Like fans all across the world, friends of the legendary Tina Turner are remembering the singer who died on Tuesday after battling a "long illness." Among them, fellow artist Cher and multi-hyphenate star Oprah Winfrey recall spending time with Turner in the later years of her life.
"She fought this sickness for such a long time and she was so strong," Cher said when calling into MSNBC's The Beat with Ari Melber. "But towards the end, she told me once, she said, 'I'm really ready. I just don't want to put up with this anymore.'"
Winfrey reflected on a similar conversation during Thursday's broadcast of CBS Mornings. "I was certainly aware that she was ill," Winfrey said. "I had seen her in 2019 and gone to visit her in the hospital and she had said to me then that she was actually ready to go, meaning, ready to leave the planet. I expected then that was going to be the last time that I saw her."
Still, both women had joyful memories to share about Tina Turner and her positivity throughout her health struggles.