Arts & Entertainment

‘Tina Turner Bet on Herself’

By on • ( Leave a comment )
Tina Turner’s story is part of the pop-culture bedrock, one told and retold so frequently that even the most pedestrian music fan can recite all the ugly twists and turns. Instead of recounting that tale in full, Vulture’s Craig Jenkins uses his remembrance to hone in on how Turner, who died this week at the age of 83, tried to find her footing as a solo artist in the ’80s. By 1979, Turner was newly divorced from Ike and looking to branch out on her own. But no amount of praise from friend and disciple Mick Jagger could help her sell records — or keep her from getting dropped by her label. Things took a positive turn with 1984’s Private Dancer, the album that would supercharge her career and turn her into a household name. Yet that didn’t stop America from continuing to hold her at arm’s length; sure, she was now an international superstar, they seemed to be saying, just one who had to be consistently reminded of the abuse in her past. “As we remember the unquenchable fire of Tina Turner,” Craig writes, “let’s never forget how many people didn’t seem to mind letting the embers cool when a little care and grace and space was required.”

—Alex Suskind, senior editor, Vulture 

Tina Turner Bet on Herself When the industry turned its back on her, she refused to give in.

Photo: Jack Robinson/Getty Images
Read the full story
Join us May 31 for an exclusive event, Making The Strategist 100, where editors will discuss how they curated their collection of the most-stood-behind products that have ever appeared on the site. RSVP here.

More From Today
“Where are we going to put people?” New York’s shelter system was already at a breaking point, David Freedlander reports, and now officials are scrambling to find beds for asylum seekers. 
READ MORE »
Vulture’s Rachel Handler documents the highlights from Jane Fonda’s disarmingly open talk at the Cannes Film Festival, from her competition with Katharine Hepburn to quitting the Book Club movies.
READ MORE »
New York’s Lisa Miller takes a trip through the children’s-entertainment circuit with Hopalong Andrew, the hardest-working cowboy musician in Brooklyn. 
READ MORE »
Introducing The City Desk, a weekly newsletter about New York. Sign up to get it every Thursday.
Get The Newsletter

Categories: Arts & Entertainment

Leave a Reply