The Queen of Rock & Roll!
The peerless Tina Turner, referred to by her fans as The Best, and the critics as the Queen of Rock & Roll, lived a life like no other.
Starting out with Ike Turner, whom she married in 1962, and divorced in 1978, she had worldwide success with Proud Mary, Nutbush City Limits, and the epic River Deep – Mountain High.
Only Nutbush was an original song, written by Tina. River Deep – Mountain High was written for Tina by Phil Spector, Proud Mary was a Creedence Clearwater Revival tune.
Other covers of famous songs include Honky Tonk Women (Stones), Shake A Tail Feather (Ray Charles), and Come Together by The Beatles.
This era of her life was captured in the film What’s Love Got To Do With It (1993), a must-see for any music fan.
After her divorce in 1978, Tina started plotting a comeback, it took a while but in 1984 she was back with singles Private Dancer and What’s Love Got To Do With It. The album also contained classics Help! (Beatles) Let’s Stay Together by Al Green, and I Can’t Stand The Rain (Ann Peebles).
Private Dancer, the album, sold 12 million copies worldwide and has since been listed by the Library Of Congress for preservation.
Her next album, Break Every Rule (‘86), seemingly remained true to its title as no significant singles came from it, not what Tina was used to by now!
In ‘89, Tina released Foreign Affair, the hits were now back in Steamy Windows, and her signature song, The Best.
Tina Turner post the ’80s
Following this, the soundtrack for the film What’s Love Got To Do With It came out, Ike became the most hated man in the world, and Tina, if she wasn’t already, the most loved woman.
The next album, Wildest Dreams came out in ‘96. As far as big tunes, only Golden Eye (James Bond ’95) was a big hit, which was released a year before the album.
In ‘99, Tina Turner released her final studio album, Twenty Four Seven, it sold well initially but didn’t have any hits.
As well as leaving a trail of legendary tunes, there are also several generations of female singers influenced by her, making Tina one of the most important singers of all time, perhaps only comparable to Aretha Franklin and Ella Fitzgerald.
In 2018, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, premiered in London. One of my singer friends, Sharon, came second in the audition and was offered the understudy part for the lead role, in true Tina style she walked away.
Tina Turner Tunes | Related Pages
The Best
You can learn how to play The Best by Tina Turner using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, and the original recording.
| F5 | F5 | F F6 | Fmaj7 F |
I call you when I need you, my heart’s on fire…
Come Together
You can learn how to play Come Together by The Beatles using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, and the original recording.
| Dm | Dm |
Here come old flat top, he come grooving up slowly…
Honky Tonk Women
You can learn how to play Honky Tonk Women by The Rolling Stones using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, and the original recording.
| G | G | C F/A | C |
I met a gin-soaked, bar-room queen in Memphis…
I Can’t Stand The Rain
You can learn how to play I Can’t Stand The Rain by Ann Peebles using chords, lyrics, TAB, chord analysis, and Spytunes video guitar lessons.
| A7 | A7 | A7 | A7 |
I can’t stand the rain, against my window, bringing back sweet memories…
It Takes Two
You can learn how to play It Takes Two by Marvin Gaye (and Kim Weston) using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, and the original recording.
| Eb | Eb E | F | F N.C |
It takes two, baby, it takes two, baby…
Let’s Stay Together
You can learn how to play Let’s Stay Together by Al Green using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, and the original recording.
| F (Fsus4) | F | Dm9 | Dm9 |
I, I’m so in love with you…
Nutbush City Limits
You can learn how to play Nutbush City Limits by Tina Turner using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, TAB, and the original recording.
||: A A6 A A6 A | A7 A6 A A6 A :||
A church house, gin house. A schoolhouse, outhouse…
Proud Mary
You can learn how to play Proud Mary by Tina Turner using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, TAB, and the original recording.
| D | D | D | D |
Left a good job (down) in the city, working for my man every night and day…
River Deep – Mountain High
You can learn how to play River Deep – Mountain High by Tina Turner using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, TAB, and the original recording.
| Bb N.C | N.C | Eb | Eb | Eb | Eb | Bb | Bb |
When I was a little girl, I had a rag doll, only doll I’ve ever owned…
Shake A Tail Feather
You can learn how to play Shake A Tail Feather by the Blues Brothers (and Ray Charles) using chords, lyrics, TAB, and the original recording.
| D5 (D6) | G (G6) |
Well, I heard about the fellow you’ve been dancin’ with…
What’s Love Got to Do with It
You can learn how to play What’s Love Got to Do with It by Tina Turner using chords, lyrics, TAB, chord analysis, and the original recording.
| G#m11 | G#m11 | F#/G# | F#/G# |
You must understand, though the touch of your hand makes my pulse react…
Tina Turner on the web
Artists & Bands
Behind every single tune you learn, there’s an artist or band with an entire catalogue of music, waiting to be discovered.
Find out more about these great Artists & Bands, and let their tunes guide you to success.
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was an article about Tina Turner tunes, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
