5 shocking revelations from Tina Turner's 2021 documentary
On Wednesday, the world lost legendary singer Tina Turner at 83.
The “What’s Love Got to Do With It” hitmaker died in Switzerland, where she had been living for the past few years.
Throughout her career, the iconic Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll received 12 Grammy Awards and sold more than 100 million records worldwide.
But although her career brought her tremendous success, she battled a turbulent personal life, which was detailed in a two-part March 2021 HBO documentary.
The doc, simply titled “Tina,” premiered two years before her death, and was nominated for three primetime Emmy Awards.
Tina Turner died at 83. Michael Ochs Archives
Turner died in Switzerland, where she had been living for the past few years. AFP via Getty Images
“Every time she’s asked to re-tell her story, as beneficial as it may be for other people to hear and be empowered by, it can be extremely painful and re-traumatizing for her,” director TJ Martin, 41, told The Post last year.
Here are some of the most shocking revelations from “Tina.”
In 2021, HBO released a documentary about her life, titled “Tina.” Getty Images
1. Her documentary was considered as a ‘goodbye’ to her fans
The honest and heartfelt documentary marked a goodbye to her fans and those who have stuck by her over the years.
“The spotlight is not interesting to her anymore,” Martin told The Post last year. “She worked for 60 years — and now she’s done with being repeatedly reminded of her past trauma.”
It covered the depths of her life, including the good, the bad and the ugly — particularly her relationship with Ike Turner, who passed away from a drug overdose in 2007.
She suffered a string of illnesses later in her life, including a stroke and cancer, as well as kidney failure that required a transplant in 2017.
“This [film] is her way of saying to the world once and for all, ‘These are the pieces [of my story] that I’m leaving. Now let me go,’ ” Dan Lindsay, another director of the film, explained last year to The Post.
She sold more than 100 million records worldwide throughout her career. Getty Images
2. Turner alleged that her mom, Zelma Priscilla, ‘didn’t like’ her
In the documentary, Turner claimed that her mom, Zelma Priscilla, “was not kind” and “didn’t like” her.
Turner was born as Anna Mae Bullock in the small town of Nutbush, Tennessee, in 1939.
She said in the documentary that her mom was abused by her father, Floyd Bullock.
Turner was later abandoned by both of her parents. Her mom walked out when Turner was just 11, and two years later, her father remarried, sending her and her sister to live with their grandmother in Brownsville, Tennessee, according to the BBC.
She later reunited with her mom when she became famous — but that still didn’t seem to be enough for Priscilla.
“Even after I became Tina, Ma was still a little bit like, ‘Who did that?’ and ‘Who did this?’ And I said, ‘I did that, Mom!’ ” she said in the film. “I was happy to show my mother what I did. I had a house, I had got a car, and she said, ‘No, I don’t believe it. No, you’re my daughter, no you didn’t!’
“She didn’t want me, she didn’t want to be around me, even though she wanted my success. But I did for her as if she loved me.”
She had a tumultuous relationship with Ike Turner. Michael Ochs Archives
3. Turner detailed the beginnings of her abusive relationship with Ike Turner
In 1957, Turner met Ike Turner while at a St. Louis nightclub, which marked the start of their tumultuous relationship.
He led the popular music group, “The Kings of Rhythm,” and liked Turner’s voice, who was a teen at the time. Ike was credited with making the first “rock ‘n’ roll” song, titled “Rocket 88.”
They turned into a duo – building an act together called the “Ike & Tina Turner Revue,” and he later renamed her as Tina Turner, according to NPR.
But the relationship quickly turned sour.
They met at a St. Louis nightclub. Redferns
The documentary revealed the beginnings of the abuse that she faced with Ike.
“He beat me with a shoe stretcher,” Turner said in the doc.
At the time, she was pregnant with her son, Ronnie. (He passed away in December 2022 at 62.)
“After that he made me go to bed and he had sex with me,” she remembered. “That was the beginning of the torture. I had to lay down and he’d stand over me and [slap] this coat hanger on my fanny. I swear to God. My fanny swoll 2 inches higher.”
She was able to escape his abuse. Redferns
The two wed in 1962, and she said that the violence from Ike only continued to increase from there. During the marriage, Turner attempted to commit suicide to escape her ex-husband, per People.
In 1976, the two of them broke up for good — Turner had “snuck out” and hid at a Ramada Inn after he had allegedly beat her.
However, later in the doc, she detailed that she was able to be at peace with Ike.
“For a long time I did hate Ike, I have to say that,” she said. “But then, after he died, I really realized that he was an ill person. He did get me started and he was good to me in the beginning. So I have some good thoughts. Maybe it was a good thing that I met him, that I don’t know.”
Turner had a long and successful music career. Sygma via Getty Images
4. She hated her hit song, ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It,’ when she first heard it
Turner revealed in the documentary that she actually hated arguably one of her most famous songs, “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” when she first heard it.
It was originally made for an English band called Bucks Fizz, according to Harpers Bazaar.
Her manager at the time, Roger Davies, pushed her to record it, and thought that it had a lot of potential.
“I was rock and roll. … This was a pop song,” Turner said about “What’s Love Got to Do With It.” Getty Images
“It was terrible. It was awful,” Turner said in the film as she recalled her first impression of the song, according to the outlet.
“I was rock and roll. … This was a pop song.”
She then met with the songwriter, Terry Britten, and sang it, turning the tune into something of her own.
It made No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart — her first and only.
She later married Erwin Bach in 2013. Getty Images
5. Turner found love again with Erwin Bach — the doc gave a glimpse into their life
The documentary also allowed a glimpse into her life with her husband and music producer, Erwin Bach, in Switzerland.
She met him while she was visiting Europe at 46, and the two wed in 2013.
“He had the prettiest face,” Turner explained in the film. “It was like, ‘Where did he come from?’ He was so good-looking. My heart went ba-bum. It means that a soul has met.
“He was just so different, so laid back, so comfortable, so unpretentious, and that was the beginning of our relationship.”
Source: New York Post
