singer; actor; writer
Personal Information
Born Anna Mae Bullock, on November 26, 1939, in Nutbush, TN; daughter of Floyd Richard (a farm overseer and church deacon), and Zelma Bullock; married Ike Turner, c. 1958 (divorced 1976); children: Raymond Craig (with saxophonist Raymond Hill), Ronnie (with Ike Turner), and two stepsons (Ike, Jr. and Michael, from Ike Turner's previous marriage).
Religion: Buddhist (since early 1980s).
Career
Sang with Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm and the Ike and Tina Turner Revue, 1956-76; solo performer 1976-. Hit recordings include "A Fool in Love," "Proud Mary," "Nutbush City Limits" and "What's Love Got to Do With It." Solo albums include Private Dancer, 1984; Break Every Rule, 1986; What's Love Got to Do With It, 1996; Wildest Dreams, 1996; Twenty-Four-Seven, 2000. Appeared in films Tommy, 1975, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, 1985; What's Love Got to Do With It, 1993. Participated in relief concert Live Aid, 1984, and charity recording "We Are the World," 1985. Author of autobiography I, Tina, 1986.
Life's Work
"We never do anything nice and easy," intones Tina Turner in the spoken introduction to her famed rendition of the rock classic "Proud Mary," recorded with her then-husband Ike. "We always do it nice ... and rough." Tina's life as a hardworking soul singer was often rough and anything but nice; she endured endless touring and--according to her own allegations and those of many others--abuse and exploitation from Ike Turner, who discovered her. She sang with his revue for years and racked up hits like "Proud Mary" and "Nutbush City Limits" before finally leaving him in the mid-1970s, casting about and starting virtually from scratch before returning to prominence in 1984 with a number one hit.
Since then, Turner has remained in the public eye, becoming, in the words of Vanity Fair's Maureen Orth, "the queen mother of rock 'n' roll." A 1992 film version of her life story--based on her 1986 autobiography--was a surprise hit, and even when well into her fifties, she continued drawing large crowds to her concerts. As much as her gritty, rafter-shaking voice, Turner's strength in the face of adversity has made her a legend. "I was a victim; I don't dwell on it," she told Orth, adding, "I stood up for my life."
"Tina" was an invention of Ike's; the singer was born Anna Mae Bullock in rural Tennessee in 1939. Her father, Floyd Richard Bullock, was a farm overseer and church deacon who fought perpetually with his "black Indian" wife, Zelma. According to the singer's recollection in her autobiography I, Tina, the family grew its own food, buying only "flour and sugar from the country store in Nutbush." The town, in and around which she spent her childhood, was tiny and sparsely populated. At various points, young Anna and her sister were raised by their grandmothers, since their parents moved about, changed jobs, quarreled, and finally split up. Zelma ran off to St. Louis when Anna was eleven, and Floyd stayed only a year longer. Anna found herself in the care of other relatives and cousins over the years. She began working for a friendly white family, the Hendersons, in nearby Ripley, and remembered years later fashioning her dreams of a stable home on their lives.
Yearned to Sing
Anna became a cheerleader in high school. Never satisfied with her own looks, she declared--according to a quote in I, Tina from her girlhood friend Carolyn Bond--"If it's the last thing I do, I'm gonna have long hair and some big hips and big legs." Years later, as Tina Turner, her hair and legs would be her defining features.
In the 1950s, she moved to St. Louis to be with her mother, and it was there that she met the man--and heard the music--that would dominate her future. Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm were local stars, enthralling club audiences with their energetic R&B in the early '50s, the germinating years of rock and roll; their 1951 single "Rocket 88" was a number one R&B hit and has been called the first rock and roll record. Ike, the bandleader and guitarist, had an evil reputation and myriad girlfriends. Anna, who had always loved singing hymns in church, used to sing along from the audience; "I wanted to get up there so bad," she remembered in her autobiography.
Anna's sister Alline was dating Ike's drummer Gene Washington, who heard Anna sing and eventually arranged to suspend a microphone off the stage so the audience could hear her. He compared her voice to that of blues legend Bessie Smith, noting, "A woman doing that type of thing then was kind of a no-no"; in other words earthy and sexy in a way that was guaranteed to thrill Ike's audience.
