Gloria Reuben spent a year touring with late music icon Tina Turner and now the former “ER” star is speaking out about the singer’s “incredibly generous spirit, support and belief in me” in a new guest column for The Hollywood Reporter.
The Emmy-nominated actress served as a backup singer for Turner’s 24/7 world tour in 2000. Reuben noted that she still lives by the lessons she learned from the music legend. “I wonder if Tina saw something in me that reminded her of herself,” she wrote. “I mean that in the most humblest of ways. Perhaps she recognized that I too was a fighter.”
Elsewhere in the piece, Reuben recalls several magical moments with Turner, whom she thanks for helping her soul “find its way again.”
“She literally changed my life in every possible way,” Reuben revealed during an appearance on “Today,” one day after Turner’s death was announced.
Turner’s passing came nearly two months after she turned to social media to share her regret for not taking better care of her kidneys. “I have put myself in great danger by refusing to face the reality that I need daily, lifelong therapy with medication,” Turner told fans in a March 9 Instagram post. According to Turner’s reps, she died from natural causes, the Daily Mail.com reports.
Reuben told the “Today” hosts, “I didn’t realize the possibilities if one just challenges themselves and one just has someone that says, ‘You know what? You can do this,’” noting that Turner was her voice of encouragement.
Reuben said one of the life lessons she learned from Turner was that “trauma and grief and the past … makes you who you are today.”
“How I experienced Tina is a reminder that we can all overcome,” she said. “Just be clear about what you want (and) keep your heart open.”
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