Tina Turner was an African-American, born November 26, 1939 in Tennessee, USA and died May 24, 2023 in Zurich, Switzerland. Her real name was Anna Mae Bullock, while her stage name was given to her by her first husband Ike Turner. She raised Ike's two children, who he had from a previous relationship, and at the same time had two more with him.

The artist's life was truly fictional and a case study for all women who suffer from marital/partner violence.

According to Guinness World Records, Tina managed to sell the most concert tickets of any artist worldwide. She has won a remarkable number of Grammy Awards and other honors, including, for example, in 1972 she received a Grammy Award for the song Proud Mary, in 1984 at the Billboard Music Awards USA the title Female Vocalist of the Year, in 1985 & 1986 at the American Music Awards the title Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist & Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist, in 1984 at the Billboard Music Awards USA the award Song of the Year for What's Love Got to Do With it and in 1985 the Grammy Award, in 1986 on the Hollywood Walk of Fame she received the Recipient Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, in 1987 she received the award at the Berolina Award for the biggest influence in music in Germany, in 1993 at the World Music Awards the award The Legend Award, in 1984 at the MTV Video Music Awards the award Best Female Video of the Year with the song "What's Love Got to Do With It", in 2005 she received the award Woman of the Year Year in the United Kingdom, in 2018 she received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for her overall contribution and dozens of other awards. She stood out with the songs Proud Mary, Better be good to me, One of the living, It's Only Love with Bryan Adams, Back where you started, Way of the world, We Don't Need Another Hero, Private Dancer, The Best, I Don't Wanna Lose You, Goldeneye, What's Love Got to Do With It.

The film What's Love Got to Do with It, which I had the privilege of watching on New Year's Day 2025, was based on her 1986 biography, I, Tina. In 1993, Touchstone Pictures released the film of the same name, directed by Brian Gibson, written by Kate Lanier, and starring Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne. The film was a huge commercial and artistic success, grossing over $61 million, receiving two nominations for Best Actress and Best Actor at the 66th Academy Awards, as well as a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical.

Her life story begins with the first abuse she experienced. Her mother, due to the abuse she received from Tina's husband and father, abandons her to her grandmother and leaves, taking Tina's older sister with her. After years in adolescence, Tina goes to live with her mother and sister, but she has already registered the violence within herself and that no one loves her. At the age of 17, in 1956, she met Ike Turner, a successful musician with the band Kings of Rythm, who was enchanted by her voice and proposed that she become a singer in his band. Later they married. Ike began to abuse her systematically and brutally. He started with verbal abuse and escalated the aggression, up to marital rape and the threat of her virginity. They married in 1962 in Mexico, although the abuse continued. Tina often went on stage with blackened eyes and sides, as she believed that the sight of abuse was the most humiliating event for the one who created her. Although the artist worked hard and had successes, she was financially dependent on him, who had complete control over her life. Tina found refuge in Buddhism and her faith kept her alive from all the brutality she experienced daily for 20 years. She had previously attempted suicide in her despair. On a tour in Los Angeles in July 1976, after another episode of abuse, she found the strength to start running bloodied through the streets to save herself, without considering that she had only 36 cents in her pocket. She entered the Palace Hotel and asked for the manager's help. The relationship with her mother, who never helped her, and whenever Tina tried to escape, she would turn her in to Ike, is also characteristic. The divorce was finally issued in 1976, because she decided to give up all her financial rights from the joint business with Ike. All she kept was her stage name, for which she had worked very hard. Her solo career took off almost 9 years later, with a new manager, fresh ideas and song choices and healthy professional environments. Over the years, her health had weakened from the violence, the demands of her career and the two children she had lost. At the age of 73, in 2013, she married her best friend and partner of 27 years, Erwin Bach, and took on Swiss citizenship to avoid American taxes. She was and will remain the Queen of Rock’n Roll.

Journalist Wesley Morris of the New York Times in his article, in May 2023, states that Turner's energy was so special that beyond the extensive scales of her voice, the listener heard her body. This energy came from a hard-won freedom and her songs are a promise of survival to herself. The journalist states that in her biography, it is clear how much she loved herself, how much she liked Tina and how she felt that she belonged not to any nation or culture, but to the global community. The rebirth from her ashes was a statement of her energy, equal to wisdom, the wisdom that would govern her production company.

Watching videos and reading about Tina, it is easy to understand that she adores herself. In my opinion, this love does not come from selfishness but from a feeling of acceptance and care. Since she felt that no one loved her, she had a duty to herself to love and care for him herself. This is an important support against violence. Besides, she was also a woman. Violence robs you of joy, your sexuality and pleasure. But Tina insists on demonstrating her feminine nature and her endless sexuality, going against the one who wanted her invisible. Because violence makes a person invisible. The one who is abused wants to go unnoticed, so as not to suffer the unpredictable verbal and physical attack of the abuser, which certainly includes primarily derogatory criticism and then beating, depending on the case. Observe behaviors. There are wonderful people around us, who, while they have all the qualifications to shine, say I don't want to be seen - why? I note that the phenomenon occurs in both sexes, and in family environments, such as from a mother to her son or daughter, from a father to his children, from a brother to his sister, from a mother-in-law to the daughter-in-law, and the violence never stops... And although Tina is characterized as a sex symbol, she does not share herself with any potential lover, since officially in her assets as a woman, no love partners have been recorded, except for two marriages.

While watching the film, I recorded all the established stages of intimate partner violence and the characteristics of the abuser, which I have often pointed out that we should recognize from the beginning of a relationship. Violence goes in circles and begins with the verbal belittling and victimization of the abuser. The woman is "stupid" and her actions hurt the "poor abuser" who tolerates her, while the exact opposite is true. The woman believes that she is to blame. Be careful! Never doubt yourself. This is the first red flag. The woman has already entered the first stage of the cycle of violence, expecting the worst, since the violence escalates in intensity. And each time after the violent event, the emotionally dependent abuser brings a gift, making the victim believe that she is loved and that the episode will not happen again. Two more characteristics are the use of drugs and the financial control that the abuser exercises over his victim. Without money in her pocket, how can a woman escape violence? Is she determined to face hunger, humiliation and hardship? Tina was determined for everything.. She left with 36 cents in her pocket and faith in her God, for the next day of her life. And she succeeded.

Tough enough to withstand abuse, disciplined enough to devise her personal plan of escape and rebirth, authentic enough to conquer her work and stand out from the crowd, and with a galloping gait to gallop towards freedom, rocking her explosive female body without apology and declaring timeless strength of soul, on and off stage.

Not only a sex symbol but also a symbol of endurance and revolution against domestic violence.

Happy New Year with less violence in our lives and more momentum towards freedom.

© Angeliki G. Pitsoli 

Woman, Communication, Private Insurance, and Culture Scientist