Happiness Becomes You: A Guide To Changing Your Life for Good.
For Tina, a lot of happiness comes from finding a healthy relationship. Ten years after escaping her abusive marriage to Ike Turner and finalizing their divorce, she met Erwin Bach. He was 16 years younger than her, but there was an immediate attraction.
"Falling in love with my husband, Erwin, was another exercise in leaving my comfort zone, of being open to the unexpected gifts that life has to offer," she writes in the book.
"The day I first met Erwin, at an airport in Germany, I should have been too tired from my flight, too preoccupied with thoughts of my concert tour, and in too much of a hurry to get to my hotel to pay much attention to the young music executive who came from my record company to welcome me.
"But I did notice him, and I instantly felt an emotional connection."
"Even then, I could have ignored what I felt — I could have listened to the ghost voices in my head telling me that I didn’t look good that day, or that I shouldn't be thinking about romance because it never ends well," she continued.
"Instead, I listened to my heart. I left my comfort zone and made it a priority to get to know Erwin. That simple first meeting led to a long, beautiful relationship — and my one true marriage."
Tina says that Erwin has taught her how "to love without giving up who I am."
"We grant each other freedom and space to be individuals at the same time we are a couple," she wrote.
"Erwin, who is a force of nature in his own right, has never been the least bit intimidated by my career, my talents, or my fame.
"He shows me that true love doesn't require the dimming of my light so that he can shine. On the contrary, we are the light of each other's lives, and we want to shine as bright as we can, together."
Erwin showed how much Tina means to him in an immeasurable way when he donated one of his kidneys to her in 2017. She writes about how much the experience meant to her.
"I'm happy to say that, thanks to my beloved husband, Erwin, giving me one of his kidneys, the gift of life, I'm in good health and loving life every day," she said.
"I'm also thankful that I've not only survived, but thrived, so that I can pass on to you this book containing precious gifts that were given to me — the greatest gifts I can offer."
Although Tina is in her 80s, she hasn't considered slowing down. She lives life at a pace she enjoys and still finds new and exciting ways to create. She refuses to let her age get in the way of that.
"I really do believe that age is just a number, and I have never let age stand in my way," Tina wrote.
"Not at 42, when people said that I was too old to be a rock star. And not now, in my eighties, when the book I dreamed of writing for decades is finally in your hands.
"I've passed 80, but I have not 'arrived,' because I still challenge myself to grow, to step out of my comfort zone, to improve my life, and to be of service to others."
In many ways, the new release feels like a companion piece to Tina's last book, My Love Story. In particular, it echoes this beautifully worded sentiment she shared reflecting on the ups and downs of her life.
"I lived through a hellish marriage that almost destroyed me, but I went on," she wrote.
"I know that my medical adventure is far from over. But I'm still here — we're still here, closer than we ever imagined," she continued.
"I can look back and understand why my karma was the way it was. Good came out of bad. Joy came out of pain. And I have never been so completely happy as I am today."
