All language subtitles for Tina.2021.1080p.BluRay.x264.AAC5.1-[YTS.MX]

crowd:
Tina! Tina! Tina!

- Well, hi, everybody!

Come on, give it to me.
I said hi, everybody!

Let me hear you say "ow"!

crowd: Ow!

- I wondered sometimes
if anyone has approached you

to do the story of your life,
which is indeed fantastic.

Yes.

But I don't want to play
the part.

I've done it.

- Who else could play the part
of Tina Turner?

- We'll find someone.

I just really don't want
to play the part,

you know what I mean?

No, you don't know
what I mean,

‘cause you'd have to know me
to know.

It was just so unlike me,
my life.

But I don't want anyone
to know about it, I mean...

- You mean it'd be too painful
or too...

- Ah, it wasn 't--
wasn't a good life.

It was in some areas,

but the goodness
did not balance the bad.

So it's like
not wanting to be reminded.

You don't like to pull out
old clothes, you know?

It's like, old memories,

you want to just leave that
in the past and done with

and all the things
you don't really want to say,

but there comes a time
when you do have to say it.

- This is interview one,
take one.

- In 1981, you did
this interview

with "People" magazine,

where for the first time,
really,

you spoke openly
about your past with Ike.

- Yeah.

- And I'm curious
if you can remember at all

any of the thoughts you had

around the decision
to be public about that.

- About my past?

- About your past,
but also, I guess,

about the abuse specifically.

- Yeah, that was
quite nerve-racking.

Actually, I called my psychic,
and I said,

"What's gonna happen?"

'‘Cause I was
really apprehensive

about giving the story away
because it was telling.

It was really telling.

And she said, "No, Tina.

"It's going to do
just the opposite.

It's gonna break everything
wide open."

- In the early '80s,

being in "People" magazine was
the equivalent of going viral.

We had 30 million readers.

And if somebody wanted
to reach a lot of people,

there was really
no bigger place to go

than "People" magazine.

I was the music editor
of "People" magazine

for many years,

and this is the December 7,
1981 issue,

when Tina decided
to tell her story.

And it was the first time
She told the story in public

to a journalist.

So this is the story.

I reported it and wrote it
for "People" magazine.

This is the picture of Tina.

"Tina Turner remains
rock's original Jagger,

"a primitive force who,

"glittering in sequins
and a gold-chain miniskirt,

"typically assaults the stage
in mid-scream

"with both legs pumping,
hips grinding,

"long mane whirling,

"and her mouth wrapped around
some of the sexiest sounds

"ever set to music.

"More than five years
have passed

"since Tina's bitter break
with Ike Turner,

"her longtime husband,
sideman,

"and music collaborator
on such classics

"as ‘Proud Mary'
and 'Come Together.'

"Only now is Tina
able to discuss

"what she claims were
the harrowing events

leading up to their split.”

- I lived 16 years with a man
that I knew

there was no way
I could ever be happy with,

but I felt
that I had to stay there.

- Mm-hmm.

- You have to believe me now
when I tell you something.

My ex-husband was
a physically violent man.

I went through basic torture.

- Torture?
You would call it torture?

- To me, it was.

A lot of people don't know,

and your magazine
will probably be the first

to make it publicly known.

I was living a life of death.

I didn't exist...

but I survived it.

And when I walked out,
I walked.

And I didn't look back.

- People choose
to tell their story

for lots of different reasons.

I think she told me so much

because she wanted
to just tell it

and then forget it.

It didn't quite work out
that way,

because now, that story is
a great mark of her life.

- Ladies and gentlemen,

you've seen them live
from coast to coast.

Now you're about to see them

all together
for the very first time

on national television.

"Hollywood a Go Go" presents

the fantastic
lke & Tina Turner Revue!

- When I was a teenager
back in the '60s,

I knew of their record
that they had out,

but I had never seen them.

And then they came on TV,
and I saw her dancing,

and that's all I could look at.

I was just so amazed
at this woman.

- I remember standing there
watching her

and saying, "Whatever that is,

I want some of that."

I got the spirit.

It's no different
than being in a church

where you are moved
and stirred

to the point where you can
feel it inside yourself.

- Back then, you had
the whole Motown revue.

You had Diana Ross,

Mary Wells.

- The Temptations
in these Italian suits,

and we're putting forth
an image of sophistication.

- And they were all...

That kind of stuff,
and Tina was more, "Yeah!"

That kind of stuff.

- It's wild.

It's your sensuality,
your sexuality,

and it's in your face.

- Did you ever study dancing?

- No.
- No?

And what about music?

You know, singing?
- No, no music at all.

Everything is just natural
for me.

I'm a performer, and I sing,

and lke does the managing
and producing.

- It was Ike's band.

But he knew that in order to be

a number one, he needed Tina,

‘cause Tina was
the shining star.

- He was like her hero.

Like a big brother.

And he seen her
like a little sister.

That relationship

was very beautiful.

It really was.

I wasn't thinking of,
"I'll go to St. Louis,

and I'll start singing,
and I'll be a star."

I was young, naive,

just a country girl,

and everything just opened up
to me.

- Tina, you started
your musical career

in a church choir
in your hometown.

Do you consider
your musical roots

to be Black gospel?

- Oh, yes.
Certainly.

Black gospel, blues.

B.B. King's music was
our radio during that time.

- Mm-hmm. What kind of songs
were you singing

as a member
of the church choir?

Well, we call them--

well, it was a Baptist church,

and they were just
spiritual songs.

Songs about, you know, love

and giving and...

and doing
all of the right things

that make life good.

Those were good times,
you know,

to remember
all of the church singing

and the choir and all.

When you're in the South,
there's nothing happening,

except the church, the piano,
the preacher.

During that time,
I didn't know

about anywhere else.

So seeing Lucille Ball

and Loretta Young

and all the beautiful ladies
of Hollywood,

they were a role model

for a performer.

But I didn't think that I would
actually achieve that,

because first, I wasn't pretty,

and I didn't have the clothes,
I didn't have the means.

I remember the first
"Vogue" magazine that I saw,

and I remember
my first French poster--

Champs-Elysées,

the Eiffel Tower,

and the very, very
French woman.