Although it took her a considerable length of time to get Ike's attention (since she was too thin to arouse his otherwise voracious carnal appetite), she did finally get him to hear her. Belting out the B.B. King tune "You Know I Love You" when Ike played it on the organ during an intermission, she made a distinct impression, as she recollected to coauthor Kurt Loder: "Boy, Ike--that blew him away. He went 'Giirrrlll!' And he stopped playing the organ and he ran down off that stage and he picked me right up! He said, 'I didn't know you could really sing. What else do you know?'" Soon she was performing regularly with the band but concealing her new activity from her mother, who predictably forbade it when she found out. Ike, however, made a special visit to Zelma and turned on his considerable charm, winning her approval and securing Anna a regular gig. Singing gutsy R&B cover tunes with Ike and the band made her "feel like a star."
Touring and Mothering
Life on the R&B club scene--the so-called "chitlin circuit"--was hardly safe, Ike's assurances to Zelma notwithstanding. Soon Anna became pregnant by Ike's saxophone player and bore her first son, Raymond Craig, in 1958. She took a job in a hospital to supplement her musical income, which was soon raised from $15 to $25 a week. She then moved into Ike's house, though she compared their initial relationship to that of siblings. Later, however, he began "moving in" on her life and would eventually exercise almost complete control over her.
In the meantime, however, she sang on Ike's single "Box Top." It wasn't until the single "A Fool in Love," however, that she would see chart success; the record scored on the R&B and pop charts, after being released under the name "Ike and Tina Turner." The name "Tina" appealed to Ike because it rhymed with "Sheena," the jungle queen from a 1940s movie serial; it became Anna Mae's new moniker. The surname accompanied a quickie marriage in Tijuana, Mexico, in 1962. "I was now Mrs. Ike Turner," Tina remarked of the event. "Or whatever." The group, over the objections of some of its members, became the Ike and Tina Turner Revue.
Tina, as she was now known, was soon pregnant by Ike. Though she felt gratitude and loyalty toward her mentor and husband--who was technically a bigamist, since he had married another woman previously and didn't obtain a divorce for many years--she acknowledged in her memoir that he "kept control of me with fear." He worked her relentlessly, forcing her to tour even when she was hospitalized with jaundice, and beat her when he perceived (or suspected) insolence. Meanwhile, he carried on with various "Ikettes"--Tina's backup singer/dancers--and many other women. The Revue, however, was hot, riding the success of "A Fool in Love" to prestige gigs at New York's Apollo Theater, venues in Las Vegas, and a spot on television's American Bandstand. The group had a string of R&B hits, some of which also made the pop charts.
Ike renewed his record contract and bought a large house in Los Angeles; his and Tina's children were brought there from St. Louis. The Revue kept touring under increasingly stressful conditions, even as Ike's shrewd business sense earned him ever larger sums. The Ikettes left, partly in response to his treatment of Tina. Later, Ike and Tina signed up with Loma Records, a Warner Bros. R&B subsidiary headed by Bob Krasnow. The Revue appeared in a pop festival that was later released as a concert film, The Big TNT Show. They also toured with English rock sensations the Rolling Stones, instantly winning favor with the British band, who worshiped the gritty, soulful sound of black American music and were electrified by Tina's performance.
"River Deep"
Krasnow received a call from legendary pop producer Phil Spector, who wanted Tina to sing on a record--without Ike. The normally autocratic husband agreed to the arrangement thanks to a generous financial offer, although Spector stipulated that Ike stay out of the studio. He then went to work on a lavish production of the song "River Deep, Mountain High," a barnstorming soul number that took his patented "wall of sound" approach to new heights. At his request, Tina refrained from the high-pitched wailing and "chitlin circuit" theatrics Ike had always demanded, in favor of a controlled delivery that stuck closer to the written melody. Released late in 1966 with a tremendous advance hype, the song flopped in the U.S.--perhaps due to botched promotion--but was a hit in the United Kingdom. It has, in retrospect, reached the status of a classic.
