Tina Turner: an immense talent with a voice and back catalogue that unites disparate music lovers
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Saturday, May 27, 2023
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Born in 1939, Tina was older than my mother and nearly 40 years older than me.
Key Points:
- Born in 1939, Tina was older than my mother and nearly 40 years older than me.
- But to me, she was a complete goddess from the moment I first encountered her.
- She remains the only Black woman to have been inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
- It was also a sound that enabled her to move beyond soul and blues in her solo career.
A genre-fluid singer
- The very next year, she performed the role of the Acid Queen in film of The Who’s psychedelic operetta fantasy, Tommy.
- The role gave its name to an album featuring several notable rock covers by Turner, such as Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love.
- From the early 1980s, Turner made what has repeatedly been described as one of the most remarkable career comebacks of the century.
- Even 40 years on, the idea of a woman in her mid-40s singing a pop song about sex work is somewhat surprising.
A musical uniter
- Turner’s musical agility allowed her to inhabit contradictory musical spaces simultaneously.
- There is an exuberance here that crosses times and identities to bring a crowd together in the ritual of “rolling on the river”.
- There alongside them is Turner with songs like The Best, We Don’t Need Another Hero and Nutbush City Limits.