Legendary Bands - Tina Turner Posters

Her wild, strangled singing, energetic stage act and earthy sexuality made Tina Turner a star. Triumphing over bad material and a bad marriage--documented in the 1993 film biography What's Love Got To Do With It--made her a pop icon.

Born Annie Mae Bullock in Brownsville, Tenn., on November 26, 1938, she hooked up with Ike Turner--whose credits stretched back to the dawn of rock--and scored their first hit ("A Fool In Love") in 1960. Years of intermittent pop success followed--notably Phil Spector's '66 production of "River Deep, Mountain High"--but the duo split up in 1976.

After a series of forgettable solo albums, her comeback began with a storming '82 U.K. hit cover of the Temptations' "Ball Of Confusion," produced by the young English outfit B.E.F., who'd work similar wonders on her U.S. hit cover of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" in 1983. The smash success of her 1984 Private Dancer LP catapulted her to newfound, Grammy-winning heights, spinning off three more chart busters: "What's Love Got To Do With It," "Better Be Good To Me" and the title track.

She promptly co-wrote her autobiography (I, Tina), co-starred in the third Mad Max movie--sang its hit theme song, "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)"--and recorded a hit live duet with Bryan Adams, "It's Only Love."

Since then, she's mostly been coasting. While Break Every Rule spawned an '86 hit ("Typical Male"), Foreign Affair is chiefly notable for a number of songs penned by swamp-rocker Tony Joe White. (Her latest LP, Wildest Dreams, attracted more attention for its Haines hosiery ads tie-in than its music.) She remains huge in Europe, where she lives with her younger German record exec boyfriend. In 1991, Ike & Tina Turner were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.