BMI Remembers the Legendary Tina Turner

Posted in News on May 24, 2023

BMI was deeply saddened to learn that the incomparable Tina Turner passed away Wednesday at the age of 83 at her home in Switzerland.

A genuine legend and innovator, Turner was a groundbreaking music creator and electrifying performer who first came to prominence as part of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue in the 1960s, renowned for hits like the BMI Award-winning “Nutbush City Limits,” “River Deep – Mountain High,” their cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Proud Mary,” and many others. The duo disbanded in 1976, allowing Tina to pursue a solo career that further cemented her status as the Queen of Rock N’ Roll.

Turner’s dramatic reinvention in the 1980s, particularly her GRAMMY-winning multiplatinum album, Private Dancer, in 1984, featuring the hits “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” “Private Dancer” and “Better Be Good to Me,” was a crucial milestone in establishing her as one of the best-selling recording artists of all time. Beyond her triumphs on the charts, in the studio and on the stage, Turner was also an actress, appearing in films like 1975’s Tommy and 1985’s Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, which also spawned her single “We Don’t Need Another Hero.” Beyond those successes, Turner broke further ground on her Break Every Rule Tour in 1988 when she set a Guinness World Record for the largest paying audience (180,000), at the time, for a solo performer. Her 1990 greatest hits album, Simply the Best, sold seven million copies worldwide.

Twice inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (with Ike Turner in 1991 and as a solo artist in 2021), Turner has sold over 100 million records worldwide. She was the first Black artist and first woman to grace the cover of Rolling Stone, who also ranked her as both one of of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and one of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. The longtime BMI affiliate has received 12 GRAMMY Awards, including a GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award and three GRAMMY Hall of Fame Awards.

While Tina Turner will be sorely missed by her fans, friends and family at BMI, her powerful legacy and timeless music will live on.

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