Tina Turner

Tina Turner is an American-Swiss singer who found success in genres of rock ‘n’ roll, rhythm and blues, as well as soul, in a career that spanned five decades.

Tina Turner was born Anna Mae Bullock on November 26, 1939, in Brownsville, Tennessee, to a sharecropping family. Turner began singing as a teenager, and when she moved to St. Louis, Missouri, immersing herself in the R&B scene. 

In 1959 she met Ike Turner and began to perform with his band the Kings of Rhythm under the stage name Tina Turner. Soon her electric stage presence quickly made her the centerpiece of the show.

The ensemble, which toured as the Ike and Tina Turner Revue, was renowned for its amazing live performances but struggled to find recording success. That soon changed in 1960 when “A Fool in Love” hit the pop charts and a string of hit singles soon followed. 

The Phil-Spector produced album “River Deep -Mountain High” in 1966 was a huge success in Europe. Tina and Ike’s final hit songs together were a Creedence Clearwater Revival of “Proud Mary” in 1971 and “Nutbush City Limits” in 1973. 

After a series of guest appearances on albums of other artists, she released her debut solo album “Private Dancer” in 1984. It was a triumph both critically and commercially, selling more than 20 million copies worldwide and winning three Grammy awards, including the record of the year and best female vocal performance for “What’s Love Got to Do with It.” The single soon became Turner’s signature song. 

She soon followed her musical success with a role in the film “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” in 1985. Later albums include “Break Every Rule” in 1986, “Foreign Affair” in 1989, and “Wildest Dream” in 1996. Her greatest-hits compilation “All best” was released in 2004.

Turner ended up writing two autobiographies, one in 1986 titled, “I, Tina,” which was later adapted into the film “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” in 1993. Then in 2018, she published “My Love Story,” as well as the self-help book called “Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good” in 2020. 

Ike and Tina Turner were both inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. She later received the Kennedy Center Honor in 2005, then went on to be given the lifetime achievement award in 2018. That same year the musical “Tina” was released to the public in London, and debuted on Broadway a year later. 

Turner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 2021.