What’s love got to do, got to do with it?
What’s love but a secondhand emotion?
What’s love got to do, got to do with it?
Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?
Singer Tina Turner first jammed out to that tune in 1984. The song became a huge hit — and the hits kept coming for years afterward! Tina Turner sold more than 150 million records around the world and won 12 Grammy awards in her career. On May 24, 2023, the music star died at age 83.
Tina Turner was born as Anna Mae Bullock in Brownsville, Tennessee, in 1939. She took an early interest in music. As a kid, young Tina sang in a church choir. Then, as a teenager, she moved to St. Louis, Missouri. There, Turner visited nightclubs where performers played a style of music called rhythm-and-blues. It was very similar to rock and roll. The style also combined elements from other types of music, including blues, pop, and jazz.
In 1957, Turner started singing with a band called the Kings of Rhythm. Ike Turner was the band’s leader. During this time, Tina’s was “Little Ann.” But, beginning in 1960, Ike and Tina started singing together. Their act was called the “Ike & Tina Turner Revue.” From then on, “Little Ann” had a brand new stage name that she would keep for the rest of her life — Tina Turner.
Turner released her first solo album in 1975. It was full of her own rock versions of different country music songs. However, Turner struggled to find an audience in the United States. That changed when she released her fifth album in 1984 — it included Turner’s now-famous song, “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” The album sold more than 8 million copies and nabbed four Grammy awards. Turner was already in her 40s, but now her career was taking off, and she refused to slow down!
Turner continued to sing live until 2009. She was known for her flashy style and powerful performances. Fans even gave Turner the nickname “The Queen of Rock and Roll.”
Turner was later into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — not once, but twice! That museum celebrates artists who changed the course of music and rock and roll. Tina was added to the Hall in 1991 as part of “Ike and Tina Turner.”
Finally, Tina was added on her own in 2021. That year, Turner responded to the news in a video message posted by the Hall of Fame. “If they’re still giving me awards at 81,” joked Turner, “I must have done something right!”
Updated May 25, 2023, 5:03 P.M. (ET)
By Tyler Burdick
