US singer Tina Turner performs on 30 March 1987. Photo: Bertrand GUAY / AFP
There’s a raw edginess to Tina Turner’s music, rooted in soul, funk and the blues.
Much like Elvis Presley a decade and a bit before she hit the scene, she became the voice of the ’70s and ’80s, her music, anthems that stretched across several generations.
Presley had the hip sway, Turner had the legs. Both fought through tragedy, Elvis didn’t make it and Tina Turner’s solo career blossomed because of it.
In each case, the music has never died and immortalised both. Turner was an accomplished artist, but no Celine Dion.
She was sexy, her stage performances unforgettable and her short, trashy skirts and minis exuded a confidence that she carried like few artists of her generation could. And there was a lot more to Tina than (Simply) The Best or Private Dancer. Her covers of Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love, The Who’s Acid Queen and a Mick Jagger duet with Honky Tonk Woman were arguably as good as the originals.
She was one of Presley’s favourite performers and she often honoured him with a driving live version of Suspicious Minds. Her raspy, Baptist choir vocals shredding prejudice and sanctifying what’s become the world’s notion of an iconic female rocker.
ALSO READ: WATCH: Iconic Tina Turner passed away at the age of 83