The songs Tina Turner hated performing live
Only a handful of artists can put their entire soul into the music like Tina Turner could. From her early days playing hits with her husband Ike to striking out on her own, Turner could ignite a stage anywhere she went, even leaving seasoned veterans like Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger in awe of what she could do. Even though Turner may have been able to leave all of her emotion onstage most of the time, her beginnings saw her performing songs that she loathed.
Before she even started making traditional R&B music, though, Turner was known for playing to as many people as she could before she found her husband, Ike. Having turned in time as one of the most high-profile bandleaders, Ike took Tina under his wing, creating the basis for classic material from the 1960s like ‘River Deep Mountain High’.
Even though Turner was a competent musician, her best efforts often came from her taking on classic material. Throughout her versions of songs like ‘Shake A Tailfeather’ and ‘Proud Mary’, she put The Five Du-Tones and Creedence Clearwater Revival to shame with her performances, not being satisfied until she gave everything she had to her audience.
Then again, that time onstage may have been her most comfortable time during her early period. Outside of being married to Ike, Tina would often find herself in various abusive situations, including getting into a number of physical altercations with her husband that she would eventually mask.
While Ike was still responsible for providing material, he was abusive and unfaithful whenever possible. Although Tina may have been able to look the other way when witnessing the various women her husband was seeing on the side, she couldn’t stomach singing about them as well.
Between their immaculate covers and originals, Tina recalled having to sing songs that Ike wrote about his various mistresses, which became demoralising every time she stepped onstage. Speaking to Rolling Stone, Tina would later recall the emotional torment she had to endure singing those tracks, saying, “I hated those songs. I knew he was writing about other women. Psychologically, you have to try to make yourself think you like a song when you sing it. When he sensed I was delivering it poorly, he blamed me for not getting involved in the work.”
After nearly two decades together, Tina had had enough, leaving Ike to pursue her solo career. While she may not have had a penny to her name when she left him, Tina’s second rise to stardom turned her into the ultimate rock and roll success story on the album Private Dancer.
In addition to her newfound fame in the 1980s, the album also featured various singles that seemed to be aimed directly at her former abuser, with ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’ being the ultimate kiss-off to someone who negated her feelings. Tina may have been able to inhabit her songs every time she sang, but this comeback may as well have been an emotional exorcism from those years of singing about her husband’s infidelity.
