Tina Turner's Singer PP Arnold Remembers Her 'Guardian Angel': 'She Rescued Me' (Exclusive)

Tina Turner was an "inspiration" to one of her Ikette backing singers, PP Arnold tells PEOPLE

Tina Turner was an "inspiration" due to how she survived cruel abuse from her husband Ike.

That's the opinion of one of her backing singers, PP Arnold, who witnessed the aftermath of Ike Turner's beatings and controlling behavior.

The singer, who became one of the trio of Ikettes at the age of just 17, says that at the height of their fame, songwriter Ike would beat Tina — sometimes just before they were due on stage.

"I saw her face swollen with a black eye, before we go on stage. I have seen her change her clothes, do her makeup and go on stage and do that show," Arnold, 77, told PEOPLE. "You see lots of photos from that time — of her in the big glasses and what they were hiding."

And Ike Turner would punish the Ikettes if they stepped outside his strict rules. "I was fined by Ike for crying on stage, because I'm unable to do my thing," she recalled. "The audience knows, everybody would know what's happening."

She says Tina Turner coped with it because "the woman is just strength. Even at the thought of it, I have goosepimples going down my arms right now."

Arnold added, "Tina is such a strong inspiration of how you survive that kind of adversity and then turn around and manifest divinity in this life."

Related: Tina Turner Credited David Bowie for Saving Her Career After 'Abusive' Marriage to Ike Turner

Turner died "peacefully" at her home in Küsnacht near Zurich, Switzerland, on May 24 after a "long illness," a statement said.

PP Arnold (born Patricia Ann Cole) stumbled into singing by accident — and she credits Turner with rescuing her from her own abusive relationship. She was in her teens, married, and the mother of two young children when she received a call from a friend of her brother, who was looking for someone to make up a trio to audition for Ike and Tina.

They "called me out of desperation. I just went to that audition to help them get the gig," she said of the other two — Gloria Scott and Maxine Smith. "I lied to my husband that I was going shopping so he could look after the kids. The next thing I know I'm in Ike and Tina's living room singing "Dancing in the Street.'"

Arnold recalled, "They opened up the door [to the Turners' home in Los Angeles] and I went into their living room. She was this beautiful goddess with this enthusiasm that just radiated from her. She goes, 'Hello girls, glad you could make it. Show me what you got!'"

"We finished the audition and Tina goes, 'Right girls — you got the gig.' I said, 'Not me – I have to go home. I'm going to be in trouble, my husband's going to kick my ass when I get home.' She goes, 'Well, if you're going to get your ass kicked for nothing, why don't you ride with us up to Fresno and see the gig?' So that moment, I am under her spell."

Arnold adds, "I was this young damaged girl, in the clothes that I was cleaning my house that day. I eventually was able to escape my situation and I toured with them for two years. Tina Tuner turned my life around. But you never saw her down, down because she covered it up. She was so positive, and her head was always held high. I loved her and she was my guardian angel. She rescued me."

She believes it took time for Tina to break away from Ike, due to her circumstances and ties. "She had been with Ike since 1957. I was 17 and in an abusive relationship and two years was enough for me. But it took Tina all those years because she was connected with Ike through the children, through the music, the promise she had made him."

Related: Tina Turner Revealed She 'Always Had a Crush' on Pal Mick Jagger Just One Month Before Her Death

When Arnold began her own solo career, at the suggestion of Rolling Stone Mick Jagger, she found it hard to reconnect with Tina — because of her husband. "I tried to make contact with her but Ike wouldn't let her have anything to do with me. Ike didn't want any of the Ikettes to have anything to do with me because I was the bad example of an Ikette because I had my own success."

"He wanted to control everybody. I was a very young girl and I was very afraid of Ike."

But they were able to enjoy some contact only last year when Arnold got a phone call asking for a copy of her autobiography, Soul Survivor. "I received a call from [her husband] Erwin to let me know that she had received the book and that Tina thanked me, and she would be reading it. That really touched me."

Arnold, who is based in the U.K. and is currently touring, adds that she understands Turner was happy in her new life in Switzerland. "She found the love of her life who was there for her. He supported her and was someone who could be with her. That's really hard finding someone who understands a woman being in the business ... to find that kind of love and happiness. She deserved every happiness and accolade. She deserved it all."

"The music she has left behind and her legacy. It has been devastating, but as I talk to you about Tina I have a big smile on my face," Arnold told PEOPLE. "I have joy and I am happy she is no longer suffering and she is free. None of us are here to live forever. I believe Tina embraced death in the same way as she embraced life. And her star is still shining bright."

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