Tina Turner is the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll". A selection of interesting facts about the legend

Tina Turner is a truly legendary performer and songwriter, actress and dancer... She became a major star on the music scene thanks to her unique artistry and temperament: it is not without reason that Turner was honoured with the title "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll"! Today her name is included in the most prestigious lists and rankings, including "the best dancers in the world" and "the greatest singers of our time". Multi-million dollar record sales worldwide have made her one of the most commercially successful female artists in history!

And the huge list of awards and achievements justifies her high-profile title once again... And even if you're not a fan, there's no point in denying her contribution and influence on the world of music! Below are some little known facts about this legendary woman that you may not have known. So, let's get started...

Her worldwide record circulation is over 100 million copies

Tina Turner has long been touted as the biggest and best-selling female artist in history... And given her staggering record sales, it's hard to disagree: Turner has sold a whopping 100 million records worldwide over the course of her long career! Not every band, let alone solo artists, can reach such heights... In addition, the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll" is the recipient of numerous Grammy awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award.

She started out as "Little Ann."

Turner began her career in the late 1950s, at the age of 18! And at that time her name was not Tina Turner, but... "Little Anne". A familiar name for fans Anna Mae Bullock took her name only a few years later, while participating in a duet with Ike Turner - her then-husband. For a long time, the couple was considered "one of the strongest concert performers in the R&B genre".

Her first husband was abusive to her

In her 1986 autobiography, Turner revealed that she was subjected to domestic violence at the hands of her ex-husband and musical partner Ike Turner... She said that Ike first hit her after she refused to change her name, and also told him about her concerns about her upcoming tour.... In her autobiography, the artist wrote that this "instilled fear in her" and that she made the decision to stay with him as she "really cared for him"... Amidst all this, Turner once did a truly desperate act: She drank an enormous amount of Valium (a sleeping pill)....

"At that period of my life, I was frustrated with my relationship with Ike... I was in love with him at first. I was grateful for what he did for me. But he was completely unpredictable..."

Her song "What's Love Got to Do With It" has won four Grammy Awards

Despite a varied and successful career in the music business spanning five decades, Turner's biggest hit was, of course, "What's Love Got to Do With It" - a song that won four Grammy Awards! In 1993, the title of the song was used as the title of a biographical film about Turner herself.

She was an action star

Having won the recognition of a huge audience and earned herself the status of one of the greatest stars in the history of music, Turner also decided to try her hand at acting. And as they say - "a talented person is talented in everything": in general, her acting has received positive reviews from both critics and filmgoers. Today we can all enjoy Turner's acting skills when watching such action films as "Mad Max 3: Thunderdome", "The Last Movie Hero" and "Tommy" - a rock musical in 1975.

She was played by Angela Bassett in the biographical film

As mentioned above, in 1993, a biographical film about Tina Turner was released under the title What Love Can Do. The main roles were played by Angela Bassett (Tina Turner herself) and Laurence Fishburne (her first husband Ike Turner). As a result, the film won critical acclaim and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress!

Her 2008 tour was one of the best-selling in history

The 2008 tour, titled "Tina!: 50th Anniversary Tour," took the singer to a new level and became one of the best-selling tours of all time... It was her ninth tour as a solo artist and her first in eight years after taking an extended break from the music industry.

A stroke in 2013 meant Turner had to re-learn how to walk

Tina Turner has suffered a number of life-threatening illnesses, including a stroke in 2013 that forced her to learn to walk again... The singer was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016 and underwent a kidney transplant in 2017.