England, Tina explained, was "the beginning of my escape from Ike Turner"--an escape that wouldn't be realized physically for more than a decade. But the country's rock musicians tended to adore Tina, and this adoration somewhat cushioned the impact of Ike's blows, which rained down upon her resilient flesh with ever greater frequency and fury as he descended into "blow" himself: cocaine. The Revue and Ike's virtual harem began to appear to Tina as, in her words, a "sadistic little cult"; eventually she tried to run away from him, but he tracked her down. Tina even attempted suicide by taking fifty Valium tablets; though the hospital pumped her stomach, she didn't revive until Ike spoke to her, seemingly brushing aside death in his all-encompassing claim on the woman he'd discovered, managed, married, and monopolized.
Ike and Tina scored another big hit with Otis Redding's "I've Been Loving You Too Long" in 1969, but Tina was by this time less interested in R&B than in rock. And it would be rock songs, for the most part written by young white artists, that would provide her biggest hits. In 1970, the Revue scored with their versions of the Beatles' "Come Together" and "I Want to Take You Higher" by funk-rocker Sly Stone; the following year saw their greatest hit, a jumping rock-and-soul rendition of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary." It sold over a million copies. The Revue again toured with the Rolling Stones. They failed to score any more huge hits until "Nutbush City Limits," penned by Tina, stormed up the U.S. and U.K. charts in 1973.
Leaving Ike
Tina had been introduced to Buddhism by a friend, and her chanting helped her survive Ike's increasing abuse and cocaine dependency. In 1975, she starred in her first film, portraying the Acid Queen in Ken Russell's production of the Who's rock opera Tommy. Tina was befriended by costar Ann-Margret, a longtime fan, and appeared on the star's London television special. She also released a solo collection of country songs, but it didn't fare well commercially. Ike and Tina had their last hit together in 1975, "Baby--Get it On," and that year saw the release of Tommy, which garnered Tina rave reviews. Eventually, she vowed to leave Ike--buoyed by predictions of psychics that she would become a big star without him--and fought back against a beating while the band was on tour in Texas in 1976. She then fled with only thirty-six cents and a gas station credit card to her name. Ike pursued her but seemed to realize she was determined to stay away from him. He continued to harass her, however, from a distance, and his threats led her to surrender almost every claim for monetary recompense during their divorce proceedings. "My life's more important," she declared, leaving Ike with the lion's share of their community holdings and shouldering the debt for the shows canceled after she left him.
Tina worked cleaning friends' houses and even living on food stamps while she began putting her life together. Nonetheless, she savored her freedom. Caring for their children for a while, she eventually sent them off: "I had been their mother, I had been his wife. Now it was time to be me." Her 1978 album Rough sank, but she supported herself with cabaret-like shows in Las Vegas and at similar venues. Even so, she remained massively in debt for the canceled performances from the last Ike and Tina tour. Through Ann-Margret she hooked up with Australian manager Roger Davies, who had relocated to the States. He, in turn, revamped her showbiz act, replacing the tuxedoed dancers and elaborate costumes for a stripped-down rock band. She toured Europe in 1980-81, and Davies finally helped her stage the beginning of her U.S. comeback with a well-publicized performance at New York's The Ritz, where Tina Turner brought down the house. A number of celebrities turned up, including members of the Rolling Stones.
Tina's Comeback
Shortly thereafter, Tina joined Rod Stewart in a rendition of his "Hot Legs" on television's Saturday Night Live; the Stones then invited her to tour with them. Her new-wave version of the Temptations' classic "Ball of Confusion," recorded in England with the synthesizer duo Ware and Marsh, appeared on a collection with other star readings and charted well there but wasn't released in America.
