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  And then there was the film’s depiction of the physical beatings. “I’ve got a hell of a temper,” says Ike. “Sure I slapped Tina. We had fights and there have been times when I punched her without thinking. But I never beat her” (17). According to Tina, she was beaten with everything from telephones to wire coat hangers to Ike’s own shoes.

  Ike said in Vanity Fair magazine, “Did I hit her all the time? That’s the biggest lie ever been told by her or by anybody that say that. I didn’t hit her any more than you been hit by your guy. . . . I’m not going to sit here and lie and say because I was doing dope I slapped her. If the same thing occurred again, I’d do the same thing. It’s nothing that I’m proud of, because I just didn’t stop and think” (5).

  But the most controversial scene in the film involved Ike raping Tina up against one of the giant aquariums of the house. He claimed it didn’t happen. The scene itself might have been fictionalized for the film, but according to Tina, “Sex had become rape as far as I was concerned” (5). The exact scene may have been different, but the facts seemed to remain true.

  Ike complained, “The only thing I have to say on that is that I made a mistake by signing a contract that said I wouldn’t sue if somebody played me in the movie. I didn’t know that meant they could treat me any way they wanted to, and that I couldn’t do anything about it. So they got away with it, and it’s been seven years of hell. They sabotaged my career, man. . . . You know, I got dirt in my closet just like everybody. But if I had to live my life over, I can’t say I wouldn’t do everything the same” (15).

  Ike said of the film, “It dogged me and all that kind of crap. Man, and you know I’m not saying that I’ve been a good father either, I’ve done a lot of wrong things, right. But you can’t undo things. Everybody’s done wrong. I’m not talking about anybody, I’m talking about Ike right now. I’ve done a lot of wrong things, real right. You know? All I can do is apologize to the people that I may have done wrong. But I’m not the dude that you see in that movie. Nowhere close. Not at all” (13). That’s obviously not what Tina thought—since she had a creative hand in the film.

  Undeniably, the best thing that happened during his stint in jail was the fact that it forced him to give up drugs. “I’ve been clean since 1989,” says Ike. “In that year, I went to jail, and I haven’t touched drugs since then” (13).

  At the time he was projecting where he thought his own career should be. “When I was with Tina, we would open up for Bill Cosby, like, in Vegas. I’m going to start by doing stuff like that. Going on tour with Elton John. Going on tour with The Stones. Going on tour with people like that. I got a lot of friends out there. I have no shame; it took it all to make me what I am today, and I love me today” (5). None of these dreams were fulfilled.

  For Tina the whole What’s Love Got to Do With It? experience signified the last time that she had to look back over this era of her past. She pondered, “I know what I’ve done. Sometimes I’m a little blown away by it, but I am what I am and I don’t relate to what other people are saying. So when they come to me and say ‘How did you? How could you?’ I say, ‘What else was I supposed to do? I had to work. One must work on this planet. So, what is this that I’ve done?’ I’ve worked. I can sing and dance better than I can do anything else. I care about myself, my health, how I look. I never did drugs, drank alcohol. I never abused myself. There’s nothing I did that’s so extraordinary. But people don’t expect rock & roll people to care about themselves” (8).

  The multimedia What’s Love Got to Do With It? blitz paid off in a big way. The movie was a huge success, with the Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly, and the Chicago Sun-Times all calling it “One of the Year’s Top 10 Movies.” In his review of the film, the Sun-Times writer Roger Ebert claimed, “What’s Love Got to Do With It? ranks as one of the most harrowing, uncompromising showbiz biographies I’ve ever seen. . . . What’s Love Got to Do With It? has a lot of terrific music in it (including a closing glimpse of the real Tina Turner), but this is not the typical showbiz musical. It’s a story of pain and courage, uncommonly honest and unflinching, and the next time I hear Tina Turner singing I will listen to the song in a whole new way” (37). In the Washington Post Rita Kempley wrote, “ What’s Love Got to Do With It? Not much, I’m afraid. . . . An exploration of Tina Turner’s life with the abusive Ike, it’s a sketchy but brutal bio-pic with a weft of beatings and a warp of rhythm & blues. One minute she’s belting out ‘Proud Mary,’ the next Ike’s belting her. The film, like the couple’s co-dependent relationship, is fiercely acted out and ablaze with flashy production numbers” (38).

