The Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll had a special place in her heart forDavid Bowie.
Tina Turner— whodied Wednesday at the age of 83— credited Bowie, whodied in 2016, for saving and rebooting her career.
After finding success withIke Turner, whom she wed and then divorced, as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue for much of the 1960s and ’70s, Tina found herself at a loss in the years following her and Ike’s headline-making divorce in 1976.
Tina Turner and David Bowie in 1985.Dave Hogan/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Dave Hogan/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
It was only after Bowie’s refusal that the record label “bigwig tagged along” to see Turner perform — and the rest was history.
“Luckily it was a great show. Seeing it and the crowd’s reaction turned ‘round how Capitol [Records] viewed me,” she continued.
“It was because of David that I got another deal, and everything else followed. I’ll be ever thankful to him.”
Tina Turner and David Bowie in 1989.Dave Hogan/Getty Images
Dave Hogan/Getty Images
In the years that followed Tina’s career resurgence, she and Bowie collaborated just once — though she gave the musician a nod on her first album released after she re-signed with Capitol Records.
On her fifth solo album,Private Dancer(1984),which propelled her into superstardom as a solo act, Tina included one of Bowie’s hits — “1984,” a song off his 1974 albumDiamond Dogs.
The pair later collaborated for the first and only time, releasing a duet of Bowie’s 1984 song “Tonight” — the titular track of his 16th studio album.
A live version of the duet went on to appear on Tina’s 1988 live album,Tina Live in Europe.
When Tina first met her soon-to-be husband Ike, she was just 17 years old. She joined his band, Kings of Rhythm, who played on the St. Louis club circuit, and after a fling with the saxophonist, her relationship with Ike turned romantic.
It was soon after he realized her monetary potential — the band’s first studio recording with her netted $25,000 — that he gave her the moniker that she’d carry for the rest of her career. She was born Anna Mae Bullock, but Ike gave her the moniker “Tina Turner” — and it stuck.
In 1976, she fled Ike with no money to her name, and soon — with Bowie’s help — rebuilt her career, launching what would become one of the biggest careers in music history.
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In an interview from herHBO documentary,Tina, released in March 2021, she said, “I had an abusive life. There’s no other way to tell the story.”
She added, “I started really seeing that I had to make a change. Divorce, I got nothing. No money, no house. So I said, I’ll just take my name.”
source: people.com
