(CNN) — Cher treasures her friend Tina Turner happily, but also has flashbacks of her being sick.
The legendary singer was interviewed by phone on “The Beat With Ari Melber” where she shared her memories of Turner, who died Wednesday at age 83 after a “long illness,” her family said.
“He fought this disease for a long time and he was very strong, as expected,” Cher said. “But I know towards the end, she told me once, she told me, ‘I’m really ready. I don’t want to put up with this anymore,'” Cher recounted.
Although she did not identify what ailed Turner, Cher mentioned that her colleague had a dialysis machine at her house when he visited her. Dialysis is a treatment used for those who are in an advanced stage of kidney disease.
According to Cher, Turner delighted in visits from her friends.
“I started going to visit her because I thought, ‘I have to spend this time on our friendship, so she knows we haven’t forgotten her,'” Cher recalls. “So we all took turns going and spending time with her and it made her happy.”
The two laughed so hard, Cher said, that someone once commented, “When the two of them laughed together it was the funniest thing you could hear,” because we both have very different laughs.
Cher said that she had known Turner since she 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,” Cher said sadly. “What kind of shoes? Tina Turner shoes.”