Davies, meanwhile, managed to get Tina a deal with Capitol Records, but only for the European market. Her next single with Ware and Marsh, a remake of soul legend Al Green's "Let's Stay Together," was a smash hit in the U.K., and only when imports and dance clubs established its potential in the U.S. did Capitol agree to release it stateside. The company then insisted that Turner cancel her scheduled tour and record an album. Davies insisted that it be recorded in England in tandem with the tour. While she performed, he gathered material for her, and the result, 1984's Private Dancer, would return her to the top in her own country. With hits like "What's Love Got to Do With It," "Better Be Good to Me" and the title song by Dire Straits leader Mark Knopfler, the album shot to number one. Soon she graced the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, took home two American Music Awards, and won two Grammys. In Loder's words, "After a quarter of a century, Tina Turner was an overnight sensation."
After appearing at the gigantic 1984 Live Aid benefit concert, Turner acted in George Miller's 1985 film Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, scoring another hit with the song "We Don't Need Another Hero" from the film's soundtrack. In 1986, she published I, Tina, which wasn't a blockbuster, but told her fans the intimate details of her personal struggles. She sang on the all-star charity recording "We Are the World," won a Grammy for her performance in the "Prince's Trust All-Star Rock Concert" and scored a number of hit singles and albums in the ensuing years. In 1991 she and Ike were inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.
Film Bio and Album a Hit
The year 1993 saw the release of the Touchstone Pictures film version of Tina's life, What's Love Got to Do With It, starring Angela Bassett as Tina and Laurence Fishburne as Ike. It was a smash; Tina rerecorded several hits for the soundtrack and even appeared at the film's end as herself. In the wake of the film's success, she went on tour again. Variety remarked in a review of a 1993 concert that "watching Tina Turner perform is like watching a tornado traverse the landscape as it builds in power and intensity." The Los Angeles Times called her show "more effective as a sweeping piece of theater than as a concert," but admired her "energy and heart." She had reached the pinnacle of her profession, and found love with a younger man, German record executive Erwin Bach. She publicly refused Ike's request to open for her on tour, declaring, in a Time interview, "He must live his own life now. And I must live mine."
When Turner recorded "GoldenEye" in 1995, she joined the ranks of women, including Gladys Knight and Shirley Bassey, who have recorded theme songs for the James Bond film series. The song, which shares the same title as the film, was written by Bono and the Edge, members of the rock group U2. Turner, who admitted to Jet that she is a Bond fan and has always wanted to be a Bond girl, said, "It (the song) sounds like the right track for the movie."
Wildest Dreams
Turner launched her Wildest Dreams album and its accompanying tour in Europe in April of 1996. Both the album and tour were greeted with great success and the album, in turn, was repackaged and released in the United States. Virgin Records U.S. president and CEO Phil Quartararo told Billboard that the album was "probably more suited to America than anything Tina's made in 10 years." The album featured Bono and the Edge's "GoldenEye," as well as a song written by Sheryl Crow. Sting provided guest vocals on the track, "On Silent Wings." The album also featured a cover of John Waite's "Missing You." A U.S. tour was slated to begin in May of 1997.
In conjunction with the Wildest Dreams American tour, Turner signed on as Hanes Hosiery's spokesperson. Roger Davies, Turner's manager commented in Billboard that Turner is a natural choice as Hanes's spokesperson because "She's famous for her legs." Hanes Hosiery president Cathy Volker told Brandweek that Turner was a perfect choice because she "transcends age and color, and touches women in a way that makes them believe they can do just about anything." The Hanes ad campaign featured Turner's hits, "Simply the Best" and "Missing You." Hanes sponsored the Wildest Dreams tour and ran a contest in which fans were asked to send in letters describing their wildest dreams. Winners were then invited along on the tour. "It's really quite different and enjoyable," Turner said of the campaign in Billboard. "And it adds a little bit more [to] going back to America. And it's a new way of introducing myself to an audience."
Announced Retirement
In January of 2000, Turner sang at the Super Bowl. The album Twenty-Four-Seven was released in February and debuted at number 21 on the Billboard Top 100 Albums list. In March, Turner guest-starred on FOX's hit series, Ally McBeal. The sexagenarian was still, as Ray Cooper, U.S. copresident of Virgin Records, told PR Newswire, "the hardest working person in show business." So it understandably came as a shock to many when it was announced the Turner's 2000 tour would be her last. David Menconi wrote in the News & Observer that Turner was someone "you just can't imagine retiring." To Menconi, Turner seems to delight in performing far to much to ever retire. "Turner giving up live performance" Menconi wrote, "is like a bird swearing off flying." Regardless, Turner remained committed to her decision. She told the South China Morning Post, "There comes a point where it is just undignified to be a rock 'n' roll star."
Awards
Selected Awards: Grammy Awards for best rhythm and blues vocal performance by a group (with Ike Turner) for "Proud Mary," 1971; best female pop vocal performance and record of the year for "What's Love Got to Do With It," 1984; and best female rock performance for "Better Be Good to Me," 1984, "One of the Living," 1985, "Back Where You Started," 1986, and Tina Live in Europe, 1988. American Music Awards for best female vocalist and best video performer, 1984; inducted (with Ike Turner) into Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, 1991; Essence award, 1993.
Works
Selected discography
- With Ike Turner
- "A Fool in Love," Sue, 1960.
- Live! The Ike and Tina Turner Show, Warner Bros., 1965.
- "River Deep, Mountain High," Philles, 1966.
- "I've Been Loving You Too Long," Blue Thumb, 1969.
- Outta Season, Blue Thumb, 1969.
- The Hunter, Blue Thumb, 1969.
- In Person, Minit, 1969.
- Come Together, Minit, 1970.
- "I Want to Take You Higher," Liberty, 1970.
- Workin' Together (includes "Proud Mary"), Liberty, 1971.
- Live at Carnegie Hall/What You See Is What You Get, United Artists, 1971.
- 'Nuff Said, United Artists, 1971.
- Feel Good, United Artists, 1972.
- Nutbush City Limits, United Artists, 1973.
- "Baby-Get It On," United Artists, 1975.
- Solo recordings
- On United Artists
- Let Me Touch Your Mind, 1972.
- Tina Turns the Country On, 1974.
- The Acid Queen, 1975.
- Love Explosion, 1977.
- Rough, 1978.
- On Capitol
- Private Dancer (includes "What's Love Got to Do With It," "Better Be Good to Me," and "Private Dancer"), 1984.
- Break Every Rule, 1986.
- Tina Live in Europe, 1988.
- Foreign Affair, 1989.
- On Virgin
- What's Love Got to Do With It (soundtrack), 1993.
- Wildest Dreams, 1996.
- Twenty-Four-Seven, 2000.
- With other artists
- Tommy (soundtrack; appears on "Acid Queen"), RSO, 1975.
- Live Aid, 1984.
- Bryan Adams, Reckless (appears on "It's Only Love"), A&M, 1985.
- Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (soundtrack; performs "We Don't Need Another Hero"), 1985.
- GoldenEye (soundtrack; performs theme "GoldenEye"), 1995.
Further Reading
Books
- Contemporary Musicians, Volume 1, Gale, 1989.
- Rees, Dafydd, and Luke Crampton, Rock Movers & Shakers, Billboard Books, 1991.
- Stambler, Irwin, Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock & Soul, St. Martin's Press, 1989.
- Turner, Tina, with Kurt Loder, I, Tina, Morrow, 1986.
Periodicals- Billboard, August 10, 1996, p. 11.
- Brandweek, August 18, 1997, p. 15.
- Essence, May 1993, p. 108; July 1993, pp. 51-52, 101-04.
- Jet, November 20, 1995, p. 60.
- Los Angeles Times, September 17, 1993, pp. F1, 15.
- Minority Markets Alert, February 1, 1997.
- News & Observer, October 10, 2000.
- Newsweek, June 21, 1993, p. 66; July 5, 1993.
- PR Newswire, February 15, 2000, p. 702.
- South China Morning Post, December 2, 1999.
- Time, June 21, 1993, pp. 64-65.
- Upscale, August 1993, pp. 89-92.
- Vanity Fair, May 1993, pp. 114-21, 166-77.
- Variety, September 22, 1993.
— Simon Glickman and Jennifer M. York
