Anna Bullock was born in Nutbush, Tennessee. During World War II, Anna and her sister Alline stayed with their paternal grandparents when their parents moved to Knoxville to work at a defense facility. After the war, the sisters joined their parents in Knoxville, but returned to Nutbush two years later.
Anna sang in the Spring Hill Baptist Church. Her mother ran out of an abusive relationship, and when Anna was 13, her father remarried and moved to Detroit, leaving Anna to live with her grandmother in Brownsville. Anna joined the cheerleading squad and the girls' basketball team at Carver High School. When her grandmother died, Anna moved to be with her mother in St. Louis, Missouri.
After graduation from Sumner High School, Bullock worked as a nurse's aide at Barnes-Jewish Hospital; being a nurse was her aspiration.
Anna and her sister began going to nightclubs in the area and spotted Ike Turner and his band, the Kings of Rhythm. During an intermission one night, Kings of Rhythm drummer Gene Washington took a microphone to the table where Anna and Aillene were. Anna took it and began singing. Stunned by her voice, Ike asked her if she knew other songs. By the end of the night, Anna was singing lead, and soon joined the band full-time.
In 1959, Anna first recorded under the name Little Ann, but soon changed her name to Tina, and by 1960, she was recording and performing as a member of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. The duo recorded several hits, including a version of "Proud Mary", first made a classic by Creedence Clearwater Revival, and "Nutbush City Limits".
(It is important to note that steady work with other artists does not count as a solo performer for the purposes of this ranking. Thus, her work with Ike does not count in the tabulation of points for this special. When we present The Top 100 Women in Rock, you can bet Turner will be higher...)
In 1974, Turner went to London to film the rock musical Tommy, in which she famously played The Acid Queen and sang the song of the same name. Turner also released two solo albums, Tina Turns the Country On! in 1974 and Acid Queen in 1975, neither of which did well commercially, although the former was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.
Turner suffered numerous instances of severe domestic abuse from Ike prior to their split in 1976 and subsequent divorce in 1978.
After the divorce, Tina set out to revive her career. Under the direction of Richard Stewart, executive at United Artists Records, Turner performed in Las Vegas, Nevada and small clubs throughout the United States.
After an appearance on Olivia Newton-John's musical variety television show in Australia, Turner sought out her management team that included Roger Davies. After Davies saw Tina perform in San Francisco in 1980, he agreed to become her manager.
In 1981, Turner performed with Rod Stewart on Saturday Night Live and on several dates of Stewart's United States tour. Turner then opened for the Rolling Stones on a few dates, and gained much notoriety as a live performer. The following year, Turner signed a singles recording contract with Capitol Records.
The success of the single caused Capitol to rethink its deal and they changed the terms of the contract to include three albums by Turner. Capitol demanded an immediate album, and what was to follow comprises the most amazing comeback in music history. Turner selected the songs and recorded the album Private Dancer in two months.
Turner embarked on a successful world tour to promote the album. Private Dancer went on to sell five million copies. A remake of the great Ann Peebles and Eruption song "I Can't Stand The Rain" was not released in the U.S., but reached #6 in Australia and #9 in Germany. Turner was then invited to sing on the classic "We Are The World" for USA for Africa.
Turner capped off her amazing return when she captured four Grammy Awards: Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (for "What's Love Got To Do With It", Album of the Year and Best Female Rock Vocal Performance (for "Better Be Good To Me"). Tina won six Billboard Music Awards: Artist of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year ("What's Love Got To Do With It"), Soul/R&B Artist of the Year and Comeback of the Year. She also won American Music Awards for Favorite Female R&B Artist and Favorite Female R&B Video Artist (she was also nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Video Artist.)
Turner published her autobiography I, Tina, in which she talked about her roots and her abusive marriage to Ike. In the summer, Tina was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Turner toured Europe and in January of 1988, her concert with Paul McCartney broke the record for the largest paid attendance of all-time (app. 184,000) at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Turner received her 16th Grammy nomination for the album for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. In 1991, Turner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and received the World Music Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.
Tina received another Grammy nomination for "I Don't Wanna' Fight" for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Following the movie, Turner toured the United States for the first time in seven years. Afterwards, she moved to Switzerland and she is now a Swiss citizen. In 1995, Tina received the Legend Award from the World Music Awards. Turner also recorded "GoldenEye" for the James Bond movie of the same name.
In 1996, Turner released the album Wildest Dreams. It too went Gold She enjoyed some spotty success around the world: #2 in Austria with her duet with Barry White ("In Your Wildest Dreams") and #8 in France with "Unfinished Sympathy".
Turner toured the world again, and then took a break before appearing in the VH-1 special Divas Live '99. Turner's song with Ike--"River Deep-Mountain High" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. To celebrate her 60th birthday, Turner released the album Twenty Four Seven, which went Gold thanks to a tour in 2000 that grossed over $100 million, the most successful tour of the year. The tour put Turner over every other solo concert performer in music history at the time for attendance, according to Guinness World Records.
