 The most dynamic female soul singer in the history of the music,
Tina Turner oozed sexuality from every pore in a performing career that
began the moment she stepped onstage
as lead singer of the
Ike & Tina Turner Revue in the late '50s. Her gritty and growling
performances beat down doors everywhere, looking back to the double-barreled
attack of gospel fervor and sexual abandon that had originally formed soul in
the early '50s. Divorced from
Ike in the mid-'70s, she recorded only occasionally later in the decade but
resurfaced in the mid-'80s with a series of hit singles and movie appearances;
her high-profile status was assured well into the '90s.
Born Annie Mae Bullock near Brownsville, TN, she began singing as a teen, and
joined
Ike Turner's touring show as an 18-year-old backup vocalist. Just two years
later,
Tina Turner was the star of the show, the attention-grabbing focal point for an
incredibly smooth-running soul revue headed by
Ike and his
Kings of Rhythm. The couple began hitting the charts in 1960 with "A Fool in
Love," and notched charting singles throughout the '60s, though the
disappointing position of "River Deep-Mountain High" -- cited by
Phil Spector as one of his best productions -- was very hard to take. All
expectations were filled in 1971 with "Proud Mary," a number four hit which
became the capstone of
Ike & Tina's Revue. Frustrated by
Ike's increasingly irrational behavior, though,
Tina Turner walked out just three years later.
She celebrated her new-found freedom in 1975 with a role in the film version
of
The Who's Tommy. Playing the Acid Queen, she delivered an outrageous,
all-too-brief performance in an otherwise forgettable mistake of a movie.
Several albums were recorded for United Artists during the late '70s, but she
appeared to be washed up by the turn of the decade. Surprisingly,
Tina Turner returned in 1983, first teaming with a
Heaven 17 project named
BEF on a remake of
the Temptations' "Ball of Confusion."
Tina Turner vocal offering was understandably apocalyptic, and she gained a solo
deal with Capitol that same year. Her first single, a cover of
Al Green's "Let's Stay Together," hit the Top 30 early in 1984. Second
single "What's Love Got to Do With It" became one of the year's biggest hits,
spending three weeks at number one. Her album Private Dancer included two more
Top Ten singles, the title track and "Better Be Good to Me." With another movie
role in 1985 (Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome), she found a number two hit with its
theme, "We Don't Need Another Hero." Her next big hit followed in 1986 ("Typical
Male"), after which
Tina Turner began to decline, still charting occasionally and selling respectably
with albums including 1989's Foreign Affair, 1996's Wildest Dreams, and 2000's
Twenty Four Seven. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
Contact Grabow for more information or to book
Tina Turner for your next corporate or private event.
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