Only a few artists can put their entire soul into music like Tina Turner. Turner could ignite a stage anywhere she went. From her early days, she played hits with her husband Ike to striking out on her own. Tina left seasoned veterans like Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger in awe of what she could do. Turner was able to leave all of her emotions onstage most of the time. Her early career saw her performing songs she despised.
Before she began making traditional R&B music, Turner played to as many people as she could before she met her husband, Ike. After establishing himself as one of the most prominent bandleaders, Ike took Tina under his wing. He laid the groundwork for classic material from the 1960s such as “River Deep Mountain High.”
Turner was a competent musician, but her best efforts were often when she tackled classic material. She put The Five Du-Tones and Creedence Clearwater Revival to shame with her performances of songs like ‘Shake A Tailfeather’ and ‘Proud Mary’. She was not satisfied until she gave everything she had to her audience.
However, that time onstage could have been her most comfortable during her early period. Tina would frequently find herself in abusive situations outside of her marriage to Ike. It included several physical altercations with her husband that she would eventually mask.
While Ike was still in charge of supplying material, he was abusive and unfaithful whenever he could. Tina has been able to turn a blind eye to the various women her husband was seeing on the side. But she couldn’t stand singing about them.
Tina recalled having to sing songs about Ike’s various mistresses between their flawless covers and originals, which became demoralizing every time she stepped onstage. Tina later told Rolling Stone about the emotional torment she had to endure while singing those songs, saying, “I hated those songs.” I had a feeling he was writing about other women. When you sing a song, you must try to convince yourself that you like it. He blamed me for not getting involved in the work when he realized I was delivering it poorly.”
Tina had seen enough after nearly two decades together and left Ike to pursue her solo career. She didn’t have a penny to her name when she left him. But Tina’s second rise to stardom on the album Private Dancer transformed her into the ultimate rock and roll success story.
Aside from her newfound fame in the 1980s, the album included several singles that seemed to be directed directly at her former abuser, with ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’s being the ultimate kiss-off to someone who denied her feelings. Tina was able to inhabit her songs every time she sang. But this comeback could have been an emotional exorcism from years of singing about her husband’s infidelity.
