Tina Turner 2002

Tina Turner 2002 Biography: After 40 years in the music business, Tina Turner has become one of the most commercially-successful international female rock stars to date. Her sultry, powerful voice, her incredible legs, her time-tested beauty and her unforgettable story all contribute to her legedary status. Born to a mixed race (Native and African American) sharcropping family in the segregated South, Anna Mae Bullock (Tina) and her sister were basically abandoned by their sparring parents early on. After her grandmother's death, she eventually moved to St. Louis to reunite with her mother. This opened up a whole new world of R & B nightclubs to the precocious 16-year-old. Before long she had given up early aspirations of a nursing career and had joined Ike Turner's Kings of Rythym. Ike Turner wanted to turn his local fame into national stardom and quickly saw the potential of the talented, but unmolded, teen-aged Anna Mae. One thing led to another; they got married in Mexico between the birth of Tina's two sons - one son was Ike's and the other was the result of an earlier relationship of Tina's. Before too long the Ike and Tina Turner Review was tearing up large and small R&B and Soul venues throughout the early and mid 1960s. The hits were relatively few, but the unsurpassed energy and excitement generated by the live stage show (read: Tina) made the Revue a solid touring act, along with the likes of James Brown and Ray Charles. Their big "crossover" break came in 1966 with the recording of the Phil Spector production, "River Deep, Mountain High". While it was a commercial flop in the US, it was a monster hit in Europe -- the start of Tina's European superstar status, a status which never faded during her long stint of relative obscurity in the US (late 70s-through the early 80s). The Revue entered the 1970's as a top touring and recording act, with Tina becoming more and more recognized as the star-power behind the group's international success. Ike, while having been justly described as an excellent musician, a shewd businessman and the initial "brains" behind the Revue, was also described (by Tina and others) as a violent, drug-addicted wife beater who was not above frequently knocking Tina (and other women) around both publically and privately. Tina finally had her fill of this in 1976, when she fled the marriage (and the Revue) with the now famous 36 cents and a Mobil gasoline credit card. Tina, now nearing 40, climbed a long, and at times humiliating, trek back to superstardom through working many substandard gigs and and performing current Top 40 hits and old Ike & Tina tunes at hotel ballrooms and supper clubs. She now claims she was having the time of her life at this point, just performing on her own and getting away from Ike. She refused to take a cent from the divorce, and was strapped with many huge debts as well. Taking on new management around 1980 was Tina's shewdest career move to date. With Roger Davies as her manager, before long Tina was back in the saddle with her smash 1984 comeback album, Private Dancer. The rest is rock and roll history. Since that time, Tina has toured the globe several times, released several more hit records (none as big as Private Dancer) and appeared in several movies (her admitted dream is to cross over to films). Tina, now nearing 60, has apparently semi-retired, but she can still thrill audiences seemingly through any venue she desires: concerts, TV appearances, charity benefits. Tina Turner is the undisputed Queen of Rock and Roll. ENTER HERE