Briana Rašić/Getty Images
Briana Rašić/Getty Images
Tina Turner, the soul and rock powerhouse known for her octave-shattering voice and mesmerizing stage moves, has died at the age of 83.
Her death was announced inshe stated on her official Facebook pagebut did not give details about the cause. In his 2018 diary.Tina Turner: My Love StoryTurner has detailed a series of health issues she has dealt with since 2013, including a stroke, colon cancer and kidney failure. Her second husband, Erwin Bach, donated a kidney to her in 2017 and saved her life.
In a recording career that spanned six decades, Turner rose to fame both as a solo artist and as a duo with her first husband, Ike Turner. With the latter, she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and became a fixture on the US pop and R&B music charts in the 1960s and 1970s. The high-energy soul and rock duo is inspired by Tina's diverse vocal influences. She grew up listening to country music, but had many idols: 1950s R&B singers LaVern Baker and Faye Adams; gospel great Mahalia Jackson and rock pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe; blues legend BB Kralj; and soul greats Ray Charles and Sam Cooke. Because of this, she had a malleable and versatile voice and could unleash a sparkling rock bronco or dive into the lower register and sing smoky blues or velvety R&B songs. One of Ike and Tina's most famous songs, "River Deep, Mountain High," was even an orchestral triumph of gospel music produced by Phil Spector.
A skilled singer, Turner also created other people's iconic songs — adding a note of longing and desperation to the Beatles' already pleading "Come Together" and adding more country to The Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk." Women'' - duet or group performance with vocals. She won a total of eight Grammy Awards - including Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for three consecutive years in the 1980s.
In addition to her vocal prowess, Turner had an impressive stage presence that was often described as "electric". That description always felt like an understatement: Turner vibrated with energy like a boiling pot on the mic, and possessed a natural athleticism that translated into lithe but powerful dancing on stage. Someone once called Tina 'Mick Jagger's wife'.Rolling stonesBena Fong-Torresahe wrotein 1971. "Actually, to be more accurate, Mick should be called 'the male Tina Turner.'" (This is not mere critical hyperbole: in the sameRolling stonesTurner herself implied that Jagger studied her moves closely when she and Ike toured with the Rolling Stones in 1969).charge combustion coverJackson's "State of Shock" at Live Aid in 1985, the relationship was combustible.
Turner, born Anna Mae Bullock on November 26, 1939, grew up in rural Nutbush, Tennessee, but also spent time in Knoxville when her parents moved there for work. Growing up, she had a distant relationship with both her father, who left the family when she was 13, and her mother. But the performance came naturally and became a consolation for her. INTina Turner: My Love Story, describes musical shopping trips—when she was 4 or 5 years old and shop assistants paid her to sing radio hits she had memorized—and the thrill of leading her cousins, half-sister Evelyn and sister Allina, in mock plays. Later, she further refined her concert performance, singing at picnics with the regionally famous trombonist Mr. Bootsy Whitelaw.
Turner moved to St. Louis at the age of 16 to live with Alline and her mother, and started going to the famous East St. Louis at the Manhattan Club where she first saw Ike Turner and The Kings of Rhythm. In 1957, she joined the group after an impromptu performance of B.B. King's "You Know I Love You" surprised the band leader. The group was eventually renamed the Ikea and Tina Turner Revue, emphasizing its important role.
In every way, Ike was excessively cruel to Tina, both personally and professionally. "Looking back, I realize that my relationship with Ike was doomed the day he found out I was going to be his meal ticket, his money-making machine," Turner wrote inMy love story. She then described how she replaced her at the last minute to sing on "A Fool In Love" -which became the duo's first hit, reaching No. 2 on the R&B charts in 1960. This will make Tina the central part of the group's music. "What went through Ike's mind when he heard this advice?" she continued. – He had to find a way to protect his interests and that's where the problems started.
Over the years, Turner has been open about certain aspects of their time together, though she has told them New York Times2019. that she never revealed everything: "I think I'm ashamed. I feel like I've said enough." But Ike was mentally controlling—for example, changing her name to "Tina Turner" and then trademarking that name, without her consent—and physically abusing her. She was nearly money when she left him while the couple was on tour in Dallas in 1976. "I left with nothing and had to do it on my own for my family and everything so I just went back to working for myself," she said during an appearance on the show in 2017.Emitter Jonathana Rossa.
Turner released two solo albums while still performing with Ike in 1974Tina lights up the country! —a shortened LP of songs by Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton and Kris Kristofferson - plus a rock cover album from 1975.Sour Queen.Her first entertainment program after the breakup was aimed at the mainstream - a game showHollywood Squaresand various Cher TV series - and live cabaret shows, as well as two non-charting albums. She also recorded a slick electro-pop version of The Temptations' "Ball of Confusion."Music of Quality and Honor, Volume 1, an album released by Heaven 17 members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh under the name B.E.F.
1984 was a defining year for Turner. She duets with David Bowie on his reggae-inspired title trackTonightLP and finally hit it big on his own with this hitPrivate dance. As with "Ball of Confusion," the album featured the slicker, cutting-edge production values of the decade — in fact, Ware co-produced two tracks — while highlighting Turner's muscular voice and eclectic influences.
The album's tracklist includes the title track written by Mark Knopfler, as well as covers of songs by David Bowie ("1984"), The Beatles ("Help!") and Ann Peebles ("I Can't Stand the Rain").Private danceit also featured her first and only solo #1 hit, the sensitive and luxurious "What's Love Got to Do With It." The single, which also won Grammys for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Performance, boasted soulful vocals that hinted at her sophisticated second act and cemented her reputation as a survivor, brave person and an aesthetic she embraced.
Turner's commercial renaissance continued as the decade progressed. She starred in the 1985 filmMad Max outside the Thunderdome, which spawned the dramatic, powerful ballad "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)" and the Grammy-winning "One of the Living," and multiple hits with the Bryan Adams duet "It's Only Love," the breezy seduction "Typical Man " and the empowering anthem "The Best". With her spiky wig and thick miniskirts that showed off her iconic legs, Turner also became an early MTV icon: Shedoneat the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984, and the following year she won Best Female Video for "What's Love Got to Do With It."
Turner continued to be a commercial force in the 1990s, particularly with the 1993 biographyWhat does love have to do with it?. Based on her 1986 autobiographyI, Tina, the film starred Laurence Fishburne as Ike and Angela Bassett as Tina. Both actors were nominated for an Oscar, and Bassett won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy. Sam Turner also received a career boost when the soundtrack "I Don't Wanna Fight" became a worldwide hit and reached the top 10 in the US. In 1995, she received another prestigious honor when she sang the elegant, elegant James Bond theme song "GoldenEye" for the title film.
Turner, who moved to Switzerland in 1995, began reducing her workload in the late 1990s and 2000s, eventually retiring after her 50th anniversary tour in 2009. However, she remained an active manager of her own estate; in fact, she also worked closely on the developmentTina: The Tina Turner Musical, which premiered on Broadway in the fall of 2019. She also performed at the 2008 Grammy Awardsshow-stopping verzija"Proud Mary" with Beyoncé. In retrospect, it's easy to interpret the moment when Turner passes the torch to a younger musician. However, the performance once again confirmed that he is in full command of his rich musical heritage.