Turner, Tina

Turner, Tina

 Tina Turner was born Anna Mae Bullock in Brownsville, Tennessee on 26 November 1939. Tina began singing in clubs in St. Louis as a teenager. In 1956, she was discovered by guitarist Ike Turner in one of the clubs. He hired her to become one his backup singers. She quickly became a co-star and featured vocalist. They married in 1958. The Ike & Tina Turner Revue was successful on the R&B circuit but they emerged as one of the top pop / soul acts during the late 1960s. During this time, they opened for the Rolling Stones. The duo recorded a string of hits, “A Fool In Love,” “I Idolize You,” “It’s Gonna Work Out,” “Tra La La La La,” “River Deep Mountain High”, “Proud Mary”, “Come Together”, and “Nutbush City Limits”.

In 1975, Tina played “The Acid Queen” in a film version of The Who’s rock opera, Tommy. Eric Clapton also appeared in the film as “The Preacher.”

Tina’s private life disintegrated as her marriage turned violent. She divorced Ike in 1976. In 1979, with the help of manager Roger Davies, she re-launched her career. Her 1984 release, Private Dancer sold in excess of 11 million copies and spawned several hit singles, including a cover of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” and “What’s Love Got To Do With It.”

In the mid-80s, Tina accepted an acting role in the film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Her recording of the film’s theme song, “We Don’t Need Another Hero,” was a world-wide hit.

In 1985, she duetted with Mick Jagger at Live Aid, contributed to the charity single, “We Are The World,” and published her autobiography, I, Tina.

In the spring of 1986, Tina and Eric recorded “Tearing Us Apart”, which was released on his album, August. They would perform it live several times. She also sang on “Hold On” from the same album. Eric returned the favor later in the year on “What You See Is What You Get.” It was released as a 12” single.

Tina Turner was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.

A film, What’s Love Got To Do With It, was made of her life in 1993, based on her best-selling autobiography.