In 2002, Tennessee changed the name of State Route 19 between Brownsville and Nutbush to Tina Turner Highway. In 2003, Turner recorded "Great Spirits" with Phil Collins for the movie Brother Bear. A second Ike & Tina Turner hit ("Proud Mary") was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Tina's compilation album All the Best was released in 2004 and went Platinum.
In 2005, Turner was recognized at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. with the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors. U.S. President George W. Bush referred to Turner's legs as "the most famous in show business".
In 2008, Turner shared the Grammy for the project River: The Joni Letters, and toured for the first time in almost ten years for Tina! 50th Anniversary Tour, one of the top shows of 2008-09. It was another great success, and the DVD Tina Live was released.
In 2012, Turner, at the age of 73, appeared on the cover of Vogue magazine, becoming the oldest person to ever be featured on the cover. Also that year, Turner's smash "What's Love Got to Do with It" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Turner's career has now spanned over half a century. She has won eight Grammy awards and her combined album and single sales are approaching 100 million worldwide. Turner has recorded 14 hits, with six reaching the Top 10 and her one #1 song.
Anna sang in the Spring Hill Baptist Church. Her mother ran out of an abusive relationship, and when Anna was 13, her father remarried and moved to Detroit, leaving Anna to live with her grandmother in Brownsville. Anna joined the cheerleading squad and the girls' basketball team at Carver High School. When her grandmother died, Anna moved to be with her mother in St. Louis, Missouri.
After graduation from Sumner High School, Bullock worked as a nurse's aide at Barnes-Jewish Hospital; being a nurse was her aspiration.
Anna and her sister began going to nightclubs in the area and spotted Ike Turner and his band, the Kings of Rhythm. During an intermission one night, Kings of Rhythm drummer Gene Washington took a microphone to the table where Anna and Aillene were. Anna took it and began singing. Stunned by her voice, Ike asked her if she knew other songs. By the end of the night, Anna was singing lead, and soon joined the band full-time.
In 1959, Anna first recorded under the name Little Ann, but soon changed her name to Tina, and by 1960, she was recording and performing as a member of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. The duo recorded several hits, including a version of "Proud Mary", first made a classic by Creedence Clearwater Revival, and "Nutbush City Limits".
(It is important to note that steady work with other artists does not count as a solo performer for the purposes of this ranking. Thus, her work with Ike does not count in the tabulation of points for this special. When we present The Top 100 Women in Rock, you can bet Turner will be higher...)
In 1974, Turner went to London to film the rock musical Tommy, in which she famously played The Acid Queen and sang the song of the same name. Turner also released two solo albums, Tina Turns the Country On! in 1974 and Acid Queen in 1975, neither of which did well commercially, although the former was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.
Turner suffered numerous instances of severe domestic abuse from Ike prior to their split in 1976 and subsequent divorce in 1978.
After the divorce, Tina set out to revive her career. Under the direction of Richard Stewart, executive at United Artists Records, Turner performed in Las Vegas, Nevada and small clubs throughout the United States.
After an appearance on Olivia Newton-John's musical variety television show in Australia, Turner sought out her management team that included Roger Davies. After Davies saw Tina perform in San Francisco in 1980, he agreed to become her manager.
In 1981, Turner performed with Rod Stewart on Saturday Night Live and on several dates of Stewart's United States tour. Turner then opened for the Rolling Stones on a few dates, and gained much notoriety as a live performer. The following year, Turner signed a singles recording contract with Capitol Records.
In 1983, Turner's cover of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" became a big hit, landing at #5 in the U.K., #6 in the Netherlands, and was #3 on the R&B chart in America and a very underrated #26 overall. It was Turner's first appearance on the chart in eight years, and earned Tina a Grammy nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.
The success of the single caused Capitol to rethink its deal and they changed the terms of the contract to include three albums by Turner. Capitol demanded an immediate album, and what was to follow comprises the most amazing comeback in music history. Turner selected the songs and recorded the album Private Dancer in two months.
In 1984, it was released and the single "What's Love Got To Do With It" to go along with it. That song put Tina squarely back on the map as one of the biggest songs of the year--it was #1 in the United States, Canada and Australia and Top 10 in every major country except France.
Turner released a solid follow-up in "Better Be Good To Me". Sounds strange, but the song was underrated even at #5--it was a #1 song in many markets.
The title track hit #4 in the Netherlands and #7 in the U.S., and was nominated for Best Short Form Music Video at the Grammys.
Turner embarked on a successful world tour to promote the album. Private Dancer went on to sell five million copies. A remake of the great Ann Peebles and Eruption song "I Can't Stand The Rain" was not released in the U.S., but reached #6 in Australia and #9 in Germany. Turner was then invited to sing on the classic "We Are The World" for USA for Africa.