I was like,
"Ah, that's what I want.

The world.
That's where I want to go."

- I got the impression
from her,

she always felt
a little bit out of time

or a little bit out of place.

I didn't think she ever felt
like people understood her

or really liked her
for who she was,

and the talent she had,

she finally learned
that she had,

can win you a lot of people
who recognize who you are

and will become
like your real family...

or try to.

- Ike, first of all, if we can
kind of go back a long way

to when you were a young man.

A lot of people credit you

with doing the first ever
rock and roll record,

"Rocket 88."

- Yeah, that was in 1951.

- Yeah.
How did that thing happen?

- Well, I live in Clarksdale,
Mississippi,

which is actually 61 miles
from Memphis,

and B.B. King, my mother,

she practically raised him,
you know,

and one night,
we was coming from

Chambers, Mississippi,
playing,

and B.B., I asked him, I said,
"Man, can we play a song?"

And he said, "Yeah."

So he let my band play
one number.

So, anyway, he said, "Man,
you guys should be recording."

And, man, we didn't have
any material,

so on the way up, we decided
to write this song,

and that's when I wrote
the song "Rocket 88," you know.

- Ike Turner is
a very important part

of R&B history.

Everybody relied on him
‘cause he really knew music

and he scored a real hit record

with a song in 1951
called "Rocket 88."

People say it's the first
rock and roll record.

And when it comes out,
Chess has credited it

to Jackie Brenston
& His Delta Cats.

lke Turner did that song,
you know?

He made everything
about it happen,

and it's credited to one
of his saxophone players.

Imagine how he feels
about this.

And I think that's the story
of his career.

I think he became paranoid
about that.

He said, "People were always
trying to rip me off."

- He's always obsessed
on that.

"Everybody leaves me.

"I make 'em, you know, popular

"and get a hit record
and everything on them,

and they all leave me."

- Ike had a problem
of writing songs for people,

and they would leave,

and I promised him
that I wouldn't leave him.

In those days,
a promise is a promise.

I finished school,

and I went
in the recording studio,

and I did a demo,

and that's when
the hit record came.

lke came in, and he said,

"You know, the people
in New York are very excited.”

We got a hit record.
He was very excited, you know.

And then there was--
contracts started coming in.

I was very ignorant
to show business.

I didn't have any idea
what it was about.

- She really was young.

She never had no ambition

to be some kind of superstar,

but when she sang,
she just had it.

And lke exploited it.

He had to make sure
he's gonna get his this time,

so he'd make sure
that his name is on it.

- And that's when he put
the whole show together,

the lke & Tina Turner Revue

and gave her the name
Tina Turner.

- "Sheena:
Queen of the Jungle,"

it was a TV series.

Tina and Sheena, I guess
it just sounded close to him,

and it sounded good,
lke & Tina Revue,

as a whole entity.

So he changed it.
Didn't even ask her.

She didn't know
anything about it.

- Tina was the gold mine.
He knew that.

He created
this Frankenstein thing,

and he had to control it.

So he had to change that thing
from being my little sister--

"No, no, you got to be
my wife now."

Fwoom.

- You'd never know
from one minute to the next.

lke could be having
a good time,

and everybody was having
a good time,

and it could just flip
in a second.

And I think with women,

I think, you know, he figured
he had the upper hand.

And especially, like,
with Tina, you know,

that was, like...

I think,
him instilling in her,

"You better be good,
or, you know,

I'm gonna beat the shit
out of you."

And did on many occasions,
you know, I mean,

and for no reason
a lot of times.

It was just...

I really don't know.

I don't think he knows
a lot of the time.

- I felt obligated
to stay there,

and I was afraid.

And I stayed.
That is just how it was.

I felt very loyal to Ike,
and I didn't want to hurt him.

I mean, sometimes,
like, after he beat me up,

I'd end up feeling sorry
for him.

And, "Why am I feeling sorry?"

I'm sitting here
all bruised and torn,

and all of a sudden,
I'm feeling sorry for him.

You know, little things
like that.

I was 23 years old
or something, you know.

I mean, early 20s.

I was just all--
how do you call it

when someone brainwashes you,
I guess?

- Brainwashed.
- Maybe I was brainwashed.

Yeah. I was afraid of him.

And I cared
what happened to him,

and I knew that if I left,
there was no one to sing.

So I was caught up in guilt
and fear.

Yeah, those are
the two worst qualities,

I think, for a young girl
to be caught up into.

- And now let's go
with lke and Tina Turner!

- In those early days,

you'd play
three shows a night.

Two shows this place,
two shows that place,

and two shows
at the after-hours place.

It was hard work.

- I can remember working
as many as four shows a night,

and every night
and every show...

was packed, was packed.

- Right now
I'm gonna tell you

a little something
about my man.

- He rehearsed constantly.

Even sometimes we'd be
driving to the next show,

he'd be playing the guitar
in the back

and having Tina sing.

I mean, it was 24-7.

- The show has to be perfect.

Every single part of it
has to be perfect.

He was one of those guys
who would turn around onstage

and point at somebody,
and they know

they're getting a $10 fine
‘cause they just blew a note.

- She didn't have
the glam team,

someone doing the hair
and the makeup

and the stylist
getting the wardrobe.

They did it all themselves.

The only freedom I had was

when the Ikettes and I got
the dancing ready

and I got the dresses ready.

And we'd get everything,

except we didn't even know
what song was coming up.

Do it with the guitar,
you know?

It was awful in a way,
but it was a lesson.

Now that I look back,
I see it as a training.

You adjust to what is given,

and that is what was given
at the time.

- He controlled the music,
and she had to--

it was always his music,
and it was--

which is very same-y

if you listen to it
all the time.

A lot of it is just brilliant.
I love those records.

But it's of a type.
It's one thing.

It's Ike Turner's stuff.

And she--I think she had
broader tastes than that.

She must've felt
there was more you could do

with music than this.

I think she probably had
a bigger dream than--

without knowing it,
than he did.

- People started to see
that there was more to Tina

than what lke had
to offer her...

especially after

the "River Deep -
Mountain High" album,

you know, with Phil Spector.

- Phil Spector was
the greatest

pop record producer
of that period.

He played the studio
like an instrument, you know,

and he found
all these singers,

and he made
these wonderful records.

And when Phil Spector wanted
to make

"River Deep - Mountain High,"

Ike's presence was
not necessary.

Just bring Tina in
because she's the star.

- Spector didn't want lke
nowhere near the studio.

So he paid lke
X amount of dollars

to get him...
taken care of, so to speak,

so that he
wouldn't interfere with Tina.

And that was the first time
they gave Tina

her chance to sing differently.

- I remember

starting to sing with Phil

that style of singing, but
which Ike had been singing...

- And he said,
"No, no, no, no, no.

Just sing the melody."

And I liked that.

That was a freedom
that I didn't have--

you know, like a bird
that gets out of a cage.

I was excited about singing
a different type of song.

I was excited about getting
out of the studio on my own.

It was a freedom
to do something different.

It was so big,

and my voice sounded
so different

standing on top
of all that music.

- People started to see

Tina was capable
of so much more.

She had wings, man.

- This is such
an overpowering orchestration.

It's so complex.

This record,
it just blows out walls.

- It just died
in the United States.

Died.
Nobody wanted to hear it.

And you listen to this record,
and you think,

"What's the matter
with this country," you know?

"I'm so ashamed
to be an American."

You know,
it's like, what's wrong?

So that was a big blow
to Spector's career,

and, you know, maybe lke
probably was thinking,

you know, "Well, see?

He's not so great."

"You should stick with me."

- Like any Black artist
in America that do any tune,

it has to go, like, top ten
on the R&B charts

before the top 40 stations
will touch it.

And "River Deep" was not
a Black record, you know,

and so it wouldn't make
the top ten on the R&B charts,

and so, therefore,
the top 40 radio stations

wouldn't play it.

Over in England,
they listen to the record,

and if the record is
a R&B record, it's R&B.

You know,
if it's rhythm and blues,

it's rhythm and blues,
and if it's pop, it's pop,

you know, and so it got played
over here.

It never got played in America.

The Black jockeys say
it's too white.

The white jockeys say
it's too Black.

- You live in LA?
- Yes.

- What sort of life
do you have?

- Well, my life is sort of
based around my four sons.

I have a housekeeper
that takes care of them

when I travel.

Being a wife and being Tina
at the same time

is almost like a split person.

But I'm able
to separate the two,

So everything is fine--
the whole thing is sane.

- [ke Jr. and Michael
were lke's kids

by Lorraine, his previous wife.

Tina had Craig

when she was
with the saxophone player,

Raymond Hill,

and then she had Ronnie,
you know, with Ike.

They were, like, all together
by the time I met Tina.

Michael, don't stand
underneath that door.

Don't lean on that door
like that.

I made myself a family.

I totally psyched myself out,
and I made a home,

and I found some pleasure
in that home

every now and then.

Birthdays with children
and dinners,

Thanksgiving dinners,
periodically,

but at least I had
some sense of a life

of what I had always wanted.

- Where my trophy at?

Give me my trophy.

That's a water boy trophy.
- It's not.

- It's Mother's new trophy.

- She was gone
most of the time.

Over a period of eight years,

everything was
basically the same.

Eight months on the road,
four months back,

eight months on the road,
four months back.

She was very, very strict,

particularly when
she was home.

We couldn't have company

unless we finished
our homework.

We had to do our chores.

We had to eat breakfast,
lunch, and dinner

at the same time.

She really took
to raising us personally

because, basically,
that was her happiness,

to a certain extent.

- Everybody was happy
around my mother.

And she was always sad.

She never had friends.

She never had anybody
she could really confide in.

So, basically,
her happiness was with us

and her time alone
in her room.

And there was nothing
she can do

about her circumstances.

He had to know
where she was at all the time.

She was on allowance.
She didn't have her own money.

My mother really had
a non-existent life

other than the studio
and the house.

- When I first
interviewed her,

one of the questions
she kept on asking was,

"Why did I stay?
Why did I stay?

People want to know
why I stayed."

And for me, it was interesting

to think about the violence
that happened before lke,

‘cause I think
a lot of people don't know

that she grew up watching
violence in her own home.

Right now...

I think you might like
to hear something from us...

- I'd like to do that for you,

but there's just one thing,
you see.

We never, ever do nothing

nice and easy.

We always do it
nice and rough.

Now, we're gonna take
the beginning of this song,

and we're gonna do it...

I was truly a friend to Ike.

I had promised
that I would help him.

So I was still trying
to help him

to get a hit record.

- Two, three, four!

- "Proud Mary" became a hit.

We were all over America.

- That's just fabulous.
That's fabulous.

- Who settles an argument
if you...

- Ah.

Things are not always
the way they look, you know.

- No.
Ike's kind of quiet.

- Yeah, he's--
Ike is very bashful

when the lights are on, and...

But on the other hand,

when he's
in the recording studio,

Ike's the one that does
all of the ruling around,

the talking,
he's the whole thing.

- But in public,
he's like this.

- Yeah, 'cause he can't
get it together.

Takes him--

- I swear you're behind me.
Y'all behind me.

These are all--

I'm on a speed above
where y'all feeling at.

- You're saying on him, too?
- Y'all hear me?

I'm just saying, like,
you're telling her that,

and she's not getting there.

I'm just trying
to give her an example...

of how to sing.

- Okay.
Turn it off.

- In the later part
of their career,

when, you know,
the hits weren't coming

and a lot of the money
wasn't coming in,

he started placing
the blame elsewhere.

You know, he took
a lot of his anger out on her.

Most of the time,
when lke would come home,

he would take her
back in the room

and then close the door,

and there'd be the screams.

And we were so petrified,
we were in bed

with the, you know, covers
over our heads.

And then I remember one time,
he was...

He was striking my mother.

And I was young.

And he had thrown

some scalding hot coffee
on her.

And I went
and banged on the door,

and I said, "Mother."

And then it stopped,
and then she said,

"Craig, I'm okay."

He came to apologize,

and he apologized
for the third-degree burn

but didn't apologize

for throwing the coffee
on her.

At that point in time,
I hated that man

for the rest of my life.

And I'll never forget that.

Never.

I had began
to not really care.

And I was there alone.

