Beyoncé is honoring Tina Turner. During her tour at Paris’ Stade France on Friday, Beyoncé closed her show to remember the legendary singer, who died earlier this week.
“I just want to take a second and honor Tina Turner,” she told the crowd. “If you’re a fan of mine, you’re a fan of Tina Turner. I wouldn’t be on this stage without Tina Turner, so I want you guys to just scream so she can feel your love.”
Beyoncé said, “I feel so lucky that I got to see his talent.”
The message comes days after Turner shared a letter to the late veteran on his website at the concert.
“My dear queen. I love you madly,” wrote Beyoncé. “I am so grateful for your inspiration, and the path you have paved. You are strength and resilience. You are the epitome of strength and passion. We are all so lucky to have seen your kindness and beautiful soul that has always been Thank you for all you’ve done.”
Celebrities such as Janelle Monae, Mick Jagger, Naomi Campbell and Mariah Carey also paid tribute to the singer following her death.
Beyoncé has long cited Turner as one of her main musical inspirations. After Turner’s death, the Beyhive resurfaced clips of Beyoncé speaking about Turner’s influence.
“When I was a kid and I saw his tapes, I wanted to be like him,” she says in it. The video is from the 2008 Grammy Awards, when Beyoncé and Turner clashed onstage during a performance of “Proud Mary”. It begins by showing Beyoncé, 26, skipping up on Turner on their first meeting. She hugs Tina Turner like an aunt she’s known all her life.
Before that moment, Beyoncé spoke highly of Turner during the 2005 Kennedy Center Honors.
Beyoncé told him directly, “I’ll never forget the first time you performed.” “I’ve never in my life seen a woman so powerful, so fearless, so fabulous — and those legs!”
Turner died “after a long illness” at the age of 83, his family said in a statement on Wednesday. “With him, the world has lost a musical legend and a role model,” he said. The cause of death was not immediately available, though Turner had suffered a stroke and had been battling both kidney failure and intestinal cancer in recent years.
Bey’s show in Paris is also special as she was joined on stage by her and Jay-Z’s daughter Blue Ivy to perform “My Power”.
