The story she wanted us to know and celebrate her for was her voice and performance, but the story we know of her is one of triumph over extreme abuse and torture. Understandably, she didn’t want to keep rehashing or living in the past. She wanted to move on, while untold millions found her story so inspiring and empowering they couldn’t let it go. But I’d like to acknowledge her for the part of her story that is perhaps not as well understood and of no less importance.
There will never be another like Tina Turner — she’s simply the best. She was a one of a kind. Not just a singer, dancer, performer, actor, but a force of nature — a uniquely driven powerhouse of energy and love.
Over the decades that I’ve been on this earth we’ve lost a handful of legends, those who left a powerful mark on our culture and in our hearts. Such legends as Elvis, Janis Joplin, Jimmie Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Prince, Whitney Houston, and now Tina Turner. Each of them was huge. They carved new directions in our culture. They inspired us through their performances in ways that rarely occurs in a lifetime.
And they all died too young and of drug overdose — except for Tina. They could have given us so much more if not for addiction and excess. But not Tina. She packed stadiums around the world well into her late 60s. And in my humble opinion she had the ultimate line in the best Mad Max movie, “Well, ain’t we a pair raggedy man.”
She was different in one not so well understood way. She had a daily spiritual practice. The same practice that enabled her to gain confidence and courage while living in a highly abusive and controlling relationship until one day she fought back without fear and left.
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