Tina Turner is no longer an American citizen.
After living for two decades in Switzerland, Turner, who is fluent in German, signed a voluntary relinquishment of her U.S. citizenship on October 24, according to the Washington Post.
Turner may have been born to poor sharecroppers in Tennessee, but St. Louis claims her as our own. She moved here at sixteen and, a year later, met Ike Turner at Club Manhattan over in East St. Louis, Illinois.
Still a student at Sumner High School, she quickly joined, then became the highlight, with the rock & roll pioneer's band, turning the Kings of Rhythm into the Ike and Tina Turner Revue.
See also: East St. Louis Nightclub Fire Destroys Ike & Tina Turner Landmark
We can understand, though, why she'd want to leave the country where she met Ike. After an abusive, fourteen-year marriage, they divorced in 1976. Turner married her long-time partner, German record executive Erwin Back, in July at the age of 73.
Turner took her oath of Swiss nationality in April with the intent of relinquishing her American citizenship.
Turner won three Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year for What's Love Got to Do with It, in 1984. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.
Follow Lindsay Toler on Twitter at @StLouisLindsay. E-mail the author at [email protected].
