How Do We Say Farewell? Angela Bassett reveals Tina Turner's last words to her in a moving tribute

Tina Turner, Angela Bassett on the recording studio set, rehearse a song performance for the 1993 film What's Love Got To Do With It. (Courtesy Everett Collection)

Angela Bassett, who earned an Oscar nomination for portraying Tina Turner in the 1993 biopic What’s Love Got to Do With It, was one of the many stars in the entertainment world who flocked to pay tribute to Turner, who died Wednesday at age 83.

“How do we say farewell to a woman who owned her pain and trauma and used it as a means to help change the world?” Bassett said in a statement.

Courtesy Everett Collection

“Through her courage in telling her story, her commitment to stay the course in her life, no matter the sacrifice, and her determination to carve out a space in rock and roll for herself and for others who look like her, Tina Turner showed others who lived in fear what a beautiful future filled with love, compassion, and freedom should look like.”

She went on to recall Turner’s last words to her: “‘You never mimicked me. Instead, you reached deep into your soul, found your inner Tina, and showed her to the world.’”

Bassett said she’d carry those words with her for the rest of her life, adding that Turner “is a gift that will always be ‘simply the best.’”

Turner died Tuesday, after a long illness in her home in Küsnacht near Zurich, Switzerland, according to her manager. She became a Swiss citizen a decade ago.