Eddy Hampton Armani opens up about his friendship with Tina Turner.Photo:EddyHamptonArmani 2020
EddyHamptonArmani 2020
Eddy Hampton Armani has not been able to grieve the loss ofTina Turner,the beloved Queen of Rock & Roll and his longtime friend of 22 years.
“WhenI was told Tina died, I froze and went numb. I did not shed a tear. I haven’t let it sink in because I was in denial. I screamed in the most horrendous voice, “No, no, no, no!"' says Armani, 65, holding back tears. “She’s not here, but to me, she still is. I know when it finally hits me, it will hurt like a ton of bricks.”
Even though the two had not communicated in almost 30 years, Armani says he remains close with her family members. “When I saw Tina as such a small youngster, I loved her instantly,” he says. “My love for her never stopped.”
After all, she had a profound impact on his life.
Armani’s adoration for Tina began at 6 years old in the summer of 1964. Overwhelmed with emotions, he fixated on the living room television screen, his eyes wide and unblinking, he remembers.
Tina Turner in 1972.Redferns/Getty
Redferns/Getty
Armani scoured record stores weekly after school for new Ike & Tina Turner music. After homework, he would sing along to their tunes and dance in front of the mirror, just like the “Proud Mary” singer. He studied her every move and researched everything about her, always ending his evening with a prayer to be her faithful friend.
Soon after, he turned that wish into a reality. He spent a year calling the receptionist of Ike’s Bolic Sound Recording Studios to meet Tina at age 12, and then his persistence paid off: He was invited to attend the studio’s grand opening, and at age 13, he managed the Ike & Tina Turner fan club.
Later, into the ’70s, he integrated himself into every aspect of Tina’s day-to-day life, becoming her personal assistant and wardrobe extraordinaire, navigating the challenges of her demanding career. He toured the world with his idol, cooked her meals, sewed her wigs, helped care for her children and lived with her for over a year in the ’80s in Sherman Oaks, California. Their connection extended beyond professional boundaries, developing into a deep friendship. When she laughed, he laughed — he finished her sentences, and she finished his, he recalls.
Over the phone in London, he reflects on her final months. “She knew her days were coming,” Armani says he was told. She had been on dialysis in Chateau Algonquin, her sprawling home near Zurich in Switzerland, battling numerous health conditions over the past decade, including high blood pressure, a stroke in 2013, intestinal cancer in 2016, and organ failure.
In 2017 shereceived a kidneyfrom her husband and German record executiveErwin Bach. The two dated for 27 years and were married for 10 of them. The couple shared many milestones throughout their decades-long relationship that Armani — who didn’t get along with Bach — wasn’t there to witness.
Erwin Bach and Tina Turner.Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty
Still, “he did fall in love with Tina, and they were in love,” Armani acknowledges. Tina also credited her husband for teaching her tolove and be herself.
As a 12-time Grammy winner, Tina was undeniably one of the greatest live performers in music history, with over 200 million records sold. She was voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, with Ike in 1991 and as a solo artist 30 years later. After announcing retirement in 2000, she returned to the stage eight years later for her 50th-anniversary tribute. She spent a year on tour until May 2009, when Armani says her health deteriorated. “She shouldn’t have done that tour,” says Armani. “That tour is what kicked her ass.”
Though Tina’s life story has been told many times, she wasnever able to escapeher difficult past.PEOPLE’s 1981 bombshell interviewexposed Ike’s cruelty, and her memoir-turned-movie, and the HBO documentaryTina, further detailed Tina’s abusive marriage with Ike. The relationship was filled with emotional and physical violence, and it eventually led to her escaping and divorcing him in 1978.
“It was just time to not take any more. It was constantly abusive, other things going on, there was no control, there was no freedom, it was just the same this, same this and the violence. You just get fed up and you say, ‘Life is not worth living if I’m going to stay in this situation,'” Tina recalled to PEOPLE in 1981.
Says Armani: “The writing was on the wall. We all knew she was going to leave him.” Afterward, he says the real growth and change began when Tina released her two solo albums,Tina Turns the Country On!andAcid Queen. “She felt a different kind of freedom.”
When Tina filmed the 1975 rock-opera movieTommy, she began mingling with celebrities like Hollywood bombshell Ann-Margret, who feverishly shook her hips alongside Elvis in Viva Las Vegas. “Tina was now out of Ike’s watch and control. Then she started saying, ‘Oh, wow, there is a life out there!’ I mean, Ike really did control her, and she feared him. We all did.”
Although the public did not understand why the most iconic music couple had suddenly parted ways, Tina didn’t have time to dwell on her past. She and Armani started touring, even though she was broke and in debt. She had never handled bookings, money, or live performances, and everyone she knew had ties to Ike. (She latercredited David Bowiefor reviving her career.)
Armani says those times were trying. Twice Tina’s home was set on fire, he recalls, and a shotgun had blown out the windows in her home and car. Tina remained fearful of her ex for years to come. “We were always on high alert and slept on the floor. None of us slept in our beds, not even the boys. We were all terrified. This man haunted us,” he says.
As time passed, Tina did everything she could to avoid contact with Ike. “She didn’t want to upset or piss him off,” says Armani. “The easiest thing set him off.”
In December of 1982, Armani says Tina rang him in a panic. She wanted to buy a tree and decorate it with colored lights. “I need some help,” Armani recalls she said to him. Tina also wanted to cook a festive dinner and decorate the house for all her kids to come over. On Christmas Eve, the two seasoned and stuffed the turkey, and cooked cornbread, ham, and a few Southern soul food dishes and greens. “What’s wrong?” Armani asked Tina on the phone the next evening. She told him no one had shown up on Christmas.
Michael Turner, Ike Turner, Jr., Ike Turner, Craig Hill, Ronnie Turner with Tina Turner.Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Over time, Armani had learned many things about Tina, this among them: She loved her children, but she was not a great mother — something she acknowledged in her 1986 autobiography.
“It was hard for Tina because she didn’t grow up with love around her. Ike was horrible. But Tina did try,” says Armani.
source: people.com