How can I tell you
what alone meant?

- We got to the hospital.
They pumped her stomach.

And I think lke was out
talking to the doctor

or something,

and I was in there,
just her and I,

and I was scared shitless,
and I thought,

"Tina, you can't die.
I mean, come on, now."

It just really scared me

‘cause I didn't know
what had ha--you know,

if she was gonna pull through
or not.

- These are some
difficult questions now,

and there was a time
where she was unhappy,

and there was
a suicide attempt.

Can you talk
about her unhappiness

and how that made you feel?

- Well, I can't really say
how I felt

because I never knew
how she felt.

I didn't know
why she attempted suicide,

because I thought
maybe that it was a...

Well...

let me start this again.

At first,
Tina attempting suicide

two or three times,

I think that this was
some form of attention.

She was unhappy about
the things that I was doing,

me being a womanizer,

being with all these women
and stuff like this,

and I think that

the real truth is that

she was trying to be something
that she wasn't.

She was--wait a minute.
I want to clarify this.

She was trying to be

what she thought I wanted...

not what she really was.

She was trying to please me.

And so, therefore, she was
going through a lot of hurt,

and I think
she had a very unhappy life

because of that.

I think we were living a lie,

and if I had done used
my head any at all,

I would've known better.

And so this is what led
to our downfall.

- Buddhism was a way out.

And it changed your attitude

towards the situation
that you're in.

The more you chant,
the more, you know,

you become liberated mentally.

-&Yo Jd

Hey!

Hey!

- Ike had recognized it, too,

that he couldn't control
her anymore,

because she just wasn't
putting up with any of that.

- Right now...

I'm gonna talk about respect...

because, you see,

respect is what I want.

I think
it's what most of us want.

But, you know, we don't always
get what we want,

especially us women.

Tonight I'm gonna speak
for us women, you see,

because, somehow,

the men always manage to get

what they want.

That's right.

They do what they want to do

whenever they want to do it.

And you know what?

They do it with whoever
they want to do it with.

Now, fellas, you've started
us women to thinking.

Yeah, we can think, too.

We think that whatever's
out there in the streets

must be good...

‘cause you mens been out there
a long time.

Now us women wants to go
out there and get us some, too.

But I want you to...

- Okay, okay.

The memory of that
was horrendous, of course,

because I was practically
run over by a truck.

I didn't--1 didn't--

well, I wasn't
thinking clearly, of course.

And so I thought at that point
was a time when I could cross,

but, you know, I had felt
like I was moving slow,

and there was that big truck,

really one of the big ones
coming,

and the horn blew.

"Rah," right?

And what I mostly remember

is flashing lights.

The next day, it was
the Fourth of July,

and I said, "Of course,
the Fourth of July."

But I'll remember every time,
"Oh, the Fourth of July.

It's when I got my freedom."

The divorce was clean-cut.

I got nothing.

No money, no house, no car.

That is when I realized
that I could use Tina

to become...

a business.

And so I said,
"I'll just take my name."

lke fought a little bit

because he knew
what I would do with it.

And it was through court
that I got it.

Tina.

- To keep it is to reclaim it,

reshape it, refine it.

Also a kind of, like,
"fuck you" to Ike.

"Yeah, you gave me this name,

but watch what I build
with it."

I realized
I had to go to work.

I mean, I couldn't
just stay there

and wait for what?

I had to work.

- After Tina left Ike,

somebody had to pay
for the dates they blew

and Tina wound up
with all the bills,

none of the money.

She would go do Vegas.

She'd go do,
like, McDonald's conventions.

She'd play anywhere

just to make the money
to get by.

- Ike wasn't paying anything
at that point.

So she's got to support herself
and the kids.

So that's when I started
booking television shows.

I mean, we were
doing everything

from "The Brady Bunch"...

- To "Hollywood Squares”...

- In "The Hollywood Squares."

- Whatever TV shows
we could get her on,

because that was the only source
of income at that point.

- lke and Tina.
Where's lke?

- I don't know.

- So nice to have you
on the show, Tina.

- Thank you.

- What I remember is,
there was always the shadow

of lke Turner.

It was really hard for her,
you know.

- Is it all right for me
to ask you

if you and lke are together
or separated

or divorced or...

- Separated and divorced.

- Separated and divorced?

- Yeah.
We are divorced.

- Yeah, it took a while...

- Oh, yes.
- For you to decide?

- Well, yes.
It was--1 mean, we're family.

We'd been together
for, like, 16 years.

- [ke and Tina Turner,
that was a unit.

- People still call me
lke and Tina.

- [ke and Tina?
- Yeah, they do.

- He triggered
a lot of trauma...

just the thought of him,

you know,
‘cause there was a lot.

But she's a professional.

She'd get onstage,
you'd never know

anything was up...

ever.

- All right, five, six,
seven, eight.

I was becoming stagnant.

I knew that there was
something else.

And I realized
I wasn't going anywhere.

I'd be in Las Vegas
all my life.

Five, six, seven, eight.

Take two, two, three, four...

I was ready to get out there.

This is fine,
what you got so far,

but it's not good enough.

Well, then the next question is,

but you'd have to get someone
to organize that.

That is when Roger came
into picture.

- Well, I was working
with Olivia Newton-John,

and we were doing
a television special

called "Hollywood Nights,"

and Olivia had this desire
to have

really strong female singers
back her

in one or two songs.

- We had a list of people
we asked.

Toni Tennille,
Captain and Tennille,

I think Peaches was in it,

Tina Turner.

And that's
when I first met Tina.

- I remember when I walked in
to Roger's office,

he looked at me.

I will never forget that look.

It was in wonder.

Like, "How old is she?

What can I do with her?"
All of that.

And then I said,
"I simply want a manager.

"I don't know what to do.
I need to work.

I want to work."

And then he said,
"I need to see what you do."

And so I said, "Well,
I'm opening in San Francisco."

- They were doing
a two-week residency

at the Fairmont Hotel
in San Francisco,

two shows a night.

- The first show was supper.

You know,
everyone eating dinner,

and I'm, like, going, "Christ,"
you know...

- It was very cabaret,

and they did
a lot of cover versions.

I didn't react that excited...

