Subscribe / Renew |
|
Contact Us |
|
► Subscribe to our Free Weekly Newsletter |
home | Welcome, sign in or click here to subscribe. | login |
April 2, 2021
In the opening moments of the HBO documentary “Tina,” Tina Turner doesn't just command the stage as she's belting out “Ask Me How I Feel” for a giant stadium of fans. With heels stomping and her hair waving, she owns the stage to such a degree that you half expect bank lenders to materialize by the footlights to sign over the deed.
Few if any could ever match Turner as a performer. Both regal and raw, she was one of the supreme vocalists of the 20th century — a model of inspiration for Mick Jagger and countless others. And, at least in scenes like that 1980s concert, her power was a testament of reclamation. As a newly solo singer removed from more than a decade of abuse, she was taking back her life, her story, her voice. Her proper debut, she says, came not as a teenager with Ike Turner, but as a 50-year-old woman finally on her own.
. . .
Previous columns: