Tina Turner (1939-2023)

The moment I heard that Tina Turner had died yesterday at 2:45 p.m., I started writing. I knew what was about to happen. Within minutes, I heard from the arts editor asking for an appreciation needed asap. An hour and 45 minutes later, my essay was done, fact-checked and filed.

Tina was a force of nature. Driven, high-energy and charismatic, she had three careers. As a member of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, she was instrumental in their many crossover hits the group recorded, including River Deep-Mountain High and Proud Mary. The latter became a voluptuous, steamy cover of John Fogerty's original roots-rocker for Creedence Clearwater Revival.

She also acted in films, as the Acid Queen in the rock-opera film Tommy and as Mel Gibson's co-star in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. And she had an astonishing solo career, releasing Private Dancer in 1984 with enormous chart and performance success. By then, she had established herself as a strong-willed, talented woman known for her laugh, legs and stagecraft, which Mick Jagger had studied to develop his own in 1966.

Here are 10 clips that define the legendary Tina Turner...

Here's Tina on the Big T.N.T. Show in 1965...



Here's Proud Mary in Italy in 1971...



Here's River Deep-Mountain High in 1973...



Here's Tina as the Acid Queen in Tommy...



Here's Tina in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome...



Here's Tina with Rod Stewart singing Get Back and Hot Legs in 1981...



Here's Tina at Live Aid in Philadelphia with Mick Jagger in 1985...



Here's the recording of We Are the World in 1985 (still chokes me up)...



Here's Tina's What's Love Got to Do With It...



Here's Tina in Barcelona, Spain, in 1990 singing Al Green's Let's Stay Together...



Bonus: Here's Tina singing the Beatles' Help!, which was dropped from the U.S. edition of Private Dancer but appeared on the international edition...