‘Cause I didn't think
I could do anything with her.

- Anyway, we stayed
for the second show,

and the second show being,
like, a 9:00 show,

it was people had some drinks,
they were standing on tables,

and Tina was just working
the audience,

and I went, "Wow.

What a great
live performance.”

- You know
when you meet an artist

if they have got something
that grabs you,

and, obviously, it did to me,

and she was also
incredibly determined.

- Roger said to me,
"What do you want?"

I had a dream.

My dream is to be the first
Black rock and roll singer

to pack places like the Stones

or those people
that are packing

those kind of places,
you know?

- "I want to fill
the rock stadiums, Rog

like Mick and Keith."

I said, "Yep,
that's what we're gonna do."

I had no idea
if we were gonna do it,

‘cause there weren't
any female rock artists

in the world
selling out football stadiums.

- Tina's problem,
after leaving the lke orbit,

was now she's on her own.

She's just Tina Turner,
but who is that?

She is, by this point,

older than
your average pop star.

She's a middle-aged woman.

Is she R&B?
Was it disco?

Wasn't she doing that
recently?

It was very unclear.
Her image was unclear.

- When Tina said,
"I'd like you to manage me,"

I immediately thought,

"Well, I've got to get her
a record deal,

"we've got to change the image

"so people
at record companies know

"that you're not
just a Vegas cabaret act.

We're gonna make it current.”

I said, "We're gonna have
to make a rock show."

- I was ready for change.
I was ready for that.

But first of all,
the long hair

was a look that I used
for Ike and Tina,

so I cut the hair.

That was a change immediately.

Then the Bob Mackie
clothes went.

Pulled out some of my
rock and roll dresses,

the shorter ones.

And I went to work.
- Five, six, seven, eight...

- Ladies and gentlemen...

Tina Turner!

- We hired a young band.

We didn't really
have any money.

So Tina, who always knew

what she wanted them
to look like,

said, "We'll put them
in black karate suits."

The band hated it.

The musicians were like,
"Why do we have to wear this?"

I said, "You know, you each
get a different color belt."

- We looked
a little bit shabby,

but that's what rock and roll
is--it's shabby.

- She wanted two girls

to get away, I think,
from that Ikette thing.

- She was reinventing herself
as Tina Turner.

That was the beginning
of me taking control

of my performance.

I was my own boss.

So immediately
we changed the show.

Reviews were great.
Everything was going well.

And then we started working
to try to get a record deal.

Nobody would touch Tina Turner.

- When I first started

trying to look for a deal
with Tina,

the general feeling was "Is
she still with that guy lke?"

No one had any idea.

Tina needed to be exposed as--
she's a solo artist.

She's not associated with lke.

- Roger came to me,

asking me if I would be
willing to give the story

to the press,

and I was afraid to...

put it out because of...

what I might receive from Ike.

- I didn't really know
too much about

the backstory,
and nobody knew

about the traumas
that she went through.

You know, I just was looking
for a simple comeback story.

Little did I know, you know,

there was this whole legend
that came about.

- I didn't know
what to expect.

I wanted to stop people
from...

thinking that Ike and Tina
was so positive.

I mean, it was--it was...

that we were such a love team
or a great team,

and it wasn't like that.

So I thought, if nothing else,

at least people would know.

- Tina Turner is a legend,

a major influence
on rock stars like Rod Stewart

and Mick Jagger.

Once, she was teamed
with her husband lke.

Now she's on her own,

trying to establish herself
as a star once again.

- My life with lke

was one that a lot of, maybe,
people are familiar with--

husbands that--

that practice brutality.

- Yeah?
- Yeah.

- Nobody talked
about sexual abuse,

physical abuse,
domestic abuse.

Abuse, period.

Our generation
is the generation

that started to break
the silence.

- Tina--she couldn't
voice her own opinion.

Everything that she did
was lke.

- The idea of Tina
as a presence on her own

and having escaped--
people loved that story.

They wanted to--you know,
here was somebody to root for.

- Once the word was out,

we met a guy called Carter,

John Carter, at Capitol,
who believed in her.

- I had always been interested
in artists

that no one else
was interested in.

Once a star, always a threat,

and that's the way
I felt about Tina.

- So you play that thing,
you're playing that,

and you're playing
that strum under me,

and we move downstage
with that.

Let's just get that right.
That's exactly what...

- Carter basically gave us

a development deal.

We tried probably
eight or ten tracks,

still trying to find our way.

We never got quite there.

- Stay under me there,
but just come down.

Keep the pulse under me.
Don't lose the...

- We record a few things,

and as much as Roger and I
would get enthusiastic

about a song here
and a song there,

it was never really the body
of work that we needed.

- And then one day,
Carter rang me up,

beside himself, because there'd
been a change of management

at Capitol Records.

And they'd been in a meeting,
and they'd been going through

the roster of artists,
I guess, and...

the new management didn't want
Tina on the label.

- The new regime comes in...
- Mm-hmm.

- And like any new regime,

they got their own idea
about what they want to do.

- Right.
- So I flip out.

I go downstairs, and I said,
"Hey, this is my act,"

and the classic quote is,

"Carter, you signed this
old nigger douchebag?"

- Whoa. Whoa.
- "Yeah.

"Yeah, I did, and I'm
really happy about it.

Now, pick up the phone
and call Roger Davies."

- Wow.
- He said, "No fuckin' way."

And I get on my knees,
and I said,

"I'm now gonna beg you,

and I'm not gonna get up
until you pick up the phone."

And there was
a long stare-down,

and he picks up the phone.
- Wow.

- Well, he says,
"Okay, back on the roster."

- Mm-hmm.
- "You finish your record.

"But you understand
that we're gonna do nothing!

That's all there is."

I was held back

for a very long time...

but I didn't suffer
from those things,

and it's not necessary
to suffer about that

because what can you do
about it, you know?

So I didn't think
about those things.

- She always had a belief
it was gonna be okay.

And I think you have to have
that belief to keep going.

Radio, as you know,
in America

was very categorized,
and there's pop,

and there's R&B, there's urban,
and there's hot AC,

and she wanted to sing rock.

And that wasn't really
what they thought would work.

And that's when we knew
that it had to be England,

‘cause England and Europe
got her.

