Tina Turner

Anna Mae Bullock, more popular as Tina Turner, was born in 1939 in a poor region of the Southern part of the USA. Anna’s parents forsook the girl and her elder sister to their grand mother. After the old woman’s death, Anna went to St. Louis to find her mother again. Initially, she planned to become a nurse, but an invitation to perform as a vocalist of Kings of Rhythm changed her intensions drastically. The band’s leader, Ike Turner, was about to involve her as a session singer, but the girl’s talent persuaded him to take her in as a regular vocalist. After releasing a smashing song, called A Fool in Love, Ike decided to leave Kings of Rhythm, move to California and launch a new project. He proposed to Anna to join him and she accepted this offer. They agreed that she would take the Tina stage name from then on. The relationships between Tina and Ike grew from simple cooperation to romantic link, which led to their marriage.

For a long time, the new formation The Ike and Tina Turner Revue was giving concerts, while its studio activities did not reach high results. It changed dramatically after the 1966 release of the single River Deep, Mountain High, a great failure in the States, yet a huge hit in Europe. The band acquired immense fame, although everybody knew it was Tina behind the whole success, with all her charisma and outstanding skills. Ike was not just a very nice musician and leader of the project, but also a chronic alcoholic and a tyrant who used to abuse his wife at home and in public. Revenue managed to produce some good songs, but Tina saw no good future with this band and felt she deserved much more. Her aggravating relations with Ike pushed her to the limit as she tried to kill herself. This last straw made Tina leave Ike and start her own career. She found herself new musicians and began performing in a number of states. In 1979, she met her future manager, Roger Davies, who intended to create her a completely new image. After a streak of striking concerts, Tina was invited to sing along with Rod Steward and The Rolling Stones. It was the time of getting close to the status of the Rock’n’Roll Queen she would earn finally in few years.

In Europe, Tina Turner’s art found much more supporters than in the States. Thus, they did not want to release her first single, Let’s Stay Together, in the USA for a long time. Eventually, it was released on the album Private Dancer (1984), one of the best ever made in the eighties. This was Tina Turner’s story in nine chapters including another extremely successful single, What’s Love Got To Do With It. In 1985, she starred in Mad Max. Turner’s song We Don’t Need Another Hero, written as soundtrack to this film, became another huge hit. It was followed by the joint gigs with Brian Adams, David Bowie, Eric Clapton and Mick Jagger. The singer kept producing albums throughout the nineties to mixed reviews and charts positions. She also wrote an autobiographical book under the title I, Tina, an immediate bestseller. After the massive 2000 tour, Tina Turner announced her plans to reduce her music activities significantly. Her 2004’s compilation All The Best featured Turner’s solo hits, as well as a few highlights from her partnership with Ike Turner and several new songs. The album Tina! was released just in time for Turner’s 2008 world tour and included not only her biggest hits, but also live recordings and two new tracks, I’m Ready and It Would Be a Crime.