Anna Mae

For me, the Tina Turner from the 'What's Love Got to Do with It' video was the only one that existed. I had no idea she had been married to Ike and that she had basically reinvented herself and her life from scratch in order to become the icon (and I don't throw that word in the ring without thinking about it) she is. When I watched that video on MTV all I could think about was the power that literally emanated from the singer and the awesome attitude she seemed to project. And that voice. Tina Turner's voice is so particular, so recognizable, that I don't think anybody listens to it and would go 'who's that'?. When she told me that love was a second hand emotion, I believed her. She seemed to know what she was talking about. And she was right. 

I used to love MTV. In the eighties and nineties, there were very few outlets besides MTV if you wanted to be up to date with what was going on in music. And MTV showed me Tina singing and I was enthralled. I did not know she was forty then and that record executives had called her an 'old ***ger' not worth their time. I had no idea she had recorded River Deep Mountain High with Phil Spector.  It wasn't until years later that I learned that Ike was an abusive motherfucker and that Tina had left him with basically 35 cents in her bag and a Mobil gas card. I didn't know that from the divorce, she only demanded to keep her name. A name he had invented for her and given to her without her consent. Her whole life has been an ode to resilience and to the willpower go on and show that you cannot keep a good woman down. From Nutbush to Switzerland. From literally no money to one hundred million albums sold and some of the most successful rock concerts for a female solo artist under her belt. Not bad for a girl from Nutbush.

During the weekend I watched Tina, the HBO documentary that spans sixty years and the several lives lived by Tina Turner, one of the most fantastic performers I've seen. I loved watching sixty year old footage of Tina being, well, Tina. All legs and hair flying and an energy I have seldom seen in any performer. I also got to see her career through her own prism, not through the lens of an abusive, insecure, ignorant man who used her (and many other women) to hide his lack of balls. Tina was both a reminder of how great a performer Tina Turner is and a review of the things I thought I knew about her and her career as a singer. I can't believe it took Tina Turner an autobiography, a movie and a whole career to define her life in her own terms and not by the actions and words of an undeserving, petty man. Tina Turner is her own woman and she did what she needed to do to become the performer we all know today. Want to know what achieving a dream is? Watch footage of Tina in concert in Rio. 

If you have HBO, I strongly recommend you watch the documentary. If you don't, make sure you listen to her Private Dancer record, or read her I, Tina book (she wrote it with Kurt Loder!!). Or if everything fails, go watch the What's Love Got to Do with It movie. Angela Bassett nails that performance. Today, Tina is 81 and is as vital as I wish I will be when I'm that age. She now lives in Switzerland with her husband (they have a fantastic story of how they met!) and has a new book out: 'Happiness Becomes You', which I would actually like to read. This documentary seemed to be a goodbye of sorts for her fans, but I am just more interested in her now than before. And now, if you excuse me, I have a record I need to listen to again. And after that, I'll go watch the episodes in Schitt's Creek where Patrick and David made sure I would get into Tina once again.  

XOXO

P.S. Upton, did you know that What's Love Got to do With It is a song that was recorded by two artists? You should have it in your Who Did It Better? section!