- It was London.

It was another
whole experience

from America.

You know, it felt like home.

It felt so comfortable

that I could have been there
all my life.

Well, I didn't have
that many friends in America

because, of course, Ike.

And then when I left Ike,

immediately I went to work.

My sons were at home.
They were fine.

My oldest was 28.

My youngest was moving
well into his middle 20s.

So not really kids anymore.

I left everything
and everybody behind.

I needed every minute
of my brains

to map my life together.

Fellas, do you know
what we're doing today?

- It's almost like
she had a coming of age

at 40 years old--

the fact
that she has this voice,

this incredible,
incredible voice,

I would say the industry
didn't even really know

what to do with.

- Roger could see
what could be done

when other people
couldn't imagine

what it could become.

So there's this new

kind of production technique
in England.

There are these new people
that are getting new sounds,

and you should be
part of that.

- I was collecting songs.

I used to carry around
this leather bag

full of cassettes
and asking a bunch of people

and, you know, Terry Britten,

he was a bit of
a hero of mine,

and he had songs
I think might work for Tina.

- Roger's tea.

- "What's Love" is probably
the worst demo

I've ever done to this date.

I mean, there's no, uh...

bee-doo-bee-doo--
none of that stuff.

Very white, very pop,

and nothing remotely
would say "Tina Turner."

Originally, it did go

to an English band
called Bucks Fizz,

who were really popular
at the time,

and I think they actually
recorded it.

- I was convinced.
I thought "What's Love" was...

It could be a big song.

Tina never really liked it.

- It was terrible.
It was awful.

It was...

I was rock and roll.

I was not...

That was a pop song.

So Roger says, "All right,
all right, all right.

"Just one thing--
you got to meet Terry Britten.

"You got to meet him,
‘cause he's a great writer,

and maybe he can make some
adjustments or whatever,"

and I went, "All right."

We walked in, and I didn't
know what to expect.

And Terry was like
a little leprechaun.

I mean, he's very short.

He was sitting there,
and his legs were hanging.

Something
about his legs hanging

that I remember.

- She came in,
and immediately she said,

"Well, you know
I don't like that song,

"and I don't want to do
that song.

It's Roger
that wants me to do it."

I said, "Well, you know,
if it doesn't work out,

you won't use it,
so let's give ita go."

- I had to find a way to sing
the song, so he would say,

"Tina, sing this
how you would sing it."

So, okay.

Then I applied
my heavy voice to it, and...

- She was trying to get
her head around it,

how's this little...
doop-dih-dih-dih work

sort of thing,

and I said to her,
"Tina, this is a jog."

And we both stood and jogged.

And she was singing loud,
and I went, "Quieter, quiet--"

She said, "If I go any quieter,
I'll be whispering.”

I said, "Yeah, that's it,"
and we start to jog on this.

Suddenly she went, "I got it,
I gotit, I got it."

- I was stunned afterwards,
after the session.

- They weren't used to
a strong voice

standing on top of music.

But I converted it
and made it my own.

- She said, "You know what?
People are gonna say,

"This is a Tina Turner song.

"It's not Tina doing a cover.

This is Tina Turner's song."

I knocked that album out
in two weeks in the studio.

Done. Finished.

- We just went
from studio to studio,

and, literally, two or three
weeks, the album was done.

We turned up with an album
that sold 20 million copies.

- When the album was out
and we were in New York

at Tower Records
doing a record signing,

and I got the call
from our record company

that "What's Love" had gone
to number one on "Billboard."

- In Tower Record?
- This was in Tower Records.

And I just jumped up,
and I said to everybody,

“It's number one,"
and they all started cheering.

It was wonderful.
- You know when you said that,

I honestly have to tell you--
I know it's gonna

sound real corny, but I mean
it--when I saw you say that

last night that this
went number one today,

I just, like,
burst into tears,

because to me, it was like,

there is some justice
after all.

I don't know if you feel
that way about it,

but it was very moving.
- Oh, number one.

is, "What's Love Got To
Do With It"--Tina Turner!

- My goodness, this has been
a wonderful evening.

I'd like to take this award

and give it to someone
that's been

wonderful to me as a friend

and in business
and in many ways--

my manager, Roger Davies.

It's been a wonderful year.

- My "Private Dancer" album--

no, I don't consider it
a comeback album.

Tina had never arrived.

It was Tina's debut
for the first time,

and this was my first album.

- Tina Turner!

- Tina Turner!

- They'd reached
a stage where,

after "Private Dancer,"
it was unbelievably big.

It was a runaway train.

- When you're hot, you're hot,
and this lady is the hottest.

Here's...
- Tina Turner!

- I had my boyfriend
standing in line

since 3 in the morning
to get these tickets.

I says, "That's it,
the relationship's over

unless you get me
these tickets."

- And if she isn't sexy,
I don't know who is.

Tina Turner.

- Stupenda, stupenda.

Tina Turner.

- On "Private Dancer,"
I think we ended up doing

150 concerts.

And then we went on
to break every rule.

On that album, we did the
biggest tour we've ever done.

We played 230 shows
in 18 months

everywhere in the world.

This 50-year-old woman
playing stadiums

throughout Europe
and having an audience

ranging from about 15 to 60
was pretty amazing.

- She makes you
feel young.

She's alive.
She's bouncing.

I can't wait for them
to come back.

- When I'm onstage
and it's, like, 20,000 people,

then you know that
it's all worthwhile, you know?

But it's really a lot
that goes on behind the scenes

when--I've never
been this big before,

you know what I mean?
And you...

Ah, it's just incredible.

- We didn't stop.

We played the small holes.
We played the clubs.

We did all the TVs.
We got to arenas.

We eventually
fulfilled her dream

and filled the stadiums.

That concert in Rio,

there was
186,000 people there.

crowd: Tina, Tina, Tina,
Tina, Tina, Tina!

- Hello, Rio!

Give it to me!

Hello, Rio!

Mwah! Mwah! Mwah!

You can't imagine
what it was like for me

to finally stand there in
front of all of those people.

It's a feeling of like,
"I did it,"

and it's really genuine.

It's almost like magic,
because you're standing there

and they're really
giving you love.

