Tina Turner on her way to Swiss citizenship

Local girl Tina Turner performs in Zurich in 2009 Keystone

American rock diva Tina Turner, who has lived in the Zurich suburb of Küsnacht since the mid-1990s, could be a Swiss citizen within half a year.

The local newspaper, the Zürichsee-Zeitung, said on Friday on its website that the local council had announced its decision to grant 73-year-old Turner citizenship in an official notice.

The decision still requires formal approval from cantonal and federal authorities.

“Here in Switzerland it’s a bit of a drawn-out three-step process,” admitted Verena Spitzer, the case worker in charge of Turner’s application.

But no obstacles were foreseen – Spitzer had already had a conversation with the singer, which had gone very well. Turner, she said, could be Swiss within half a year.

Turner’s public relations agency said she had lived in Switzerland for almost 20 years and felt connected to the country and valued the privacy provided in Switzerland. From that came the wish to become Swiss, it explained.

Since her last concert tour in 2009, Turner has withdrawn from public life.

Ups and downs

Turner, born Anna Mae Bullock in Tennessee, has sold some 200 million records and according to some sources has sold more concert tickets than any other solo performer in history.

She first came to fame alongside husband Ike Turner in the early Sixties. Notable hits which followed included “River Deep – Mountain High” (1966) and “Proud Mary” (1971).

“What’s Love Got to Do with It”, the most popular single from her 1984 album Private Dancer, would later serve as the title of a biopic that was adapted from her autobiography in which she revealed several severe instances of domestic abuse. She and Ike divorced in 1978.

In 1985, Turner met her current partner, German-based music executive Erwin Bach. They began dating a year later and have remained together since, living in a lake house called Chateau Algonquin in Zurich since 1994.