Tina Turner, formerly known as Anna Mae Bullock

I admire her accomplishments as well as her strength, as she faced many hard challenges throughout her life. As I continued to read about her life, I found some similarities to the things I had experienced in my life. Because of these similarities, I felt I could really relate to her.

She was born on Sunday, November 26, 1939 in Brownsville, Tennessee. She was the youngest daughter of Zelma Pricilla (nee Currie) and Floyd Richard Bullock. They resided in Nutbush, Tennessee and worked on a farm picking cotton. She had two older sisters, Evelyn Juanita Currie and ruby Alline Bullock. Her sisters and her were separated at a young age when their parents moved to Knoxville, Tennessee during WWII. She ended up living with her strict religious grandparents who were highly recognized at the Woodlawn Missionary Baptist Church. After the war, the family was reunited in Knoxville, Tennessee, but two years later they returned to Nutbush, Tennessee in the Flag Grove Community.

As a young girl, she sang in her Church Choir at Nutbush’s Spring Hill Baptist Church. She really enjoyed singing and would really show deep emotions while performing in her choir. I sang in my church choirs as well and enjoyed it very much. When she was only 11 years old her mother ran off to St Lois to get away from the abuse she was receiving from Floyd. Two years later her father remarried and moved to Detroit. Tina and her sisters went to live with her grandmother Georgeanna Currie in Brownsville, Tennessee. She felt unloved by her mother because her mom planned on leaving Floyd before finding out that she was pregnant with her. Zelma stated on numerous occasions how she did not want another child.

As she got older, Tina worked for the Henderson family as a domestic worker. While at work one day, she received the news that her half-sister Evelyn and her two cousins Margaret and Vela Evans died in a tragic car crash. While attending Carver High School in Brownsville, she joined the Cheerleading squad and female basketball team. I too was a cheerleading and on my drill team squad when I was in High School. She was a very sociable teenager just like I was. At 16 her grandmother died so she moved to St Louis to live with her mother. She graduated from Sumner High School in 1958 and immediately began working as a nurse’s aide at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. I worked as a candy striper at my local hospital for a couple years.

When Ike and Tina first met, she felt that she would be lost without him. It was at this time she realized that she was at a crossroads in her life. She could continue to work at the hospital or sing in Ike’s band. She wanted to sing so the decision was easy, join Ike’s band which would give her that opportunity. She was the first woman to sing in a band during that time. The band Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm and Tina, known as Little Ann, back then, had many successes throughout their careers. I joined the worship team band at my church and sang many solos, played the flute, and eventually lead the kids’ choir and youth band. Music has and will always be a part of my life just like it was for Tina Turner.

Some of her accomplishments are as follows:

Winner of 12 Grammy Awards, including eight competitive Grammy Award, she holds the record with four awards for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, "River Deep – Mountain High" (1999), "Proud Mary" (2003), and "What's Love Got to Do with It" (2012) are in the Grammy Hall of Fame. She is the only female artist to win a Grammy in the pop, rock, and R&B fields. She received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.

Received a star on the Hollywood walk of fame in 1986, and on the ST Louis Walk of Fame in 1991. Tina and Ike were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.

Tina performing on stage

at Tulane Stadium in

October 1970

Ike & Tina Turner arriving at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in January 1971

The duo disbanded in 1976 and divorced in 1978. Tina had revealed later that the divorce was due to domestic violence. Statistics show that abuse carries on from one generation to another. Remembering that her mother also experienced abuse in her marriage rang true to those statistics in her family. I too was in a marriage where I suffered domestic violence which finally ended in divorce, so I could totally relate to what she must have had to endure for so many years as well as the freedom she experienced once she finally left him. She went through many struggles financially, even living on food stamps before she got back on her feet. I too had to be on food stamps before I was able to get my life back on track after the divorce.

On December 4, 2005 she received the prestigious Kennedy Centers Honors. President George W. Bush commented on some of her attributes; natural skill, energy, and sensuality and said her legs are the most famous ones in show business. Several artists paid tribute to her that night as follows: Melissa Etheridge as she performed “River Deep-Mountain High”, Queen Latifa sang “What’s Love Got to Do with it”, Beyonce’ performed “Proud Mary”, and Al Green finished with “Let’s Stay Together”. Oprah Winfrey said, “We don’t need another hero, we need more heroines like you, Tina.”

The Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American Culture. The honors have been presented annually since 1978, each December in a star-studded gala celebrating the honorees in the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C.

Tina performing at Drammen, Norway, in 1985

Here is a picture of Tina Turner and Eric Clapton on tour in Wembley Arena in England on June 17, 1987.

Turner holding certification plaques

Tina performing live in the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England, April 2009

As revealed in her 2018 memoir “My Love Story” she told how she had suffered life-threatening illnesses. In 2013, she suffered a stroke and had to learn to walk again. This was just three weeks after her wedding to Erwin Bach. In 2016, she was diagnosed with intestinal cancer. She chose homeopathic remedies to treat high blood pressure. This resulted in damage to her kidneys. With Kidney failure she found that her chances of receiving a kidney were far and few between, causing her to start dialysis. It was at this time that she considered assisted suicide. However, that all changed when Erwin offered to donate his kidney for the transplant that took place on April 7, 2017.

I admire her accomplishments as well as her strength, as she faced many hard challenges throughout her life. As I continued to read about her life, I found some similarities to the things I had experienced in my life. Because of these similarities, I felt I could really relate to her.

Tina was and still is a very strong individual who was able to pull herself back up from the muck in her life. That is why I chose her for the person to recognize as the black woman in music.

References: tina turner - Google Search