Why Tina Turner initially hated ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’
The late Tina Turner was a pop star who defined a generation. In her career, she broke down boundaries across the racial divide and sold millions of records. Although it seemed as though there was nothing the ethereal talent couldn’t manage, songwriting was never Turner’s area of expertise during the music-making process.
During her early solo career, Turner contributed to songwriting but later left the process to others and focused on bringing the music to life with her voice. She carefully trusted her instincts on whether the song was right for her before making it her own. However, Turner’s gut feelings were not always correct, and she initially detested ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’ when it was brought to her.
Following her split from Ike Turner, the singer struggled to reach the same commercial success heights. Her first four albums failed to chart, and while she still toured to a high standard, nobody was interested in hearing Turner’s solo material. After 1979’s Love Explosion flopped, Turner returned to square one after being dropped by her record label.
Surprisingly, in 1983, Turner had a chart hit with an Al Green cover which convinced Capitol Records to give her career another roll of the dice, but the next move was crucial. Songwriters Graham Lyle and Terry Britten had been trying to find a home for ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’ for some years. Fortunately for the pair, Turner’s comeback presented them an opportunity to finally have their creation recorded.
Many stars, including Donna Summer, had rejected the song, and Turner took a great deal of convincing to record the track. During the HBO documentary, TINA, the singer recalled: “It was terrible. It was awful. I was rock and roll. … This was a pop song”.
Despite her hesitations, Turner agreed to discuss the song with Britten. In the film, he remembered: “She came in, and immediately she said, ‘Well, you know I don’t like that song. I don’t want to do that song. Roger wants me to do it’. I said, ‘If it doesn’t work out, we won’t use it. So let’s give it a go.'”
Once Turner’s voice was applied to the track, everybody in the room suddenly realised they had a hit on their hands. “I applied my heavy voice to it,” she said. “They weren’t used to [a] strong voice standing on top of music. But I converted it and made it my own.”
While Turner needed to be persuaded by her manager Roger Davies to even meet with Britten regarding ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’, it became a bigger hit than they could ever have imagined. The track was the best-selling single of 1984, shifting over 2,000,000 copies worldwide, and remains her only song to top the Billboard Hot 100. Additionally, it won three Grammys, including ‘Song Of The Year’, cementing Turner’s legacy as the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
