Cher describes spending time with Tina Turner during a long illness

CNN
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Cher remembers her friend Tina Turner as happy, but also as sick.

The legendary singer called in “The Beat With Ari Melber” and shared her memories of Turner, who died Wednesday at age 83 after a “long illness,” her family said.

“She battled this disease for so long and she was as strong as you think she would be,” Cher said. “But I know towards the end, she once told me, she said, ‘I’m really ready. I just don’t want to put up with this anymore,” Cher said.

While she didn’t identify what was wrong with Turner, Cher said Turner had a dialysis machine in her home when she visited. Dialysis is a treatment used for people with late-stage kidney disease.

According to Cher, Turner enjoyed her friends’ visits.

“I started visiting her because I thought, ‘I need to put this time into our friendship so she knows we haven’t forgotten her,'” Cher recalls. “So we all took turns and spent time with her and it made her happy.”

The pair laughed so much, Cher said, that someone commented, “When you two laugh together, it’s the funniest thing you’ll ever want to hear because we’re both laughing so clearly.”

Cher said she had known Turner since the latter was married to Ike Turner.

The last time she visited Turner at her home in Switzerland, Cher said she left with a special gift.

“She gave me a pair of shoes the last time I saw her,” sad Cher. “What kind of shoes? Tina Turner shoes!”