Tina's Story

Born in Tennessee on November 26, 1939, Tina Turner moved to St. Louis, Missouri, in the 1950s and met Ike Turner, a musician with whom she began to perform and record. In the early '60s, they became known as the Ike and Tina Turner Review, achieving popular acclaim for the powerful live performances and recordings.

Tina left Ike in the '70s, however, after enduring years of physical abuse. Following a slow start to her solo career, Turner achieved massive success with her 1984 album, Private Dancer, which sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. Since that time, she has continued to top the pop music charts with subsequent recordings, has won countless awards, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has starred in several films. In July 2013, she also married her longtime boyfriend Erwin Bach.

Early Life

Tina Turner was born Anna Mae Bullock on November 26, 1939, in Nutbush, Tennessee. Her parents, Floyd and Zelma Bullock, were poor sharecroppers, who, early in her life, split up and left Turner and her sister to be raised by their grandmother. When her grandmother died in the early 1950s, Turner moved to St. Louis, Missouri, to be with her mother.

Barely in her teens, Turner quickly immersed herself in St. Louis's R&B scene, spending much of her time at Club Manhattan. It was there, in 1956, that she met rock-and-roll pioneer Ike Turner, whose band the Kings of Rhythm was a fixture at the club. It wasn't long before Turner was performing with the group, and she quickly became the highlight of their show.

In Concert

In November 1983, Tina released her cover of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together", with Capitol. The record became a hit, first in Europe where it reached the top forty and top ten in some countries including the UK and then in the Americas, peaking at #26 on the US pop chart in February 1984, becoming Turner's first solo single to chart putting an end to the singer's eight-year absence from the charts, also peaking at the top 5 of the US R&B and dance charts as well.