Top 20 Remarkable Facts about Tina Turner

Top 20 Remarkable Facts about Tina Turner

*Originally written by Crispus on August 2022 and Updated by Vanessa R on July 2023 and updated by Vanessa R in January 2024

Tina Turner is an American-born Swiss singer and actress popularly known as the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll”. She shot to fame as the lead singer of the Ike and Tina Turner duo in the early 1960s.

She was born on November 26, 1939, in Brownsville, Tennessee as the youngest daughter of Zelma Priscilla and Floyd Richard Bullock. Tina has sold over 100 million records worldwide becoming one of the best-selling recording artists of all time.

Tina has also starred in 17 films, released 10 studio albums, and received 20 awards throughout her career.

Here are the top 15 remarkable facts about Tina Turner.

1. Tina Turner is not Her Real Name

Photo by Wolfiewolf from Wikimedia

Tina Turner was born Anna Mae Bullock. She began her music career with “Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm” under the name “Little Ann” of which she appeared on her first record, “Boxtop”.

She debuted as Tina Turner in 1960 with the hit duet single “A Fool in Love”. The duo became one of the most formidable live acts in history”. They released hits such as “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine”, “River Deep – Mountain High”, “Proud Mary”, and “Nutbush City Limits” before disbanding in 1976.

2. She was Abandoned by her Mother at the Age of 11

As young children, Tina and her three sisters were separated from their during World War II. She went to live with her paternal grandparents in Haywood County, Tennessee, in the United States.

She was reunited with her parents after the war and the family moved to Knoxville. The family returned to Nutbush after two years to live in the Flagg Grove community, where she attended her elementary school. 

Her mother abandoned the family and relocated to St. Louis, citing her abusive relationship with her father. Tina and her sisters were sent to live with their maternal in Tennessee two years later after her father remarried.

3. She Started Singing in Nightclubs

Photo by fattkatt from Wikimedia

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tina_Turner_Concert.jpg

She joined the band and became a featured vocalist performing with the band around St. Louis nightclubs. During this period, she learned the finer points of vocal control and performance.

Tina recorded her first single “Boxtop” with the band in 1958. She was the leading vocalist on the record alongside Ike and fellow Kings of Rhythm singer Carlson Oliver.

4. She was a Founder Member of “Ike & Tina Turner Revue”

Tina Turner was introduced into the world of music with the single “A Fool In Love” which was realized in July 1960. It reached No. 2 on the Hot R&B Sides chart and No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100.

After the success of her first single, she and Ike created the “Ike & Tina Turner Revue”. It included the Kings of Rhythm and a girl group, the Ikettes, as backing vocalists and dancers.

It became one of the most successful duos in the history of the United States, releasing hits such as “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine”, “River Deep – Mountain High”, “Proud Mary”, and “Nutbush City Limits” before disbanding in 1976.

5. She worked as a Domestic worker

Image Source: Jay Bernstein Public Relations, Los Angeles from Wikimedia

As a teenager, Tina worked as a domestic worker for the Henderson family. She was at the Henderson house when she was notified that her half-sister Evelyn had died in a car crash alongside her cousins Margaret and Vela Evans.

 A self-professed tomboy, Tina joined both the cheerleading squad and the female basketball team at Carver High School in Brownsville.

Tina went to live with her mother in St. Louis after he grandmother died, where she graduated from Sumner High School in 1958. She also worked as a nurse’s aide at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

6. Tina Turner Started going Solo in 1976

After “Ike & Tina Turner Revue” disbanded in 1976, Tina started appearing on TV shows as a means of earning income. She resumed touring to pay off her debts with finances given to her by United Artists executive Mike Stewart after Ike and Turner’s gigs were canceled due to a lawsuit.

In 1978, Turner released her third solo album, Rough, on United Artists with distribution in North America and Europe on EMI. That album, along with its 1979 follow-up, Love Explosion, which included a brief diversion to disco music, failed to chart, so United Artists Records and Turner parted ways.

7. Turner is a practicing Buddhist

Photo by Daniela Despot from Wikimedia

Turner has sometimes referred to herself as a “Buddhist—Baptist”, alluding to her upbringing in the Baptist church upbringing where her father was a Deacon, and her later conversion to Buddhism as an adult.

In a 2016 interview with Lion’s Roar magazine, she declared, “I consider myself a Buddhist.” The February 15, 1979 issue of Jet magazine featured Turner with her Buddhist altar on the cover. 

8. She Suffered a Stroke

In 2013, three weeks after her wedding to Erwin Bach, Tina suffered a stroke and had to learn to walk again. In 2016, She was diagnosed with intestinal cancer and opted for homeopathic remedies to treat her high blood pressure which resulted in damage to her kidneys and eventual kidney failure.

Her chances of receiving a kidney were low, and she was urged to start dialysis. She considered assisted suicide and signed up to be a member of Exit, but Bach offered to donate a kidney for her transplant. Turner had kidney transplant surgery on April 7, 2017.

9. She is a Mother and Grandmother

Photo by Rob Mieremet from Wikimedia

Turner had two biological sons, Craig Raymond Turner and Ronald Renelle Turner, known as Ronnie. She also adopted two of Ike Turner’s children, Ike Turner Jr. and Michael Turner raising them as her own.

In July 2018, Craig Turner was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Turner is a grandmother of two.

