Music icon as role model Why Tina Turner's death is so moving

The world has been mourning Tina Turner since Wednesday. For some fans, the news of the music icon's passing even brought tears to their eyes - even though they never met their idol. Why is that?

Even people who have never met them in person can be overcome with grief after the death of some celebrities. Rock and pop stars in particular sometimes have a lot of memories associated with their music.

For those who died far too young, such as Freddie Mercury, Kurt Cobain, Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston, David Bowie, Prince or George Michael, the shock is different than when people over 80 die. But the death of Tina Turner at 83 also hits millions of people in the heart. The rock icon died of natural causes in her villa in Küsnacht. Why did her death cause such great consternation worldwide?

"Now one of the last icons of the 80s and 90s is also dead", some people spontaneously think - the end of an era. But it's worth remembering that many stars from back then are still alive, including Madonna, Kate Bush, Cher, Mariah Carey, Kylie Minogue, Boy George, Stevie Wonder and Elton John (who is still on a farewell tour until July, for example).

"Memories come flooding back for older people"

Tina Turner, however, was a woman who was particularly close to German-speaking Europe. With her husband Erwin Bach, for example, she had a positive relationship with Germany. The American-born singer from Tennessee also lived on Lake Zurich for decades and had even become a Swiss citizen.

"When someone like Tina Turner dies, who you feel you've known for ages, who was a superstar, who meant something to you with her music, it brings back memories for older people, from their youth, from the analog era, when the world was still completely different," says media psychologist Sebastian Buggert.

It's almost as if someone you've known for a long time is dying, someone you haven't seen for a while - and someone you might have wanted to call again. You didn't know that things were so bad for them, or you repressed it.

"For many people, a death and the associated farewell are a reason to simply be sad, to look inside themselves and see what has changed, what is no longer there - unlike before," says Buggert, who is a member of the management team at the Rheingold Institute in Cologne, where he heads the Media Research department. "Then a melancholy arises, which can also have something to do with the current stresses and strains of life today - more unpredictable, and for many also full of fears for the future."

When celebrities from earlier decades, from the time without the internet, die, this mourning also becomes a reflection on a time "that was different, when many things seemed more carefree than today", says Buggert.

In Tina Turner's case, it also plays a role that she was an incredible fighter who had a difficult life, with her brutal ex-husband Ike and the death of her own children during her lifetime.

"And she still fought her way through. That's also something that people see as a role model. And some may also associate that with today's world, where we feel we have to pull ourselves together and fight through."

Buggert also emphasizes with regard to Tina Turner: "What was always so clear in interviews with her: She always tried to remain optimistic despite all the difficulties in her life. And she obviously also found a very good way of dealing with her age."

Turner had become spiritual in her old age, had said a clear farewell, had retired from her music career, had withdrawn. "These are all difficult developmental steps in anyone's life. But you can see her as a model of how to do it well - and also admire how she did it."

The thought that almost all the superstars of the (supposedly) good old days are now dead may come up quickly, but that doesn't make it right. Tina Turner's death could be an opportunity to listen to hits from the past, to remember the catchy tunes of other great stars, to choose old titles instead of waiting for the next bereavement.

What does Tina Turner's death trigger in you? Tell us in the comments: