Why do we love Tina?
Life didn't start off easy for Anna Mae Bullock. Deserted by first her mother and then her father, she led a lonely childhood with her sister in Nutbush, Tennessee, until they moved to St. Louis in their teens. Anna Mae soon changed her name to Tina and started singing for a local club-band leader, Ike Turner, whom she would later marry. Her time with Ike was tumultuous—she rose to stardom, dominating stages with a soulful voice and raw sex appeal unmatched by any other female vocalist—but in private, Ike was jealous and abusive. When Tina finally broke free, emboldened by her first acting role in The Who's Tommy, her career sank like a stone, and she was relegated to the game-show/Vegas Lounge circuit. Her indomitable spirit and the huge impact she'd had on many rock gods helped her climb out of the abyss. With a spectacular comeback record in 1984, the sultry singer was back in her element, showing that a woman and an artist can get even better with age and adversity. Since that album, Tina has perched comfortably atop her field. Today, at the age of 62, she leads a quiet life in Switzerland. She recently completed her last stunning tour, saying she didn't want to get to the point where her stage antics were undignified. But we hope she'll come to realize, as we do, that could never happen.
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Biography:
Born - November 26, 1939
Brownsville, Tenn.
Achievements:
- Has had over 30 Top 40 hits in the United States, including 10 Top Ten hits. Her biggest hit, "What's Love Got to Do with It," reached number one and stayed there for three weeks.
- Her comeback album, Private Dancer, released in July 1984, stayed in the Top Ten album chart until May 1995, selling more than 10 million copies worldwide.
- Won Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Female Vocal Performance in 1985 for "What's Love Got to Do with lt," and also won a Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal for "Better Be Good To Me" that same year.
- In 1985, she participated in the recording of "We Are the World" and gave a memorable duet with Mick Jagger at the concert Live Aid, both for famine relief in Africa.
- Her critically lauded performance in the third Mad Max movie, Beyond Thunderdome, spawned her fourth consecutive Top Ten hit with "We Don't Need Another Hero."
- In 1986, she wrote her best-selling autobiography, I, Tina, which went on to be adapted into the Oscar-nominated film, What's Love Got to Do with It, in 1993.
- She won the Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance twice more: in 1986 for "Back Where You Started"; and in 1988 for Tina Live in Europe.
- Has toured steadily since her stunning comeback album, and has sold out practically every concert date she has played all over the world for the past sixteen years.
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