Tina Turner Women’s T-Shirt

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Early solo career: 1977–1983

In 1977, with finances given to her by United Artists executive Michael Stewart, Turner resumed performing. She played a series of shows in Las Vegas in a cabaret setting, influenced by the cabaret shows she witnessed while a member of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. She took her cabaret act to smaller venues in the United States. Turner earned further income by appearing on shows such as The Hollywood Squares, Donny and Marie, The Sonny & Cher Show and The Brady Bunch Hour. Later in 1977, Turner headlined her first solo concert tour, throughout Australia. In 1978, United Artists released her third solo album, Rough, with distribution both in North America and Europe with EMI. That album, along with its 1979 follow-up, Love Explosion, which included a brief diversion to disco rhythms, failed to chart. The albums completed her United Artists/EMI contracts, and Turner left the labels. Without the premise of a hit record, she continued performing and headlined her second tour, Wild Lady of Rock ‘n’ Roll.

Manager Roger Davies agreed to manage Turner’s career in February 1980. A recorded cover of The Temptations‘ “Ball of Confusion” for the UK production team BEF, featuring Robert Cray, became a hit in European dance clubs in 1982. Following performances and tours with Rod Stewart, the Rolling Stones, and Chuck Berry, Turner filmed a music video for “Ball of Confusion” that later aired on then-fledgling music video channel MTV; this made her one of the first African American artists to gain airtime on the channel.

Career resurgence and superstardom: 1983–2000

Until 1983, Turner was considered a nostalgia act, playing hotel ballrooms and clubs in the United States. During her stint at The Ritz, she signed with Capitol Records. In November 1983, she released her cover of Al Green‘s “Let’s Stay Together“. The record became a hit, reaching several European charts, including No. 5 in the United Kingdom. The song peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reached the top 10 of the Hot Dance Club Songs and Hot Black Singles charts.

Turner had two weeks to record her Private Dancer album, which was released in May 1984. It became an outstanding commercial success, peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. Private Dancer was certified 5× Platinum in the United States, and sold over ten million copies worldwide, becoming her most successful album. Also in May 1984, Capitol issued the album’s second single, “What’s Love Got to Do with It“; the song had previously been recorded by the rock group Bucks Fizz. Following the album’s release, Turner joined Lionel Richie as his opening act on his tour.

On September 1, 1984, “What’s Love Got to Do with It” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is Turner’s only No. 1 hit single on any Billboard chart. The follow-up singles “Better Be Good to Me” and “Private Dancer” were also successful. Turner’s comeback culminated when she won three Grammys at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Award for Record of the Year for “What’s Love Got to Do with It“. In February 1985, she embarked on her second world tour to support the Private Dancer album. One show, filmed at Birmingham, England‘s NEC Arena, was later released on home video. During this time, she also contributed vocals to the USA for Africa benefit song “We Are the World“.

Turner’s success continued when she traveled to Australia to star opposite Mel Gibson in the 1985 post-apocalyptic film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. The movie provided her with her first acting role in ten years; she portrayed the glamorous Aunty Entity, the ruler of Bartertown. Upon release, critical response to her performance was generally positive. The film became a global success, making more than $36 million in the United States alone. Turner later received the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress for her role in the film. She also recorded two songs for the film, “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)” and “One of the Living“; both became hits with the latter winning her a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. In July 1985, Turner performed at Live Aid alongside Mick Jagger. Their performance shocked observers when Jagger ripped her skirt off. Turner released a duet, “It’s Only Love“, with Bryan Adams. It was nominated for a Grammy Award, and the music video won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Stage Performance.

In 1986, Turner released her sixth solo album, Break Every Rule, which sold more than a million copies in the United States alone. The album featured the singles “Typical Male“, “Two People“, and “What You Get Is What You See“. Prior to the album’s release, Turner published her autobiography I, Tina, which became a bestseller. Turner received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her Break Every Rule World Tour, which culminated in March 1987 in Munich, Germany, yielded record-breaking sales. In January 1988, Turner performed in front of approximately 180,000 at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, setting a Guinness World Record at the time for the “largest paying rock concert attendance for a solo artist”. She released the Tina Live in Europe album in April 1988. Turner took time off following the end of the tour. She emerged with the Foreign Affair album in 1989, which included the hit single “The Best“.

In 1991, Ike & Tina Turner were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Ike Turner was incarcerated and Tina Turner did not attend; stating through her publicist she was taking a leave of absence following her Foreign Affair European Tour and that she felt “emotionally unequipped to return to the U.S. and respond to the night of celebration in the manner she would want.” Phil Spector accepted the honor on their behalf.

In 1993, the semi-autobiographical film What’s Love Got to Do with It was released. The film starred Angela Bassett as Tina Turner and Laurence Fishburne as Ike Turner; both received Best Actress and Best Actor Oscar nominations for their roles in the film. While she was not heavily involved in the film, Turner contributed to the soundtrack for What’s Love Got to Do with It, re-recording songs from her Ike & Tina days and recording several new songs. The single “I Don’t Wanna Fight” from the soundtrack was a top 10 hit.

Turner returned to the studio in 1995, releasing “GoldenEye“, which was written by Bono and The Edge of U2 for the James Bond film GoldenEye. Turner released the Wildest Dreams album in 1996 accompanied by a successful world tour. Before celebrating her 60th birthday, Turner released the dance-infused song “When the Heartache Is Over” in September 1999 as the leading single from her tenth and final solo album, Twenty Four Seven. The success of the single and the following tour helped the album become certified gold by the RIAA. The Twenty Four Seven Tour became her most successful concert tour to date. It was the highest-grossing tour of 2000, grossing over $100 million. At a July 2000 concert in Zürich, Switzerland, Turner announced that she would retire at the end of the tour.

Tina Turner – The Best

Tina Turner – Private Dancer

Tina Turner – Better Be Good To Me

Tina Turner – Proud Mary (Live)

TINA TURNER ★ We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)

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