Tina Turner: 15 Essential Songs

In the years leading up to Tina leaving Ike for good, she was beginning to stake her claim as a solo artist. In 1974, she dropped her debut album, Tina Turns the Country On! Then she headed to London to film the big-screen adaptation of the Who’s ambitious rock opera Tommy. She played the Acid Queen, and received critical acclaim for her wild, energetic performance. Performing her character’s big song, Turner was feral and thrilling, going above and beyond to match the tense (and a bit horrifying) nature of her encounter with the young pinball wizard at the story’s center. The same year Tommy came out, Turner released another solo album, this time inspired by her role in the movie. —B.S.

Tina Turner was on a major downward career spiral when British New Wave band Heaven 17 invited her to sing on their 1982 hit “Ball of Confusion.” It was her first foray into the world of synth pop, and it became a hit in Europe. This captured the attention of Capitol Records. They signed Turner and put her back in the studio with Heaven 17’s Martin Ware to cut a New Wave take on Al Green’s classic “Let’s Stay Together.” The song charted all across the planet, setting the stage perfectly for Private Dancer. It’s fair to say that “Let’s Stay Together” was the song that rebooted her entire career. —A.G.

Written by the British duo of Terry Britten and Graham Lyle, “What’s Love Got to Do With It” was rejected by Cliff Richard and Donna Summer before Tina Turner got her hands on it. She was 46 and seen by much of the industry as a decade past her prime, but she infused every word of the song with heartache and pain drawn from her real life. Millions connected to it, and the song topped charts all over the world, solidifying one of the great comebacks in rock history. “It’s neither rock & roll nor R&B,” Turner told Rolling Stone right after it hit. “It’s a bit of both.”

Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler wrote “Private Dancer” for his band’s 1982 album, Love Over Gold, but ultimately felt uncomfortable singing the lyrics since they’re from the perspective of a stripper doing what she needs to do to get paid. A couple of years later, he offered it to Tina Turner, and the rest of Dire Straits recorded it with her (though Jeff Beck replaced Knopfler on guitar). “I’m your private dancer, a dancer for money,” she sings, reaching deep into her gut to hit the high notes. “I’ll do what you want me to do.” The pain (and also a little pride) that she poured into the words still feels wrenching as she plays a character coming to terms with her career: “Tell me, do you want to see me do the shimmy again?” But the way Turner sang it with such conviction made it a Number Seven hit. —K.G.

Though this song was originally recorded by the New York band Spider, who released it in 1981, Turner made it feel like a signature statement, imbuing its demand for respect with rock-star swagger and her own story of struggle and resilience. “Better Be Good To Me” helped set the emotional tone for her glorious comeback LP Private Dancer, and won a Grammy for best female rock performance in 1985. —J.D.

The 1985 film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is generally seen as the weakest chapter in the original Mad Max trilogy. But nobody disputes that Tina Turner was brilliant as the evil Aunt Entity. Even better was her contribution to the soundtrack, “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome).” The anthem played over the closing credits, and gave Turner a Top Five hit in America. Another piece of her ever-growing legacy, it remained a key part of her live show all the way until her final tour in 2009.—A.G.

After Private Dancer helped launch a global comeback for Turner, she kept the immense success going with 1986’s Break Every Rule. She kicked off the album cycle with “Typical Male,” a fizzy pop-rock bop that has her falling for a lawyer, then realizing he’s just like all the other guys who want her. Featuring Phil Collins on drums, the song is a perfectly kitschy Eighties pop hit with Turner’s playful, sexy charm burning down the house. The song was an instant success, becoming her second single to top the Hot 100.  —B.S.

Bonnie Tyler, the “Total Eclipse of the Heart” hitmaker, recorded “The Best” a year before Tina Turner. It’s a stunning recording — Tyler sold just how much she adored her lover, and it’s truly one of Tyler’s best songs — but it failed to chart. When Turner covered it for Foreign Affair, she poured her own unique passion into songwriters Mike Chapman and Holly Knight’s words; added a key change, a bridge, and an Edgar Winter sax solo; and turned the song into the megahit it was always meant to be. The way she drops her voice to sing “You’re better than anyone, anyone I ever met,” still gives chills. When Tina Turner gave a compliment, she meant it. —K.G.

The 1993 Tina Turner biopic What’s Love Got to Do With It featured brilliant performances by Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne as Tina and Ike, earning them both Academy Award nominations. For the soundtrack, the real-life Turner took a ballad originally penned by Sixties British pop star Lulu and turned it into her final Top Ten hit in America. Lulu didn’t write the lyrics with Turner in mind, but it summed up Turner’s spirit perfectly, transforming it into a sequel of sorts to 1984’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” “But me, I’m getting stronger,” Turner sings. “We must stop pretending/I can’t live this life.” —A.G.