Are you ready?

- Are you ready for me?

I'm ready for you.
Hello!

-JOhJ

-JAhJ

Thank you!

- In 1985, she signed on to do
the third "Mad Max" movie,

"Beyond Thunderdome."

"Rolling Stone"
sent me in to cover this.

I said, "Great,
I'd love to cover this."

She was the biggest
pop star in the world.

I mean, it was already clear
there were gonna be people

doing these quickie bios
of Tina Turner,

which I thought
was really tacky.

So I got over there,
I talked to Roger,

I said, "You know,
maybe you should have someone

"do a book, you know,
do an actual biography.

And could be me.
I mean, could be anybody."

You know?
I don't want to be pushy.

- You pitched that?
- Oh, yeah.

Well, I brought up the
possibility of doing something

to forestall all these bad books
that would be coming out.

- When she became successful,

the past came up,
and it got a lot of press,

‘cause she was also
hugely popular.

People continued
to ask about lke.

Even after she had
had huge solo success,

they'd bring up
the same old stuff

over and over
in every interview.

We couldn't stop it.

- lke was arrested

on some cocaine charges
in Pasadena.

- Oh.
- Yeah, for possession

and conspiracy,
possibly for dealing.

Any reaction to that?

- You know, I'd like
to hear all positive things.

I'd love to hear that lke
had a record deal

and he was producing
an album on himself.

- Right.

Yeah.

- I think, as she said
at the time,

"I can do this and not have
to talk about it again."

"Everybody's talking about it.

"Everybody has this idea
about it, it's this or that.

"I know what happened.
I'll say what happened,

and I won't have to
address it again.”

- A long line of fans
waited outside

a Barnes & Noble bookstore
for Tina.

The soulful singer
is now also an author,

and she was in town,
anxious and willing

to autograph
a few hundred copies.

- It was worth getting sweaty,
going up there,

pushing people,
getting them out the way,

seeing Tina Turner--
I love her.

What's love got to do with it?

- Tina's book, by the way,
tracing her rise

and fall and rise again
is titled "I, Tina."

- It was a top ten
"New York Times" bestseller

strictly because of
Tina Turner.

I mean, they could put
an empty book out

with her picture on the cover.
That book would have sold.

- She just felt maybe
it'll put it to bed

once and for all,

which, of course, it didn't.

It just made it bigger.

- Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Hello.

- I read your book,

and it's totally
changed my life.

I love you.
I thank you.

- That story
reached so many people

who felt like they had to
kind of keep their secrets

locked away deep down.

But then I wonder,
I think of, like--

It's like a Pandora's Box
situation, right?

Like, "Damn, I got to tell
the story again?"

- And then the film came out

and just kind of brought
more attention to her name

for people to see
what happened and everything.

- What'd you say?
- Don't start with me.

I ain't in the mood today,
all right?

- It's tangible in a sense.
You're watching it.

- I'll give up
all that other stuff

but only if I get to
keep my name.

I worked too hard for it,
Your Honor.

- And it just changed
everything for her.

- That role changed my life.

I mean, I'm not Tina,

and I've got so much love

from others--men, women--
who've come up and say,

"You playing her in that story
changed my life."

- The story goes out
into people's houses,

and then it becomes
a part of their life as well.

- It's Tina Day!

Whoo!

- It's hard to wrap
your mind around

that your life has been
an inspiration--

maybe the worst parts
of your life

has been an inspiration.

- We have 50,000 letters
downstairs from women

who have also been through it
and survived.

Tina did it.
So can you.

Let's celebrate.

- She's no longer
in control of that story.

That's what happens to icons.

Anna Mae Bullock
has her own life.

Tina Turner
belongs to the world.

- Ms. Turner,
welcome to Venice.

Can you give me
your views on the film?

- Well, I haven't as yet
seen the film.

Well...

I'm not so thrilled
about thinking about the past

and how I lived my life.

It was made a story.

The story
was actually written

so that I would no longer
have to discuss the issue.

I don't love that it's always
talked about, you see?

I made a point of just putting
the news out to stop the thing

so that I could go on
with my life.

And this constant reminder
is not so good, you know.

I'm not so happy about it.

So do I want to sit and screen

and watch the violence
and all the brutality?

No. That's why
I haven't seen it.

- You know,
when you talk to journalists

over and over
for 20 or 30 or 40 years,

memories come back.

She has partly dreams
about it.

They're not pleasant.

So I think
these are these things

that come back to her
when she opens that book.

It's like when soldiers
come back from the war.

It's not a easy time to...

to have this in your memory,
and they try to forget.

I see it a little bit
like that.

- Tina today
is a world superstar.

But there was a point
where you had to become

the comeback kid.

How did you get the strength

to get out of that situation
with lke?

- Oh, we are gonna
talk about him, aren't we?

- Okay. I need my fan now.
I just had a flush.

How did I get out
of that situation?

Let me figure out
how I can talk about that

in two seconds.

- No, no, I know
how to get out of it.

I'm just gonna say something.

Give me two seconds here.

You don't want to think
about those times, you know.

You want it to just go away.

But if you're gonna
keep bringing it up--

the brain is saying, "Oh,
you want to remember that."

That scene comes back.

You're dreaming.
The real picture is there.

It's like a curse.

- You raised a son by him,
a son by another man,

and two of Ike's kids
by other women.

There were always
other women on the scene.

What was that like for you?

- When you were married
to lke,

what was the absolutely
worst moment?

- What do you think
attracts women to bad men?

- Is there a real low,

like something
you'd love to forget?

- And, of course, the book
and the movie features

your allegations
about his bashings.

Tell me about that.

- I'm past it.

It's been 16 years
since I haven't been with lke,

and the movie and the book
is bringing me back

to the past of something
that was really awful.

My life is wonderful
at the moment.

I'm a happy person now,

and I don't dwell
on unhappiness.

- The trauma's still so deep

that to go back there
makes you feel

like you're actually
going back.

If you don't address
the wounds of your past,

you continue to bleed.

- You know, she just--
she always had the feeling

that she wasn't loved...

she wasn't--you know,
she wasn't a wanted child.

I think with her mom,
I think that's still

the dramatization
of being left as a child

that never left.

