‘She was just spectacular’: Vancouver music journalist remembers Tina Turner
Posted May 24, 2023 3:40 pm.
Last Updated May 24, 2023 3:43 pm.
A longtime Vancouver-based music journalist is remembering the soulful sound of legendary artist Tina Turner.
The “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll” died Wednesday at the age of 83, after a long illness.
Turner performed in Vancouver a number of times over the years, electrifying crowds at venues including the Pacific Coliseum and what is now known as Rogers Arena.
FILE – Tina Turner performs her current hit song “What’s Love Got to Do With It” in Los Angeles on Sept. 2, 1984. (AP Photo/Phil Ramey, File)
Steve Newton reviewed Turner’s shows three times from 1985 to 2000 and speaks of her incredible sound.
“She was just so emotional. She had so much soul and we could hear it whenever she sang. She just had it. I mean, some people have it, some don’t, but she had it in spades and for decades and decades,” he said.
Newton says he was shocked to hear of her death.
“She seemed like somebody who would last forever really, she was so vibrant, and even as she got on, and in concert, of course, she was just spectacular,” he said.
Newton says it was her soulfulness that separated her from so many other artists,
“Tina has a great voice, but it was the soulfulness of the voice that came across. She had a great range. She could just scream if she had to and just purr when she had to, but it all came from her heart,” he said.
The unstoppable singer and stage performer teamed with her husband Ike Turner for a dynamic run of hit records and live shows in the 1960s and ’70s and survived her horrifying marriage to triumph in middle age with the chart-topping “What’s Love Got to Do With It.”
She also won eight Grammys during her career.
With files from The Associated Press
