Anna Mae Bullock – Tina Turner
Born: November 26, 1939
Place: Nutbush, TN
Anna Mae Bullock was born as the younger of two girls in Nutbush, an unincorporated area in Haywood County, TN, on November 26, 1939.
Bullock attended Summer High School in St. Louis. Around this time, Bullock's sister was taking her to several nightclubs in the city. At Club Imperial one night, Bullock met Mississippi-born rhythm and blues musician Ike Turner and later asked him if she could sing for him. Ike was initially skeptical, but after much persistence on Bullock's part, Ike Turner eventually decided to let her perform for him. Thus, Bullock became an occasional vocalist in Ike's shows at the age of 18. Going by the name, "Little Ann", Bullock was also the spotlight of a soul revue led by Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm band.
In 1960, when a singer scheduled to record the song, “A Fool in Love”, didn't appear, Bullock stepped in and recorded the vocals instead. "A Fool in Love" was a huge R&B hit reaching #2 crossing over to the top 30 of the US pop chart. Ike changed Bullock's name to Tina Turner and that of his band to The Ike & Tina Turner Revue. In 1962, the two married in Tijuana, Mexico.
Turner raised four sons. As times and musical styles changed, Tina developed a unique stage persona as a singer-dancer-performer which thrilled audiences of the group's live concerts. Tina and the Revue's backup singers, The Ikettes, wove intricate and electrifying dance routines into their performances and influenced many other artists including Mick Jagger.
By the mid-1970s, Tina's personal life and marriage began to deteriorate. Ike's drug use led to increasingly erratic and physically abusive behavior. Their act was losing speed largely due to Ike's refusal to accept outside management of their recording or touring as well as the cost of maintaining a rather voracious alleged cocaine habit. Touring dates began to decline and record sales were low.
After a violent argument before an appearance in Dallas over the Fourth of July weekend in 1976, Tina abruptly left Ike, fleeing with nothing more than thirty-six cents and a gas-station credit card. She spent the next few months hiding from Ike while staying with various friends.
Born: November 26, 1939
Place: Nutbush, TN
Anna Mae Bullock was born as the younger of two girls in Nutbush, an unincorporated area in Haywood County, TN, on November 26, 1939.
Bullock attended Summer High School in St. Louis. Around this time, Bullock's sister was taking her to several nightclubs in the city. At Club Imperial one night, Bullock met Mississippi-born rhythm and blues musician Ike Turner and later asked him if she could sing for him. Ike was initially skeptical, but after much persistence on Bullock's part, Ike Turner eventually decided to let her perform for him. Thus, Bullock became an occasional vocalist in Ike's shows at the age of 18. Going by the name, "Little Ann", Bullock was also the spotlight of a soul revue led by Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm band.
In 1960, when a singer scheduled to record the song, “A Fool in Love”, didn't appear, Bullock stepped in and recorded the vocals instead. "A Fool in Love" was a huge R&B hit reaching #2 crossing over to the top 30 of the US pop chart. Ike changed Bullock's name to Tina Turner and that of his band to The Ike & Tina Turner Revue. In 1962, the two married in Tijuana, Mexico.
Turner raised four sons. As times and musical styles changed, Tina developed a unique stage persona as a singer-dancer-performer which thrilled audiences of the group's live concerts. Tina and the Revue's backup singers, The Ikettes, wove intricate and electrifying dance routines into their performances and influenced many other artists including Mick Jagger.
By the mid-1970s, Tina's personal life and marriage began to deteriorate. Ike's drug use led to increasingly erratic and physically abusive behavior. Their act was losing speed largely due to Ike's refusal to accept outside management of their recording or touring as well as the cost of maintaining a rather voracious alleged cocaine habit. Touring dates began to decline and record sales were low.
After a violent argument before an appearance in Dallas over the Fourth of July weekend in 1976, Tina abruptly left Ike, fleeing with nothing more than thirty-six cents and a gas-station credit card. She spent the next few months hiding from Ike while staying with various friends.
Her divorce was finalized in 1978 after sixteen years of marriage. She later accused Ike of years of severe spousal abuse and rampant drug addiction in her autobiography I, Tina.
In 1984, Turner staged what has been widely considered the most "amazing comeback in rock music history." In May, Capitol released the single “What’s Love Got To Do With It” in the U.S. to promote the upcoming album. Two weeks after its release, the song was on the play lists of over 100 radio stations. Eventually the single became a worldwide smash and in September, the song reached number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 becoming the first single for Turner's to do so ever, it also remains her only number-one American hit.
In 1991, Ike & Tina Turner was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
On February 10, 2008, at age 68, Turner performed together with Beyoncé at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards that was broadcast live on CBS. It was Turner's first major public performance since her record-breaking Twenty-Four Seven Tour just over seven years earlier.
