We don't need another hero - Tina Turner - 1985

Tina Turner

We don't need another hero

Tina Turner

Fonte: rockol.it

Tina Turner nasce come Anna Mae Bullock a Nutbush, Tennessee, il 26 novembre 1939. Si trasferisce nel 1956 a St. Louis per rincontrare la madre, che l’ha abbandonata anni prima; qui conosce il musicista Ike Turner, a cui chiede se può cantare con lui. Dopo un 

iniziale scetticismo, Ike accetta, anche per l’insistenza caparbia di Tina. La ragazza diventa così una corista negli show di Turner all’età di diciotto anni.

Nel 1960, Tina sostituisce una cantante nella registrazione della canzone “A fool in love”, 

brano che diventa un successo nella classifica R&B americana; è l’inizio di un sodalizio tra Ike e la giovane Anna, ribattezzata appunto Tina proprio da lui stesso. La band viene rinominata “Ike and Tina Turner revue”e nel 1962 Tina e Ike si sposano.

I due registrano una serie di grandi canzoni lungo tutti gli anni Sessanta. Oltre a "A fool in love", anche "It's gonna work out fine", "I idolize you", e "River deep, mountain high"; a questi successi originali vanno di pari passo le rivisitazioni di classici quali "Come together", 

"Honky tonk woman" e "I want to take you higher". È soprattutto la cover di “Proud Mary” dei Creedence Clearwater Revival nel 1968 a dare al duo e alla band la grande popolarità.

Tuttavia, i rapporti tra Ike e Tina si deteriorano, soprattutto per l’eccessivo controllo che 

l’uomo pretende di avere su di lei e sulla sua carriera. Verso la metà degli anni Settanta la situazione tesa comincia a ripercuotersi anche nella professione: le vendite sono in calo e l’ultimo successo risale a "Nutbush city limits” del 1973.

Ike comunque produce il primo album da solista di Tina, intitolato TINA TURNS THE COUNTRY ON!, che viene pubblicato nel 1974 con l’etichetta fondata proprio dai Turner, la Bolic Sound. Il disco non riscuote grande consensi e più o meno negli stessi anni la 

cantante lascia il marito per cercare di ritrovare se stessa, anche abbracciando la fede buddista.

Senza più il sostegno di Ike, Tina comincia a esibirsi da sola, supportando questa sua nuova carriera in diverse apparizioni in tv. Divorzia nel 1978 dopo sedici anni di matrimonio, accusando più tardi l’ex consorte di abusi e di grande dipendenza dalla droga, fatti poi tutti 

raccontanti nell’autobiografia “I”, da cui viene tratto il film “What's love got to do with it?”.

Sempre nel 1978 esce il suo primo album da solista ROUGH, non molto fortunato come il successivo LOVE EXPLOSION del 1979.

Tina comincia una lunga tournée in giro per il mondo della durata di tre anni; la sua carriera infatti non decolla fino al 1982 con il rifacimento del brano dei Temptations “Ball of confusion”. I produttori sono così impressionati che la persuadono a incidere una canzone 

di Al Green intitolata “Let’s stay together”, che si rivela essere un grande successo raggiungendo il primo posto nella classifica dance di Billboard.

A questo punto Tina riesce a registrare un altro album da solista, PRIVATE DANCER, sotto 

etichetta Capitol - che catapulta la cantante nell’olimpo degli artisti di fama internazionale – vincendo nel 1985 cinque Grammy, tra cui miglior album dell’anno, miglior performance femminile e miglior performance vocale. Il disco vende ben undici milioni di copie e diventa 

il maggior successo come solista di Tina.

Dopo una serie di collaborazioni – tra cui quella con Brian Adams e Mick Jagger - la Turner pubblica nel 1986 il suo nuovo album BREAK EVERY RULE, un altro grande successo mondiale, che fa ancora incetta di Grammy. Nel 1989 viene pubblicato FOREIGN AFFAIR, 

che vende ben sei milioni di copie, da cui viene estratto il conosciutissimo singolo “The best”.

Nel 1991 esce la prima compilation di greatest hits SIMPLY THE BEST, che contiene anche tre inediti. Nel 1995 – dopo aver cantanto il tema principale del film di James Bond dal titolo “GoldEye” - pubblica WILDEST DREAMS, supportato poi da uno dei dei tour più costosi 

della storia, con quasi cento milioni di dollari di costi. Alla fine delle date dal vivo, duetta con Eros Ramazzotti nel brano "Cose della vita/ Can't stop thinking of you”.

TWENTY FOUR SEVEN esce nel novembre del 1999 e - seppur non sia un grande 

successo come i precedenti – riesce comunque a raggiungere il platino.

Dal 2000 Tina non tiene più concerti, ma continua nelle collaborazioni e nelle sue diverse partecipazioni in tv e non solo. Nel 2004, realizza un altro greatest hits, ALL THE BEST, 

che raggiunge il secondo posto nella classifica di Billboard. Alla fine del 2005 viene insignita del “Kennedy center honors” per il suo importante ruolo all’interno del mondo musicale. 

L’anno successivo canta assieme a Elisa il brano "Teach me again" per il film “All the invisible children”.

Nel febbraio del 2008 Tina si esibisce assieme a Beyoncé alla cerimonia dei Grammy, dimostrando ancora una volta di essere un’artista di grande carisma e intraprende un tour d’addio alle scene. Diventata buddista e “felicemente pensionata”, nel 2010 realizza, 

assieme a Regula Curti, Seda Bagcan e Dechen Shak-Dagsay BEYOND: BUDDISHIST AND CHRISTIAN PRAYERS. Dopo la compilation per San Valentino 2014 LOVE SONGS, Turner partecipa a una nuova registrazione del gruppo svizzero Beyond, LOVE WITHIN.

