five cult tracks to celebrate the legend of rock’n’roll and soul

From Mike Jagger to Diana Ross to Alicia Keys, the entire music world is in mourning. Rock’n’roll and soul legend Tina Turner died Wednesday at the age of 83 at her home in Küsnacht, Switzerland. Since the 1950s, the singer has accumulated success, joining her debut with Ike Turner, whom she would marry in 1962, before leaving him a few years later because of his violent and toxic behavior. (Re)discover the career of the show girl in five cult pieces.

River Deep, Mountain High (1966)

In 1966, six years after the success of their first duet A Fool in LoveIke and Tina Turner release their tube River Deep, Mountain High, at the instigation of producer Phil Spector, impressed by her voice. The creator of the « wall of sound », which consists in giving the sound depth of a symphony orchestra to a pop song, wishes to record the voice of the singer without the presence of her husband, known for wanting to control everything. After signing a contract with him not to intervene in the creative process – but nevertheless crediting him on the title – Phil Spector takes Tina Turner into his studio and makes her record over and over again, until he has the perfect grip.  » I loved this song, wrote the American in her memoir in 1986, reports the New York Times. For the first time, I wasn’t just singing R’n’B. The piece had a structure, a melody. I was a singer and I knew that I could do something other than this musical genre. I just never had the opportunity. River Deep showed people what I had in me. » Great success in Europe, it will painfully rank in the Top 100 in the United States.

Nutbush City Limits (1973)

Always in duet with Ike, Tina Turner begins however to take her independence, at the same time social and artistic, in 1973 with the title Nutbush City Limits, which she writes alone. On a rhythm that is both rock and soul, the singer is partly inspired by her life for this song, which pays homage to this rural village in Tennessee where she grew up and sang in her church choir. Three years later, in 1976, she will leave her violent husband, after a final argument in the car which brings them to the center of Dallas, where the duo was to launch a tour. «  I looked at him and I thought, « This is the last time you’ll see me, jerk » »she wrote in her memoir, according to the local daily Dallas Morning News. She then leaves, her face swollen, the hotel where the couple is staying to take refuge at the Ramada Inn. This scene is also included in the film based on the autobiography of the singer, played on screen by Angela Basset.

What’s Love Got to Do With It (1984)

After her divorce and her artistic separation, Tina Turner releases her third and her fourth solo album, Rough (1978) and Love Explosion (1979), but the queen rock’n’roll does not return to success. She continues to give concerts in the United States, but especially in Europe, where the enthusiasm is still intact. Then surfing on the surprise success of his cover of Let’s Stay Together by Al Greene in 1984, she then recorded her fifth opus Private Dancer, surrounding himself with Roger Davies, manager of Olivia Newton-​John, and young authors. The result is the tube What’s Love Got to Do With It, in 1984, which ranks first in the top singles across the Atlantic. She will also become the oldest artist to place at the top of the charts, at 44 years old. What put the singer back in orbit. One year later, We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)from the movie Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome in which she plays, confirms this return to grace of Tina Turner.

The Best (1989)

Accustomed to dusting off songs and giving them a second life, Tina Turner resumes The Bestby Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler, released a year earlier, for her album Foreign Affair in 1989. She changed the production, added a saxophone solo and a bridge to the original title, giving it an epic new flavor. The track will rank in the top 5 of many countries, from Belgium to Italy to Canada and the United Kingdom. Became a late 80s anthem, The Best will be used in an advertisement for Pepsi and during the National Rugby Leaguea prestigious Australian rugby competition.

Golden Eye (1995)

Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, for her duet with Ike Turner (then solo in 2021), she signed a new hit in 1995, Golden Eyewritten and composed by U2, for the credits of the film james bond of the same name. At 60, she announces that she is ending her career after the release of her album Twenty Four Seven in 1999, for which she will do a farewell tour. But in 2008, galvanized by her duet with Beyoncé at the Grammy Awards, she will do a last series of concerts to celebrate her 50 years of activity in music. She had since retired to Switzerland, to her house in Küsnacht, with her second husband, German producer Erwin Bach, whom she met in 1986.