Always Tina Tribute to Tina Turner
One Night Only!! The amazing Always Tina, Tribute to Tina Turner September 26 Lorbero Theater in Santa Barbara, California
Always Tina is a world class tribute to the one and only Tina Turner. High energy, foot stompin. world class rock show!!
Following her separation from Ike, lawsuits mounted for canceled Ike & Tina Turner gigs.[126][127][128] Turner earned income by appearing on TV shows such as The Hollywood Squares, Donny & Marie, The Sonny & Cher Show, and The Brady Bunch Hour.[129][130] After receiving funding from Mike Stewart, an executive at United Artists Records, Turner returned to performing in order to pay off her debts.[131] In 1977, she formed a new band and re-emerged with new costumes designed by Bob Mackie.[132] She took her act to smaller venues and headlined a series of cabaretshows at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.[133][134][135] Later that year, she embarked on her first solo concert tour in Australia.[136][137]
Turner and Tom Jones starred in an HBO TV special that was shot at the Warner Theatre in Washington, DC, in September 1978.[138] Around that time, her third solo album, Rough, was released on United Artists with distribution in North America and Europe on EMI Records.[139] That album, along with its 1979 follow-up, Love Explosion, which included a brief diversion to disco music, failed to chart, so United Artists and Turner parted ways.[140] Without the premise of a hit record, she continued performing and headlined her second tour.[141]
In 1979, Australian manager Roger Davies agreed to manage Turner after seeing her perform at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.[142] In early 1979, Turner worked in Italy as a regular performer on the Rete 1 TV series Luna Park, hosted by Pippo Baudo and Heather Parisi.[143] Later that year, she embarked on a controversial five-week tour of South Africa during the apartheid regime.[144] She later regretted the decision, stating that she was “naive about the politics in South Africa” at the time.[145]
In October 1981, Rod Stewart attended Turner’s show at the Ritz in New York City and invited her to perform “Hot Legs” with him on Saturday Night Live.[146] In November, Turner opened three shows for the Rolling Stones during their 1981 American Tour.[147] Turner performed in March 1982 in the Willem Ruis show (Netherlands), which resulted in the hit “Shame, Shame, Shame” reaching No. 47 in the Netherlands. In 1982 Turner’s recording of the Temptations‘ “Ball of Confusion” for the UK production team B.E.F. became a hit in European dance clubs.[148] In 1982, Turner also appeared on the album Music of Quality and Distinction Volume 1 by B.E.F., a side project of Heaven 17, singing “Ball of Confusion”. She filmed a music video for “Ball of Confusion” that aired on the fledgling music video channel MTV, becoming one of the first black Americanartists to gain airtime on the channel.[149] Also in 1982, Turner appeared as a special guest on Chuck Berry‘s television special performed at The Roxy in West Hollywood.[150]
Career resurgence and superstardom: 1983–2000
Until 1983, Turner was considered a nostalgia act, performing mostly at hotel ballrooms and clubs in the United States.[151] During her second stint at the Ritz, she signed with Capitol Records in 1983.[152] In November 1983, she released her cover of Al Green‘s “Let’s Stay Together“, which was produced by B.E.F. It reached several European charts, including No. 6 in the UK.[153][154] In the US, the song peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 1 on Hot Dance Club Songs, and No. 3 on Hot Black Singles.[155]
Following the single’s surprise success, Capitol Records approved a studio album. Turner had two weeks to record her Private Dancer album, which was released in May 1984.[151] It reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and No. 2 in the United Kingdom.[156][157] Private Dancer was certified 5× Platinum in the United States,[158] and sold 10 million copies worldwide, becoming her most successful album.[159][160] Also in May 1984, Capitol issued the album’s second single, “What’s Love Got to Do with It“;[161] the song had previously been recorded by the pop group Bucks Fizz.[162] Following the album’s release, Turner joined Lionel Richie as the opening act on his tour.[151]
On September 1, 1984, Turner achieved her first and only No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “What’s Love Got to Do with It”.[155] The follow-up singles “Better Be Good to Me” and “Private Dancer” were both US top 10 hits.[163] The same year, she duetted with David Bowie on a cover of Iggy Pop‘s “Tonight“. Released as a single in November, it peaked at No. 53 in both the UK and the US.[164] At his spring 1985 ready-to-wear runway show presented in fall of ’84, Paris designer Karl Lagerfeld put his models in Tina Turner wigs and said he was “mad for her.”[165]