- Ma was...

not kind.

When I became a star,

of course,
like, then she was happy

because
I bought her a house.

I did all kinds of things
for her.

She was my mother.

You know, I was trying
to make her comfortable

because she didn't have
a husband.

She was alone.

But she still didn't like me.

Even after I became Tina,

Ma still was a little bit,
"Who did that?"

Or, "Who did this?"

And I said, "l did it, Ma."

You know, I was happy
to show my mother what I did.

I had a house,
I had gotten a car,

and she said,
"I don't believe it.

You're my daughter.
I know you didn't..."

something to this effect.

Yeah, she--

She didn't want--
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's had a few kind of
ups and downs in her life

as well,
it hasn't been all happy.

- Right.
-Um...

when she's unhappy,

how does she deal
with it?

- I would say she...

She did a great job
of dealing with it because...

she would figure out
the problem

and how to handle it.

- Would she kind of come
running home to you crying?

- No, no, no.

No, she figured that out
on her own.

- Have you had any
particularly...

any particular moments
that you were really proud of?

- Well, I've been proud of her
ever since she started singing.

But it's, like...

a person--some people's

afraid to climb a ladder

unless someone's holding it.

But she's not.

Once she make that first
step on that ladder,

she keep climbing up,
up, up, up.

She's not afraid.

She'll try.

She's not afraid
to try anything.

- Do you think--do you think
that now after all the--

I mean, you've risen to the
top of the entertainment field

but you've maybe
sacrificed love--

- Rising...
- This is what readers

will say--
she has no love in her life.

- Oh, Kurt, we're gonna get
really heavy now,

because I'm drinking.

- Oh, good.
- You're gonna find out.

I have not received love
almost ever in my life.

I did not have it
with my mother

and my father
from the beginning of birth,

and I survived.
- Yeah.

- Why did I get so far
without love, Kurt?

I never had it.

And if I cry here, it doesn't
mean that I pity myself.

It means that tears come

with certain memories.
- No, tears are not bad.

- I have had not one
love affair

that was genuine
and sustained itself.

Not one.

Kurt, I've been through...

Fucking tons of heartbreak!

I've analyzed it.

I said,
"What's wrong with me?"

I've looked in the mirror
with myself

stripped of makeup
and without hair.

Why can someone see the beauty
in the woman it is that I am?

Not a goddamn person
that found it.

-JOhJ

-JOhJ

-JOhJ

The man that I'm looking for
actually has to be

a very strong man,

to wear, actually,
the trousers,

but yet not to dominate me.

And that's fair.

- We met at Cologne Airport.

Actually, it was
at Dusseldorf Airport.

And her manager, Roger,

asked me to pick up Tina.

- He was younger.

He was 30 years old
at the time.

The prettiest face.
I mean, you cannot--

It was like saying,

"Where did he come from?"

He was really so good-looking.

My heart went
ba-boom-ba-ba!

And it means
that a soul has met.

And my hands were shaking.

So Roger said to me,
"Tina, you ride with Erwin."

And I wanted to go, "Yay!"

- We enjoyed the ride.

I enjoyed driving
the artist.

Actually, a superstar for us

where you're normally
a little nervous, you know.

But I wasn't nervous either.

I was just doing the job.

- When he found out
that I liked him,

he came to America.

We were in Nashville,
I think it was.

And I said to him,

"When you come to LA,
I want you to make love to me."

But I thought
that I could say that

'cause I was a free woman--
I didn't have a boyfriend.

I liked him. There was nothing
wrong with it.

It was just sex.

And he looked at me
as if he doesn't--

Didn't believe

what he was hearing!

I laugh now at the moment,

because I sometimes
get that look

when I do certain things.

He was...

just so, so different.

So laid-back, so comfortable,
So unpretentious.

And that was the beginning
of our relationship.

I really needed love.

I just needed
to love a person.

How many years later,
darling, we got married?

-27.

It's love.
It's something...

we both have for each other.

I always refer to it
as an electrical charge.

I still have it.

I still have it, and even
though when I left her

two hours ago,
three hours ago this morning,

I still have that feeling.

That feeling is still with me
and is in my heart.

I feel very warm about this.

- First a minute to remember

one of the fathers
of rock and roll.

lke Turner died today
at age 76.

Back in 1951,
Turner helped record

what is one of the first
rock and roll records,

"Rocket 88," with his band
the Kings of Rhythm.

He may be best known

as the abusive ex-husband
of Tina Turner,

with whom he performed
for many years.

After their separation,

Ike Turner continued
to make music.

In 1991, he was inducted

into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame,

and earlier this year, his
record "Risin' with the Blues"

won a Grammy
for traditional blues album.

- For a long time,
I did hate Ike.

I have to say that.

But then after he died,

I really realized
that he was a sick person.

He was an ill person
in his soul.

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.

It hurts to have to remember
those times.

But at a certain stage,
forgiveness takes over.

Forgiving
means not to hold on.

You let it go,
because it only hurts you.

Not forgiving, you suffer,

‘cause you think
about it over and over again.

And for what?

I had an abusive life.

There's no other
way to tell the story.

It's a reality.
It's a truth.

That's what you've got.

So you have to accept it.

- Working it.

Working it, as always.
- Why, thank you, honey.

- Can you tell us
what Tina means to you?

- The money shot is coming.

- Some people say
the life that I lived

and the performances
that I gave...

The appreciation
is lasting with the people.

And, yeah, I should be
proud of that.

I am.

But when do you stop
being proud?

I mean, when do you...

How do you bow out slowly,
just go away?

- She said,
"I'm going to America.

"I'm gonna say goodbye
to my American fans,

and I'll wrap it up.”

And I think this documentary
here and the play...

this is it.

It's a closure.

A closure.

crowd:
Tina, Tina, Tina, Tina!

Tina, Tina, Tina, Tina!

- What I gleaned
from her life was love...

love of self,
love of her family,

love of her talent,

love of audiences,

of music, of freedom.

There's a part of her,
I guess,

that we've all laid claim to,

we've all embraced
across the world.

And I hope she knows that,
you know,

how beloved,
how loved she is.

She is absolutely adored.

Whoo!

Whoo!

Whoo!

Thank you!