The Queen of Rock Tina Turner successfully revives her career at 44 with “What’s Love Got to Do with It” in 1984
Determined to grab back her once popular and influential presence in music, Tina Turner made it to No.1 with what is now one of her signature songs and the best-selling album “Private Dancer”
The Queen of Rock Tina Turner successfully revives her career at 44 with “What’s Love Got to Do with It” in 1984
By 1984 Tina Turner was trying to rebuild her career and reputation, after years of success as part of the duo Ike & Tina, now divorced from the abusive Ike Turner, at 44 she went to grab back her place in the music industry. With a new look and a new album, Tina Turner surprised the music industry when she proved she was still capable to charm younger audiences, especially after releasing her comeback album “Private Dancer” and hit song “What’s Love Got to Do with It.” Things might had gone differently if “What’s Love Got to Do with It” had been accepted by the singers to whom it was offered first: Cliff Richard, Donna Summer, Phyllis Hyman and the British Pop band Bucks Fizz. In the end, Tina got the song, that was written by Terry Britten and Graham Lyle. On May 1, 1984, she released it as a single backside in the U.S with “Rock and Roll Widow” and in Europe with “Don’t Rush the Good Things.” Despite having chart already a few months earlier with “Let’s Stay Together,” it was “What’s Love Got to Do with It” that brought Tina back to the top, going No.1 in several countries around the world. In the U.S on the Hot 100 chart she got her first and only No.1 as a solo artist when the song climbed to the top of the chart on September 1, 1984. Back then, at 44 years old, Turner became the oldest female solo artist to place a number-one single on the US Hot 100, a record that has since been broken by artists such as Cher. The iconic music video of the song, shot in New York City during the spring of 1984, shows Turner walking down the street engaging with the public, inter-cut with scenes where she is singing directly to camera and stars Bruce Springsteen’s sister Pamela as a dancer. “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” that became the second-biggest single of 1984 in the US, received three awards at the 1985 Grammy Awards: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and it also won “Best Female Video” at the 1985 MTV Video Music Awards. In 1993 the song’s title was used as the title for the Tina Turner’s biopic, in 2012 it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame giving Turner her third Grammy Hall of Fame Award and her eleventh Grammy Award. Tina Turner ruled for the rest of the 1980’s as the Queen of Rock, scoring several hits in a successful career that she was able to get back, and “What’s Love Got to Do with It” was followed by many other hits including “Private Dancer,” “Typical Male,” “Two People,” “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)” and “What You Get Is What You See” among many others. She also made famous duets with Bryan Adams, Mick Jagger and David Bowie, ending the decade with “The Best.”
Look back at the iconic 1984 music video “What’s Love Got to Do with It” by Tina Turner
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