Turner capped off her amazing return when she captured four Grammy Awards: Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (for "What's Love Got To Do With It", Album of the Year and Best Female Rock Vocal Performance (for "Better Be Good To Me"). Tina won six Billboard Music Awards: Artist of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year ("What's Love Got To Do With It"), Soul/R&B Artist of the Year and Comeback of the Year. She also won American Music Awards for Favorite Female R&B Artist and Favorite Female R&B Video Artist (she was also nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Video Artist.)
Tina starred in the movie Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome in 1985, her first acting role in 10 years. She recorded two songs for the soundtrack album. "We Don't Need Another Hero" shot up to #1 in Canada, Australia, Germany and Switzerland, #2 in the U.S. and Austria, #3 in the U.K. and France and #4 Sweden (it was a Top 10 hit in every country in the world) and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Turner captured the American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and was awarded the Billboard Award for Singer of the Year. Another of the songs from the soundtrack, "One Of The Living", was a modest hit and reached #6 in Germany. It won the Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.
Turner was nominated for another Grammy for Best Long Form Music Video for Tina Live. She performed at Live Aid in the summer, and then hooked up with Bryan Adams for the hit "It's Only Love". It was an underrated #14 in the U.S. and #15 in Canada, but its worth was proven when it won the Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
Tina returned the following year with the album Break Every Rule. Although it wasn't of the caliber of Private Dancer, how many albums are? Turner went Platinum with the album, which featured the lead single "Typical Male". It was a #2 smash in the United States and Switzerland, #3 in Germany and #6 in Sweden and Austria and was nominated for the Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Another of the tracks on the album, "Back Where You Started" won the Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.
Turner published her autobiography I, Tina, in which she talked about her roots and her abusive marriage to Ike. In the summer, Tina was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Turner toured Europe and in January of 1988, her concert with Paul McCartney broke the record for the largest paid attendance of all-time (app. 184,000) at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Turner's successful European tour led to the release of the DVD Tina Live in Europe, for which Tina won the Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. Break Every Rule spawned another hit ("Two People")--#10 in Germany and Switzerland.
Another song from the album is worth featuring. The single "What You Get Is What You See" reached #13 in the United States and #15 in Austria.
In 1989, Turner released the album Foreign Affair, her third straight Gold album. Her first single from the album, "The Best", was one of her best. Although the U.S. didn't get it (#15), the song was a #2 smash in Austria, #3 in Switzerland, #4 in Canada, Australia and Germany and #7 in the Netherlands.
The next release, "I Don't Wanna' Lose You" reached #8 in the U.K. but was not a big hit anywhere else. Another powerful performance by Turner was on the single "Steamy Windows", another underrated song--the best it did was #13 in the U.K. and #14 in Switzerland, but it was nominated for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance at the Grammys.
Turner received her 16th Grammy nomination for the album for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. In 1991, Turner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and received the World Music Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.
The lives of Tina and Ike Turner were revealed in the 1993 movie What's Love Got to Do with It. Turner recorded some remixes of her hits with Ike, and a new song "I Don't Wanna' Fight". The single hit #1 in Canada, #7 in the U.K. and #9 in the United States.
Tina received another Grammy nomination for "I Don't Wanna' Fight" for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Following the movie, Turner toured the United States for the first time in seven years. Afterwards, she moved to Switzerland and she is now a Swiss citizen. In 1995, Tina received the Legend Award from the World Music Awards. Turner also recorded "GoldenEye" for the James Bond movie of the same name.
In 1996, Turner released the album Wildest Dreams. It too went Gold She enjoyed some spotty success around the world: #2 in Austria with her duet with Barry White ("In Your Wildest Dreams") and #8 in France with "Unfinished Sympathy".
Turner toured the world again, and then took a break before appearing in the VH-1 special Divas Live '99. Turner's song with Ike--"River Deep-Mountain High" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. To celebrate her 60th birthday, Turner released the album Twenty Four Seven, which went Gold thanks to a tour in 2000 that grossed over $100 million, the most successful tour of the year. The tour put Turner over every other solo concert performer in music history at the time for attendance, according to Guinness World Records.
In 2002, Tennessee changed the name of State Route 19 between Brownsville and Nutbush to Tina Turner Highway. In 2003, Turner recorded "Great Spirits" with Phil Collins for the movie Brother Bear. A second Ike & Tina Turner hit ("Proud Mary") was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Tina's compilation album All the Best was released in 2004 and went Platinum.
In 2005, Turner was recognized at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. with the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors. U.S. President George W. Bush referred to Turner's legs as "the most famous in show business".
In 2008, Turner shared the Grammy for the project River: The Joni Letters, and toured for the first time in almost ten years for Tina! 50th Anniversary Tour, one of the top shows of 2008-09. It was another great success, and the DVD Tina Live was released.
In 2012, Turner, at the age of 73, appeared on the cover of Vogue magazine, becoming the oldest person to ever be featured on the cover. Also that year, Turner's smash "What's Love Got to Do with It" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Turner's career has now spanned over half a century. She has won eight Grammy awards and her combined album and single sales are approaching 100 million worldwide. Turner has recorded 14 hits, with six reaching the Top 10 and her one #1 song.
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