Tina looking for her mummy

The photo above is from the book ‘Face Forward’ by late make-up artist Kevyn Aucoin. Tina is portrayed as Egyptian pharaoh Cleopatra. During the 1970’s, when Tina Turner first came in touch with new religions and beliefs, she was told that in a former life, she had lived in Egypt. Since that time, Tina has often referred to her previous life in ancient Egypt in interviews and her 1986 autobiography ‘I, Tina’. She claims that she once was the pharaoh Hathsepsut.

In this post, you will find a 1982 interview with Tina from Dutch gossip magazine Privé. In this interview, she talks about her belief in reincarnation, her experiences in Egypt, and the fact that she is not afraid of death. The interview also briefly touches upon her new solo career. While the interview is not very elaborate, it still gives some interesting insights from the period before Tina’s big comeback. Continue reading for the scans of the interview (Dutch) as well as the English translation. Special thanks to Sidney for providing the scans!

Tina Turner: ‘My biggest wish is finding my own mummy!’

The seductively beautiful singer Tina Turner (43) is not afraid of death! She is even curious about what comes afterwards. To  ‘Privé’, Tina revealed how she was looking for her own mummy at digging sites in Egypt, after she had become convinced that she walked on this earth many times before…

“Most people are afraid of death and don’t dare talk about it. I am certainly not afraid of it because a little while ago I came very close, I know I don’t overestimate myself.”
Tina Turner, who was shortly in our country for a performance, is smiling. “I will tell you why I’m not afraid of death. That’s because I’m extremely curious about the afterlife. Because I know that it isn’t the end when you leave your earthly body. You will live on in a different dimension or a different world.”

“I am very sure, that my spirit will live on in a different place, as it has lived many times before. Yes, of course I believe in reincarnation! I know, that in previous lives I’ve lived in France, and long before that in Egypt.”
Tina, who looks very good for her age, and who because of that receives many admiring looks from men, appears to be very familiar with things that one might be prone to categorize as ‘occult’, but she is also used to the fact that other people give her a strange look when she shares her convictions. Therefore, for a while she has been searching for ‘evidence’ for her conviction that people live on this earth several times, and not only once.

‘Something strange happened to me’

Tina knows for sure that she lived in ancient Egypt: “I spent holidays there because I felt so strongly connected to Egypt. That strange feeling of recognition became very strong when I was in Egypt at excavations and saw images of Amenhotep, a pharaoh from the 18th dynasty. Something strange happened to me. I knew that I was one of the portrayed figures, that I had lived there in that time!”
“I know it sounds strange when you don’t believe in those things, and also for myself I’m looking for evidence. Since my stay there, it is my biggest wish to find my own mummy. The mummy of the body I once lived in!”
“I hope I will succeed some time, because it would be true evidence of the reincarnation theory that I strongly believe in. That’s why I hope to go back to Egypt, to find evidence!”
“I now have the freedom to do that!” she laughs, referring to her divorce from her ex-partner and husband Ike, with whom she formed the world famous duo ‘Ike & Tina Turner’.
“I love the independence that I now have. There is nobody anymore who owns me, who I have to worry about. I’m not planning on giving up this freedom again, although I do hope to find somebody later. I’m the only one who sleeps in the house that I now live in, me and my cat!” Tina laughs, and raises her hand so that we will trust her word.

‘Everybody panicked’

Tina, who is strongly interested in everything related to death, also had a close encounter with death. “My work involves a lot of travelling and airplanes. This is no problem for me. The sound of engines makes me sleep the minute we take off. I’m not scared of flying at all. But I was in a couple of stressful situations! The worst one was when one engine failed and the plane started dangling in the air. After that, it appeared to fall from the sky. Ike, who was still with me at that time, was screaming loudly and actually everybody around me was totally panicking, both the band members as well as the Ikettes. I was the only one laughing out loud about all these scared people around me, it was such a crazy sight to me.”
“Of course I knew that I was close to death, but I just wasn’t scared. My curiosity for the afterlife was too big. I was ready for death, I’m ready for it every day – this is the best thing, because it can happen any day.”

‘Together with Rod Stewart’

Despite this, Tina is still concerned about more earthly matters. Her career as a solo artist for example, is something she is constantly occupied with.
“I was concerned that my singing days were over after I divorced Ike, because in the United States, they are not quick to give you a second chance. When they have accepted and admired you as a duo, it doesn’t mean that they will come to see and listen to you when you are going on a solo tour! Show business is tough, but I guess it’s the same here. Once I was working and knew that it I had success, I became more creative. I learned a lot and felt myself getting stronger.”
“Recently, I performed together with Rod Stewart. I’m a longtime fan of him, and he is a fan of me. We ran into each other and he simply asked me: ‘do you want to join my show?’ ‘That’s fine’, I said, and the next day I was on stage with him!”

‘I don’t have a problem with getting heavier’

She has cut off a long piece of her beautiful long hair. Does this have to do with her new image as a solo artist? Tina nods. “Don’t you like it?” she laughs. She maintains her beautiful figure without any effort. “I don’t do anything special, but… I don’t eat a lot of candy!”
“But, a little while ago I did notice that I can gain some weight – that was the first time! All of the sudden, I had a passion for warm pudding. Every day, week after week, I ate warm pudding and suddenly my pants were tight!”
“’Hey this is no good!’ I thought worryingly and I didn’t eat a single bit of pudding anymore. I lost my excess weight in no time!”
In her previous shows with Ike, Tina was sexy and provocative, and anyone who has seen her recent TV performance or concert in our country, knows that little has changed!
Tina: “I’m aware of this, of course, but I’m still shy when I’m not on stage. I like being recognized as a singer on the street, but when men stare at me with those hungry eyes, I become very shy and uncomfortable!”