Another blow was shot to the music world once again. The queen of rock n roll has left her throne and will now reign in the skies. Tina Turner, the groundbreaking and legendary soul singer has died at the age of 83. Instantly, millions took to Twitter and social media to express their sympathies including Ronnie Wood and Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones to Diana Ross. Born on November 26th, 1939 in Brownsville, Tennessee, Anna Mae Bullock (Tina Turner) was born into a sharecropper family. She began to sing during her teenage years and she surrounded herself within the realm of R&B/soul and blues. In 1956, she met her now infamous husband Ike Turner at a gig for Ike's current band the Kings of Rhythms. From there, they formed The Ike and Tina Turner Revenue. The duo turned heads with their 1960 classic "A Fool In Love" and the Revenue became famous for their legendary live performances. In the late 60's, infamous record producer Phil Spector was eager to produce Tina. The result ended being the groundbreaking "River Deep Mountain High" which bought Tina and Ike critical acclaim and became a prime example of the famous "wall of sound" production style of Phil Spector. Ike and Tina Turner's biggest hit was a cover of the CCR classic "Proud Mary" off their album 1971 album Working Together. Tina is at her vocal peak here as the song starts off with a soulful/gospel vibe and then explodes into a rollicking soul masterpiece. What's more empowering is that between all that successTina battled her own demons as she suffered intolerable domestic abuse from Ike and they finally divorced in 1976. Then in 1984, Turner experienced the ultimate comeback. That year she released the lauded Private Dancer and the album was a commercial and financial success. " What's Love Got To Do With It" and 'Better Be Good To Me" became staples of the decade. Post Private Dancer, Turner had another massive hit with "The Best" off her 1989 album Foreign Affair. Recently, HBO released an original documentary titled Tina which was released in 2021 to great praise and I highly recommend checking it out. She was a trailblazer, an icon, and sex symbol. First and foremost, she was a singer and by god was her voice ever so powerful along with her perseverance. Fly high Mrs. Turner.