10. She set the Guinness World Record

In 1988, Tina Turner toured the world for her 1986 album, Break Every Rule. During her show in Rio De Janeiro, she set a then-Guinness World Record for the largest paying audience for a solo performer, selling 180,000 tickets. This performance broke Frank Sinatra’s 1980 record.

11. She was the first black artist and the first woman on the cover of Rolling Stone

Tina Turner made an appearance on Rolling Stone Magazine’s second cover on November 25, 1967. She was the first black artist to achieve so, as well as the first woman. She honoured it once more by herself in 1969 before doing so with Ike in 1971. She made a statement about her new freedom with her solo cover shot in 1984 upon her comeback and solo debut. Naturally, she has since appeared on the cover multiple times, both by herself and with other musicians.

12. She attempted suicide 

Turner thought that death was her only option because her relationship with Ike Turner was so poor. In 1968, she took an excessive amount of sleeping tablets, but it did not result in her death. She made an unsuccessful attempt and was surprised to find herself still alive. Yet she also realised at that time that she intended to live for a purpose. She never gave it another shot and eventually moved on from Ike.

13.  Tina Turner announced she was giving up her American citizenship

In a 1997 interview with Larry King, Tina Turner declared she was renunciating her American citizenship and assuming Swiss citizenship. Her reasons included the fact that her ex-boyfriend Erwin Bach lived nearby. Also, she claimed that Europe was a much bigger market for her music than the United States. Before her, she and Bach resided in Switzerland.

14. She initially didn’t like her song “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” 

One of Turner’s best-known songs, “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” from 1984, sold two million copies, won three Grammy Awards, and, cemented Turner’s position as the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” 

Turner, however, didn’t like the song at first after hearing a demo by the English band Bucks Fizz, who won the Eurovision Song Contest. ” It was awful,” She said in her documentary in 2021, “That was horrific. 

15. Ike was the one who changed Turner’s name from Anna Mae Bullock to Tina Turner

Ike Turner abused Tina physically and emotionally, as is well documented today. Turner’s name was originally Anna Mae Bullock, but Ike changed it to Tina Turner, and when the pair’s success increased, he chose to trademark her name. In essence, this meant that Ike could hire a different female vocalist and use the name Tina Turner if Tina Turner decided to leave the Kings of Rhythm. Given that Tina Turner had made a career for herself as a musician using this name, this was difficult.

16. She has an iconic two-spotted jaguar tattoo on her upper right thigh

Heinrich Klaffs, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A muscled, crouching jaguar is strikingly inked across Tina’s upper right thigh in a tattoo that became as iconic as her stage outfits. She originally got the black and tan, two-spotted big cat image to cover scars from physical abuse by Ike.

The tattoo symbolises. Tina’s emerging ferocity and animalistic stage energy after gaining independence. She has said connecting to her “inner jaguar” gave her inner strength amid adversity. The tattoo’s simple yet fierce beauty against her glowing skin made it a focal point when her legs were showcased in short costumes.

17. Tina performed with a broken nose covered by dark sunglasses given to her by backup singers to hide bruises

One heartbreaking instance of resilience came after Ike brutally broke Tina’s nose before a concert when she tried to leave him. Backup singers compassionately gave Tina a pair of dark sunglasses to wear onstage so the crowd couldn’t see bruises.

Though suffering intense pain and bleeding from her shattered nose, Tina still bravely performed an entire show. Her commitment never wavered amid crisis or violence. Tina could express deep sorrow through stirring vocals that brought crowds to tears, channelling recent trauma into her performances.

18. She carried the Olympic flame to help light the cauldron of the 2002 Winter Olympics

Heinrich Klaffs, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Nearing age 64 in 2002 as an admired, legendary performer, Tina Turner was selected to participate in the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics opening ceremony. Dressed elegantly in a flowing red gown and cape, Tina proudly carried the lit Olympic flame into the darkened stadium to help ignite the ceremonial cauldron.

Her worldwide recognition as an entertainer icon made Tina an inspiring embodiment of the global community uniting. After her tumultuous life journey, it was an emotional honour that affirmed her crossover superstar status and broader cultural meaning.

19. Tina often out-danced her backing performers less than half her age during nonstop 2-hour shows

Even in her 50s, Tina maintained a level of exuberance, stamina, and physicality onstage that surpassed that of younger supporting dancers. During her peak arena touring years, she astounded crowds by keeping up an almost nonstop two-hour set of grinding dance moves in high heels and mini-skirts without missing a beat.

While backup performers took occasional breathers, Tina drove the energy in her shows to a fever pitch from start to finish. Her legendary vitality and seeming immunity to exhaustion make such sustained, high-energy choreography into her mid-50s and beyond even more remarkable.

20. A feature film about her life, What’s Love Got to Do with It premiered in 1993

Thomas R Machnitzki (thomas@machnitzki.com), CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The biographical movie What’s Love Got to Do With It brought Tina’s incredible personal story of hardship and redemption to theatres in 1993. Starring Angela Bassett as Tina and Laurence Fishburne as Ike, the dramatic film depicts Tina’s early career, abusive marriage, struggle for independence, and triumphant comeback.

Bassett’s intense performance captured Tina’s spirited personality and magnetism. The movie earned over $20 million domestically and was both a commercial and critical success. For wider audiences, it shone a light on Tina Turner’s profound resilience against all odds to achieve superstardom on her bold terms.