Remembering the life of the Queen of Rock 'N Roll, Tina Turner.

The international icon Tina Turner passed 24 May 2023 aged 83 at her home in Küsnacht, Switzerland. Following the announcment, we decided to commemorate the rock 'n roll legend by reflecting on her life and her astounding achievements.

Origins

Born the youngest sibling Anna Mae Bullock in 1939 Tennessee, Tina Turner started with humble beginnings. As a child she picked cotton with her family before moving to live with her strictly religious grandparents. A couple years later her mother fled Tina’s abusive father, and he remarried with another woman. She later recalled in her autobiography that she hadn’t felt loved or wanted by her parents, left to be raised by her grandmother until she passed when Anna was 16. During her time with her grandmother, Anna had her first brush with music and joined the Nutbush Spring Hill Baptist Church choir. After her grandmother passed, Anna moved to St. Louis to be with her mother, and through her teenage years worked as domestic worker for a local family and partook in extracurricular activities such as cheerleading and the basketball team.

When Anna was 18 in 1957, she was enjoying life hitting the night clubs with her sisters when she first saw Ike Turner and Kings of Rhythm play in St Louis. Anna was extremely impressed with Ike stating she “almost went into a trance” watching him and asked to sing in his band. Ike had said he would call her, but the call never came.

During the bands intermission one night, Anna grabbed a microphone from one of the members and sang B.B. King’s blues ballad “You Know I Love You”. When Ike heard her, he invited her to sing for the rest of the night. Anna became a featured vocalist in his band, and he taught her finer voice control and performance. In 1958 she had her first recording credited under the name Little Ann on Ike Turner’s single “Boxtop”. The same year she gave birth to her first child Craig.

Breakout success

In 1960, Anna wrote “A Fool in Love” for Art Lassiter to lead on, with herself to join the backing vocals. On the day of recording Art failed to turn up, and since Anna had paid for the studio time she suggested she sing the lead, and the demo was recorded with the intention of having her vocals replaced by Art’s at a later date. However, a local DJ encouraged Anna to send the demo to Juggy Murray, the president of R&B record label Sue Records; he was so impressed by the track he paid Anna a $25k advance for recording and publishing rights. In 2023 that is equal to $256k, a true testament to the legendary voice of Tina Turner. Juggy convinced Ike to make her the star, and that is when Tina Turner was born. Ike created the “Ike and Turner Revue”, and they toured round the United States for 90 days straight, earning a reputation for one of the “hottest” and “most explosive” R&B ensembles. During this time Tina was in a relationship with Ike, however when she told him she did not wish to be any longer, he struck her in the head with a wooden shoe stretcher. She later admitted the fear installed her, but she decided to stay as she cared for him. In 1960, their child Ronnie was born, and they moved with the two children they shared, and the two children from Ike’s previous marriage to St. Louis.

Once “A Fool in Love” was released it hit No.2 in the Hot R&B Sides chart and No.27 in the Billboard Top 100 chart. This was especially important as it was dubbed “the blackest record” to hit the mainstream charts since Ray Charles “What’d I Say”. The Tina/Ike duo went on to have more success with “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine” reaching No.14 on the Hot 100, earning the duo a Grammy nomination for Best Rock and Roll Performance 1961. Due to their popularity, they were able to perform in front of desegregated crowds. They continued successfully touring as a band through to 1965, with Tina first single credited as a solo artist during this time. Through signing to Loma Records a Warner Bros subsidiary, the duo achieved their first charting album which peaked at No.8 in the Billboard Hot R&B LP’s. Tina raised her profile performing a number of solo appearances.

Hitting the mainstream

After appearing in “The Big TNT Show” in 1965, Phil Spector paid $20k to Loma for the duo to be released from their contract and to join his label, Philles Records. Their first single with the record in 1966 “River Deep – Mountain High” was successful internationall

y hitting No.3 on the UK Singles Chart and No.1 on Los 40 Principales in Spain, earning them a space on the 1966 Rolling Stones UK tour. In 1967 Tina smashed the glass ceiling by becoming both the first female artist and first black artist to feature on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine. Between 1967 and the duo’s successful album “Outta Season” in 1969, Tina attempted suicide via Valium overdose in 1968. She later admitted suicide in I, Tina that she was deeply unhappy in the relationship due to Ike’s abuse of Tina, drug abuse and unpredictability.

The duo released another album “The Hunter” in 1969. The success of these albums lead to headlining Las Vegas shows where revered artists such as David Bowie, Ray Charles, Elton John, Elvis Presley and more attended. Tina also earned a Grammy nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. In 1971 the duo recorded their biggest hit, a cover of “Proud Mary” which sold more than a million copies and won them the Grammy for Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo. Their live album What You Hear Is What You Get became their first certified Gold album. The couple continued with successful tours and singles, earning a Silver certification for the 1973 single “Nutbush City Limits”. A busy year in 1974, the duo released a Grammy nominated album and Tina herself released her first solo album “Tina Turns the Country On” earning another Grammy nomination. Tina also performed in rock opera “Tommy” receiving a critically acclaimed performance. In 1975 Tina released another solo album “Acid Queen” reaching No.39 on the Billboard R&B chart. Tina enjoyed the fruits of individual success without her abuser’s name attached.

The escape

July 1976 on the way to headline a concert as a duo, Tina and Ike got into an altercation. Fed up with Ike’s cocaine addiction and the abuse from him, Tina fled with only 36 cents and a credit card on her. 26 days later she filed for divorce on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. The divorce was finalised in 1978. Tina took responsibility for missed concerts dates and an IRS lein. She retained songwriter royalties from the songs she wrote, however Ike received royalties’ for both his and her compositions. She also retained her two cars, furs, jewellery and her stage name Tina Turner. It’s worth noting Ike had named her Tina Turner in the case she ever left him he could replace her. Ike received the recording studio shares, publishing companies, real estate and four cars. Due to promoters suing for losses, Tina used food stamps for near two years and performed in small clubs to pay the debt. The cost of freedom from abuse came heavy.

