THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER TINA TURNER'

TRIBUTES POURED IN FROM THE WORLD'S STARS AND THOSE CLOSEST TO THE MUSIC LEGEND

- EDDY'S BOOK THE REAL T: MY 22 YEARS WITH TINA TURNER WILL BE OUT IN PAPERBACK AND AS AN AUDIO BOOK SOON

He was her best friend and confidante for more than two decades before their lives moved on and the relationship cooled.

But for Eddy Armani, the memories of his time as Tina Turner’s PA and go-to guy – for everything from late-night chats and emotional support to making her wigs – burn as brightly as ever.

“There will never be another Tina Turner. Having her was like God raining sunshine on us all,” he reflects.

“And I was so lucky. She started out as my icon and in the end I got to live with her. We were incredibly close for a very long time.”

Eddy, now in his mid-sixties and with his American accent only slightly blunted by years of travelling abroad, first became enamoured of Tina as a little boy.

“I had always loved music. I was five or six and my cousin kept telling me about this amazing woman and that I danced like her,” he says.

“One day we were playing in the garden and she suddenly dragged me inside to watch a show on TV, American Bandstand, and I heard this voice.

“By the time I got to the screen Ike and Tina Turner were on and I was mesmerised – Tina literally stopped me in my tracks.”

From that moment on he was hooked, constantly pestering his mother for her records and playing them non-stop.

By the age of 11 he was, by his own admission, a “fanatic” and was thrilled when his family announced a move from Seattle to LA.

He says, “I knew her recording studio was in Los Angeles so it was a step closer to her.”

He tracked down the telephone number of Tina and Ike’s recording studio and rang in a bid to speak to her.