Source: biography.com

Tina Turner is an American singer and actress who topped the pop music charts in the 1980s.

Tina Turner - Meeting Ike (TV-14; 02:52) One night in St. Louis Tina Turner, then Anna Mae Bullock, went with her sister Aillene to a nightclub called The Manhattan where Kings of Rhythm perform. It was that night that she met Ike Turner.

Born in Tennessee on November 26, 1939, Tina Turner moved to St. Louis, Missouri, in the 1950s and met Ike Turner, a musician with whom she began to perform and record. In the early '60s, they became known as the Ike and Tina Turner Review, achieving popular 

acclaim for the powerful live performances and recordings. Tina left Ike in the '70s, however, after enduring years of physical abuse. Following a slow start to her solo career, Turner achieved massive success with her 1984 album, Private Dancer, which sold more than 20 

million copies worldwide. Since that time, she has continued to top the pop music charts with subsequent recordings, has won countless awards, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has starred in several films. In July 2013, she also married her longtime boyfriend Erwin Bach.

Tina Turner was born Anna Mae Bullock on November 26, 1939, in Nutbush, Tennessee. Her parents, Floyd and Zelma Bullock, were poor sharecroppers, who, early in her life, split up and left Turner and her sister to be raised by their grandmother. When her grandmother died in the early 1950s, Turner moved to St. Louis, Missouri, to be with her mother.

Barely in her teens, Turner quickly immersed herself in St. Louis's R&B scene, spending much of her time at Club Manhattan. It was there, in 1956, that she met rock-and-roll 

pioneer Ike Turner, whose band the Kings of Rhythm was a fixture at the club. It wasn't long before Turner was performing with the group, and she quickly became the highlight of their show.

In 1960, when another singer failed to show up for a Kings of Rhythm recording session, Turner sang the lead on a track titled "A Fool in Love." The record was then sent to a radio station in New York, and was released as "Ike and Tina Turner." The song became a huge 

R&B success, and soon crossed over into the pop charts. Before long, the group was touring as the Ike and Tina Turner Review and became known for their electrifying stage 

performances. The group also capitalized on the success of "A Fool in Love" by releasing a string of successful follow-up singles in 1961, including "It's Gonna Work Out Fine," "Poor Fool" and "Tra La La La La."

With their popularity growing, Ike and Tina were married in Tijuana, Mexico, in 1962, and two years later their son, Ronnie, was born (they had four sons in all, one from an earlier relationship of Tina's, and two from an earlier relationship of Ike's).

In 1966, Tina and Ike's success reached new heights when they recorded the album River Deep, Mountain High with superstar record producer Phil Spector. The title track was unsuccessful in the United States, but it was a massive hit in Europe and brought the duo 

new fame. In 1969 they toured as the opening act for the Rolling Stones, winning themselves still more fans. Their popularity continued well into the 1970s, with the group charting with tracks such as "Proud Mary" and "Nutbush City Limits." In 1975, Tina also appeared in her first film, playing the Acid Queen in the Who's Tommy.

But despite their success as a musical duo, by the mid-1970s, Tina and Ike's marriage was in shambles. In 1976, the couple separated both personally and professionally, and in 1978, they were officially divorced, with Tina citing Ike's physically abusive behavior, frequent 

infidelities and increasing drug and alcohol use. In the years following her divorce, Tina's solo career got off to a slow a slow start. According to Tina, when she left Ike, she had "36 cents and a gas station credit card." To make ends meet and to care for her children, she 

used food stamps and even worked cleaning houses. But she also continued to perform, only in lower-profile venues, and made guest appearances on other artists' records, though without achieving any notable success.

In 1983, however, Turner's solo career finally began to take off when she recorded a remake of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together." The following year, she exploded back into the record industry when her much-anticipated solo album, Private Dancer, was released to 

overwhelming critical and popular success. It went on to win four Grammy Awards and eventually sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. By this time, Turner had become 

known for her uniquely energetic performance style and raspy singing style, as well as for her signature look—typically performing in short skirts that expose her famous legs, and with voluminously styled hair.

In 1985, Turner returned to the screen, starring opposite Mel Gibson in the film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (for which she contributed the song "We Don't Need Another Hero), and in 1986, she published her autobiography, I, Tina, which would later be adapted as the 

film What's Love Got to Do with It? (Her soundtrack for the film would go double platinum.) The year 1986 also saw the release of Tina Turner's second solo album, Break Every Rule 

(1986). Tina Live in Europe followed in 1988 and won the Grammy for Female Rock Vocal Performance, and Foreign Affair, which included the hit single "(Simply) The Best," outdid even Private Dancer in worldwide sales.

During the 1990s, Turner released Wildest Dreams and Twenty Four Seven. She also made several recordings for film soundtracks, including "Goldeneye" and "He Lives in You." In 

1991, Ike and Tina Turner were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Ike was unable to attend the ceremony, however, as he was serving time for drug possession (he died of an overdose in 2007).

Though she is now semi-retired, Tina Turner does make rare appearances and recordings. In 2008 she embarked on her "Tina! 50th Anniversary Tour." It became one of the highest-selling ticketed shows of 2008 and 2009.

In 2013, it was announced that Turner, at the age of 73, was engaged to marry her longtime partner, German record executive Erwin Bach. The couple has been living together in Switzerland since 1995. In July of 2013, the couple got married in Zurich, Switzerland, only months after Turner gained her Swiss citizenship in the spring.