Tina Turner to Become Swiss Citizen
She's an American icon, but Tina Turner is reportedly about to renounce her U.S. citizenship in order to become a Swiss citizen.
The "Private Dancer" singer has lived in the Zurich suburb of Kuesnacht since the mid-1990s. The Zuerichsee-Zeitung newspaper said on its website that the local council announced its decision to grant the 73-year-old Turner citizenship in an official notice published in today's edition, according to The Associated Press.
The decision still requires formal approval from state and federal authorities.
Turner's rep did not respond immediately to ABCNews.com's request for comment, but she told Zuerichsee-Zeitung that the singer wanted to "clarify her situation."
"Tina Turner will therefore also give back her U.S. citizenship," her rep told the Swiss newspaper.
After the announcement, Turner told German newspaper Blick, "I am very happy in Switzerland and I feel at home here. I could not imagine a better place to live."
Turner, who was born Anna Mae Bullock in Nutbush, Tenn., became famous as part of the duo Ike and Tina Turner, with such hits as "Proud Mary." But after a tumultuous and violent relationship with Ike, Turner split from him and went solo in the late 1970s, relaunching her career as a rock artist and staging an amazing comeback with the hit album "Private Dancer."
The singer, who has sold 200 million records, first came to Zurich with her longtime partner, German music manager Erwin Bach. They live in a lake house called Chateau Algonquin.