Tina re-emerged with a sexier image created by Bob Mackie in 1977 and continued to tour. Falling on more bad luck, her next two solo albums failed to chart. She separated from United Artists Records and became managed by Aussie Roger Davies. She had a regular performer job on an Italian TV show in 1979, and toured South Africa during the apartheid regime, she would later clarify this was a mistake due to her nativity of South African politics at the time. Starting to gain attention again, Rod Stewart invited her to perform a song with him on “Saturday Night Live” in 1981. The next month Tina opened for The Rolling Stones during their American tour. Things were starting to look up. Luck struck again with a cover of The Temptations "Ball of Confusion" for UK production BEF which became a hit in European clubs. A music video followed which aired on MTV, making Tina one of the first Black American artists to gain the channels airtime.

Having another European hit single with a cover of Al Green’s “Lets Stay Together” charting No.6 in the UK in 1983, Tina was no longer considered a nostalgia act and had a new album greenlit by Capitol Records. With only two weeks to record her “Private Dancer” album, she released it in May 1984 securing success with No.3 on the Billboard 200 and No.2 in the UK chart. The album also became 5x platinum certified in the United States and sold over 10 million copied worldwide, it was her most successful album. In September the same year “What’s Love Got to Do with it” became her first and only No.1 Billboard Hot 100. She also duetted with David Bowie this year. Sealing in the success of her comeback year, Tina won three Grammys including Grammy Award for Record of the Year.

Her success kept growing with she acted alongside Mel Gibson in Mad Max Thunderdome in 1985, later receiving NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress for her role. She also recorded "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)" and "One of the Living". Both were successful, with the latter winning her a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. 1986 she released her sixth solo album which reached No.1 in four countries and featured a grammy winning song “Back Where You Started”. Tina also met Erwin Bach in 1986, they began dating later that year and after 27 years, they married in 2013 in Switzerland. Tina continued working solo and duetting with others, collecting Grammys and Grammy nominations left, right and centre for the music produced. In 1988, Tina released the Tina Live in Europe album, which won a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.

The 90’s

In 1990 Tina went on her Foreign Affair European Tour, which drew in nearly four million spectators, breaking the record for a European tour. In 1991 she released her greatest hits album “Simply the Best” which became her biggest seller in the UK, where it's certified 8× Platinum. The same year herself and Ike were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, though neither attended due to different reasons and Phil Spector accepted on their behalf. In 1993 a semi-autobiographical film was released “What's Love Got to Do with It” where Angela Basset played Tina Turner. Tina released “GoldenEye” in 1995 for the James Bond film named the same, and released another album “Wildest Dreams” in 1996. Just before her 60th Birthday Tina released “When the Heartache Is Over” the leading single for her tenth and final album “Twenty Four Seven”, the single became certified Gold. The Twenty Four Seven Tour was the highest grossing tour of 2000, and in the July she announced her retirement from music.

The noughties

Despite her retirement, in November 2004 Tina released “All the Best” which debuted No.2 on the Billboard 200, and went platinum status in eight countries. In 2005 she was recognised by the Kennedy Center Honors at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C, joining an elite group of entertainers. Tina made a public comeback at the 2008 Grammy Awards performing alongside Beyonce, and won a Grammy as a featured artist. She also set off on her first tour of nearly ten years, the “Tina! 50th Anniversary Tour” the tour was a major success becoming one of the best-selling tours of all time. Tina finally retired performing for good in 2009.

Life after performing

Tina went on to various projects such as co-founding global music foundation - Swiss Beyond Foundation. Tina co-released 4 albums of spiritual music released through the projects with “Beyond” a Swiss band – BEYOND Buddhist and Christian Prayers 2009, Children BEYOND 2011, Love Within BEYOND 2014, and Awakening BEYOND 2017. As of 2023 the Swiss Beyond Foundation is still active, enabling collaboration of musical artists worldwide. In 2013 Tina stated she wished to have Swiss citizenship and would relinquish her US citizenship, in April she had taken the Swiss citizenship test and officially became a citizen of Switzerland on April 22 2013. The same year weeks after her wedding, she suffered a stroke and had to learn to walk again.

In 2016 Tina announced she had been working on a musical based on her life “Tina” which opened in London 2018, continuing to 2019. Tina was also awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 and released her second memoir “My Love Story” in October that year. In the memoir, she revealed she had suffered multiple life-threatening illness – 2016 she was diagnosed with intestinal cancer and suffered with high blood pressure which lead to kidney failure. The chances of kidney donation were low and Tina considered euthanasia, until Bach offered her his kidney and she successful transplant in April 2017.

Norwegian producer Kygo coaxed Tina out of retirement in 2020 with the remix of "What's Love Got to Do with It" which charted in the Top 40. This gave Tina the status of the first artist to have a top 40 hit in seven consecutive decades. Tina also released her third book this year Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good. Rounding off her long and rewarding music career, Tina sold her music rights to BMG Rights Management in October 2021, with Warner Music still handling distribution of her music.

Tina was inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist later October 2021.

Tina Turner was truly a one-in-a-lifetime talent. She was an unstoppable force. Facing adversity from the start, she beat all odds and became one of the most recognisable voices, not just in R&B, but across all music worldwide; revered by not only the public, but her peers.

There’s a Tina Turner sized hole in the World now.