Turner culminated her comeback when she won three Grammys at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Award for Record of the Year for “What’s Love Got to Do with It”.[64] In February 1985, she embarked on her second world tour to support the Private Dancer album. Two nights were filmed at Birmingham, England‘s NEC Arena and later released as a concert on home video. She was often dressed in clothes by designer Azzedine Alaïa for this tour and sometimes dedicated songs to him.[166] During this time, she also contributed vocals to the USA for Africa benefit song “We Are the World“.[167]
Turner’s success continued when she traveled to Australia to star opposite Mel Gibson in the 1985 post-apocalyptic film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. The movie provided her with her first acting role in ten years; she portrayed the glamorous Aunty Entity, the ruler of Bartertown.[168]Upon release, critical response to her performance was generally positive.[169] The film was a global success, grossing more than $36 million in the United States.[170] Turner later received the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress for her role in the film.[171] She recorded two songs for the film, “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)” and “One of the Living“; both became hits, with the latter winning her a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.[64] In July 1985, Turner performed at Live Aid alongside Mick Jagger.[172] Their performance shocked observers when Jagger ripped her skirt off.[173][174] Turner released a duet, “It’s Only Love“, with Bryan Adams.[175] It was nominated for a Grammy Award, and the music video won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Stage Performance.[176]
In 1986, Turner released her sixth solo album, Break Every Rule, which reached No. 1 in four countries and sold over five million copies worldwide within its first year of release.[177] The album sold more than a million copies in the United States and Germany alone.[158][178] The album featured the singles “Typical Male“, “Two People“, “What You Get Is What You See“, and the Grammy-winning “Back Where You Started“. Prior to the album’s release, Turner published her autobiography I, Tina, which became a bestseller. That year, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[179] Her Break Every Rule World Tour, which began in March 1987 in Munich, Germany, was the third highest-grossing tour by a female artist in North America that year.[180] In January 1988, Turner performed in front of approximately 180,000 at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, setting a Guinness World Record at the time for the largest paying concert attendance for a solo artist.[181][182] In April 1988, Turner released the Tina Live in Europe album, which won a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.[183] After taking time off following the end of the tour, she emerged with the Foreign Affair album in 1989. It reached No. 1 in eight countries, including in the UK (5× Platinum), her first number-one album there. The album sold over six million copies worldwide and included the international hit single “The Best“.[184][185]
In 1990, Turner embarked on her Foreign Affair European Tour, which drew in nearly four million spectators—breaking the record for a European tour that was previously set by the Rolling Stones.[186] In October 1991 Turner released her first greatest hits compilation Simply the Best, which sold seven million copies worldwide.[187] The album is her biggest seller in the UK, where it is certified 8× Platinum with more than two million copies sold.[188]
Private Dancer was the beginning of my success in England and basically Europe has been very supportive of my music. … [I am] not as big as Madonna [in the United States]. I’m as big as Madonna in Europe. I’m as big as, in some places [in Europe], as the Rolling Stones [sic].
In 1991, Ike & Tina Turner were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[190] Ike Turner was incarcerated at the time and Tina Turner did not attend.[191] Turner stated through her publicist that she was taking a leave of absence following her tour and she felt “emotionally unequipped to return to the U.S. and respond to the night of celebration in the manner she would want”.[192] Phil Spector accepted the award on their behalf.[193]
In 1993, the semi-autobiographical film What’s Love Got to Do with It was released.[194] The film starred Angela Bassett as Tina Turner and Laurence Fishburne as Ike Turner; they received Best Actress and Best Actor Oscar nominations for their roles.[195] While she was not heavily involved in the film, Turner contributed to the soundtrack for What’s Love Got to Do with It, re-recording old songs and several new songs. The single “I Don’t Wanna Fight” from the soundtrack was a top 10 hit in the US and UK.[196][197] In 1993 Turner embarked on her What’s Love? Tour, which visited primarily North America with a few shows in Australasia and Europe.
