Iconic entertainer and eight-time Grammy winner Tina Turner died at age 83 at her home in Switzerland on Wednesday (May 24).
Her debut on the Billboard charts came in 1960 as part of Ike & Tina Turner, when “A Fool in Love” debuted at N. 10 on the Hot R&B Sides chart, ultimately reaching No. 2 on that chart. The duo earned 20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including their enduring version of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Proud Mary,” which reached No. 4. As a solo artist, Turner would earn hits including “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)” and “I Don’t Wanna Fight.” Turner also twice became a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame–as half of Ike and Tina Turner (in 1991) and as a solo performer (in 2021).
But when Turner launched her solo career with 1974’s Tina Turns the Country On!, this native of Brownsville, Tennessee (born Anna Mae Bullock in 1939) proved she also had plenty of country influence. The album included covers of songs by Hank Snow, Dolly Parton and more genre greats. The album came out the same year that The Pointer Sisters introduced their Grammy-winning hit “Fairytale” onstage at the Grand Ole Opry, and as Charley Pride continued a mighty streak of No. 1 country hits, opening doors for Black artists in country music — and also just over a decade after Ray Charles reimagined country classics on his indelibly influential Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music in 1962.
Though Turner never earned a hit on the Billboard country charts, her pop solo breakthrough came in 1984 with her album Private Dancer, which contained signature hits like “What’s Love Got to Do With It” and the album’s title track. Here, however, we look at some of Turner’s most memorable country music moments.
