Tina Turner was 'Simply The Best:' a legendary artist and an inspiration to women everywhere

On Wednesday, the legendary Queen of Rock ‘n Roll, Tina Turner, died at age 83. Her career spanned generations with eight Grammy wins, 25 nominations, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award and two inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Danielle “Queen D.” Scott, a professor at Berklee College of Music and a life-long Tina Turner fan, described Turner’s music as transcendental.

“She (Turner) could move from songs like 'Proud Mary' to covering Sly and the Family Stone and then her more electronic sound in the eighties. She was a chameleon through all of the decades of music” said Scott. “She was a rocker but also soulful. And I think that makes her really unique as an artist, was the way she was able to design her career.”

Turner branched out into acting and was cast as the villain Auntie Entity in the 1985 sci-fi adventure film, “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.”

Scott recalled Turner’s presence in that movie being her introduction into Afrofuturism.

“Everything was just so forward thinking for me as a little Black girl, watching this Black woman in the film was such a powerful moment for me,” said Scott.

Despite Turner’s public success, she suffered years of abuse at the hands of her husband, Ike Turner.

Born Anna Mae Bullock in Nutbush, Tennessee in 1939, Turner met musician Ike Turner, who became her musical partner and later husband, when she was still in high school.

Reverend Traci Jackson, the founder and executive director of the Domestic and Sexual Violence Project, said when the couple met, Ike was eight years older than Tina. “It’s fair to say that there was a grooming process that took place there and he recognized her for her talent and gained control over the relationship.”

After years of an abuse, Turner found the courage to leave the marriage, taking nothing but the use of her stage name. Years later she went public with her survival story, becoming an inspiration to domestic abuse survivors.

“What she did was incredibly courageous,” said Jackson. “She left with nothing, as many victims and survivors do every single day, and started life all over again. And she was very courageous to talk about her story.”

Jackson said one of the greatest challenges of domestic violence is the feeling of isolation.

“Tina’s story gives other survivors the ability to share their own reality,” said Jackson.