St. Louis community remembers Tina Turner

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - Tina Turner, 83, died Wednesday after a long illness while in her home in Switzerland, her manager said.

Turner, born Anna Mae Bullock, was born in Tennessee. She moved around both Tennessee and Missouri when she was young to live with various relatives. Turner graduated from Sumner High School in the Saint Louis Public School system in 1958.

“Everybody loved her. I don’t care what your race is. Everybody loved Tina Turner,” says St. Louis resident and fan, Jackie Allen.

Allen joined a crowd of dedicated fans in the Delmar Loop on Wednesday to pay tribute to the Queen of Rock and Roll. Many of them bringing flowers and lighting candles in the music icon’s memory and placing them on her St. Louis Walk of Fame star.

“We just wanted to honor her, says fans, Jeanne Braddock and Mollie McGeehon. She belongs to St. Louis and we feel like she’s a part of St. Louis. We were like we gotta get down to U City and put some flowers on her star.”

Steps away from her star is Vintage Vinyl. Moments after her passing, the record store changed it’s sign to “Rest in Peace Tina Turner.”

“As a St. Louis musician to stake that claim that since 1959 she has been doing it right here in St. Louis. The legacy lives on and we all love to claim Tina,” says Mat Wilson of Vintage Vinyl.

The Sumner High School graduate moved to St. Louis when she was 16. Turner was a student there when she became a part of Ike Turner’s band that would later become the Ike and Tina Turner Review. Turner would eventually move on to have a legendary solo career fans tell News 4 made her a superstar.

“Tina Turner was the breakout star. One of St. Louis’ queens,” Wilson says.

“She put a sound on music that only she could do. You can tell the difference in her music and someone else’s,” says long-time fan, Steve Snipes.

“She is a true hero and a legend,” Allen says.

SLPS released a statement in remembrance of Turner, reading:

All of us at Saint Louis Public Schools are remembering the legendary musician and Sumner High School alumna, Tina Turner. She was known as Ann Bullock when she graduated from Sumner back in 1958. (Her full name was Anna Mae)

The heights she reached as a musician and songwriter go beyond simple fame. She is a legend and an icon. It brings pride to all of us at SLPS who get to claim her as “one of ours.” While most of us never had the opportunity to meet her, we all feel as if we know her a little bit. Her music has been a soundtrack for our lives.

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones released a statement on the passing of Turner that read in part, “Tina was musical royalty, a trailblazer, and a force to be reckoned with - no matter the odds or obstacles in her way.”

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