In 1995, Turner returned to the studio, releasing “GoldenEye“, which was written by Bono and the Edge of U2 for the James Bond film GoldenEye.[198] In 1996 Turner released the Wildest Dreams album, accompanied by her “Wildest Dreams Tour“. In September 1999, before celebrating her 60th birthday, Turner released the dance-infused song “When the Heartache Is Over” as the leading single from her tenth and final solo album, Twenty Four Seven.[199] The success of the single and the following tour helped the album become certified Gold by the RIAA.[158] The Twenty Four Seven Tour was the highest-grossing tour of 2000, grossing over $120 million.[200] Her two concerts at Wembley Stadium were recorded by the director David Mallet and released in the DVD One Last Time Live in Concert.[201] At a July 2000 concert in Zurich, Switzerland, Turner announced that she would retire at the end of the tour.[202]
Later career: 2001–2021
In November 2004, Turner released All the Best, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in 2005, her highest-charting album in the United States.[203] The album went platinum in the US three months after its release and reached platinum status in seven other countries, including the UK.[204][205]
In December 2005, Turner was recognized by the Kennedy Center Honors at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, and was elected to join an elite group of entertainers.[206]
In February 2006, Turner released “Teach Me Again“, a duet single with Italian singer-songwriter Elisa that was recorded for the anthology film All the Invisible Children.[207][208] The whole revenue from the single’s sales was donated to charity projects for children led by the World Food Programme and UNICEF.[207]
Turner made a public comeback in February 2008 at the Grammy Awards, where she performed alongside Beyoncé.[209][210] In addition, she won a Grammy as a featured artist on River: The Joni Letters.
In October 2008, Turner embarked on her first tour in nearly ten years with the Tina!: 50th Anniversary Tour.[211][212] In support of the tour, Turner released a greatest hits compilation. The tour was a huge success and became one of the bestselling tours in history.[200] In 2009, Turner officially retired from performing.[213][214]
In 2009, Turner co-founded a global music foundation, Beyond Foundation,[215] with Swiss Christian musician Regula Curti and Swiss Tibetan Buddhist Dechen Shak-Dagsay. Turner co-released four albums of spiritual or uplifting music released through projects with Beyond: Buddhist and Christian Prayers (2009), Children (2011), Love Within (2014), and Awakening (2017). As of 2023, the Swiss Beyond Foundation remains active and enables the collaboration of musical artists from different parts of the world.[216]
In April 2010, mainly due to an online campaign by fans of Rangers Football Club, Turner’s 1989 hit, “The Best“, returned to the UK singles chart, peaking at No. 9. This made Turner the first female recording artist in UK chart history to score top 40 hits in six consecutive decades (1960s–2010s).[217] In 2011, Beyond‘s second album Children – With Children United in Prayer followed and charted again in Switzerland. Turner promoted the album by performing on TV shows in Germany and Switzerland. In April 2013, Turner appeared on the cover of the German issue of Vogue magazine at the age of 73, becoming the oldest person to be featured on the cover of Vogue.[218] In February 2014, Parlophone Recordsreleased a new compilation titled Love Songs.[213]
In December 2016 Turner announced that she had been working on Tina, a musical based on her life story, in collaboration with Phyllida Lloyd and Stage Entertainment.[219] The show opened at the Aldwych Theatre in London in April 2018 with Adrienne Warren in the lead role.[220] Warren reprised her role on Broadway in the fall of 2019.[221]
Turner received the 2018 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and her second memoir, My Love Story, was released in October 2018.[222][223] In 2020, she came out of retirement to collaborate with Norwegian producer Kygo on a remix of “What’s Love Got to Do with It“.[224] With this release, she became the first artist to have a top 40 hit in seven consecutive decades in the UK.[225]
In 2020, Turner released her third book, Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good. She co-wrote the book with American author Taro Gold and Swiss singer Regula Curti.[226] It was chosen by Amazon‘s editors as a Best Nonfiction book of 2020.[227] In 2021, Turner appeared in the documentary film Tina directed by Dan Lindsay and T. J. Martin.[228]
In October 2021, Turner sold her music rights to BMG Rights Management for an estimated $50 million, with Warner Music still handling distribution of her music.[229] Later that month, Turner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist, accepting her award via satellite from her home near Zurich, Switzerland.[230]