  In addition to having What’s Love Got to Do With It? in the theaters, Tina also appeared in another film in 1993. She was one of the many stars to have cameo roles in the latest Arnold Schwarzenegger film, Last Action Hero. Always one to make a great and forceful leader, in this film Tina was seen in a brief role as the mayor. Other stars who made a brief appearance in Last Action Hero were Joan Plowright, Anthony Quinn, Chevy Chase, Little Richard, and Sharon Stone.

  Tina’s one scene in Last Action Hero comes in the very beginning of the film. A gunman has a class full of children held hostage on a Los Angeles rooftop, and police officer Jack Slater (Schwarzenegger) appears on the scene to remedy the situation. As he is heading toward the scene of the crime, out from between the police cars pops Tina as the mayor, accompanied by a well-dressed gentleman. She pleads with him, “Jack, I know as mayor of this great metropolis, you and I have had our little tiffs, but this is the Lieutenant Governor.” With that, Arnold slugs the man in the face and says, “When the governor gets here, call me.” It’s a fast sequence, but there stood Tina, looking great in a classy beige skirt suit, her hair elegantly coiffed for the role.

  When the soundtrack album from What’s Love Got to Do With It? was released, it debuted on the charts at No. 1 in England. It made it to No. 17 in the United States. The movie’s theme song and lead single was “I Don’t Wanna Fight,” which peaked at No. 9 in America. It topped the singles charts in Germany, France, Holland, Denmark, and Switzerland. In the United Kingdom, the next single was Tina’s recording of “Disco Inferno,” which hit No. 12. On both sides of the Atlantic, “Why Must We Wait Until Tonight?” was the next single released, which made it to No. 16 in the United Kingdom and No. 97 in the United States.

  On August 22, 1993, Tina played the final date of her What’s Love U.S. concert tour, in Miami, Florida. She then moved on to Australia where she sang at the Australian Rugby League Championship game in Sydney, New South Wales.

  On December 14, a star with Tina Turner’s name on it was unveiled in the sidewalk in front of New York City’s Radio City Music Hall, as part of its “Sidewalk of the Stars.” And, December 28, Fox-TV aired a special from Tina’s recent American concert tour entitled Tina, What’s Love? Live. The show that had been filmed was the one she had done in September in San Bernardino, California.

  The year 1993 had been a very high-profile and triumphant one. She had two movies in the theaters, a hit album, a new No. 1 international hit, a TV special, and cover stories in Newsweek and Vanity Fair. What did love have to do with it? A hell of a lot. Tina Turner had cemented her position as one of the most beloved singing stars in the world, and she was at a new peak in her long creative career. Thanks to the success of the film What’s Love Got to Do With It?, whenever anyone heard a Tina Turner song from this point forward, they instantly knew that they were listening to a remarkable singer who was truly a triumphant “survivor.”

  17

  WILDEST DREAMS

  For Tina, the last ten years had been a nonstop whirlwind of activities. She finally decided that the time had come for something that had never occurred in her life: a vacation. From 1993 to 1996, she explained, “I took off three years for the first time in my life. It’s always been year after year album following into album, touring, having about a good year off and then starting an album again. And then after the last tour two—three ye
ars ago, I took off three years for the first time in my life” (16).

  What did she do with her time off? “A lot of nothing, really. I just experienced what it feels like to do nothing, to just get up and think—’What do I want to do today?’ And maybe sometimes do a lot of nothing, just get back into decorating my own house,” she proclaimed (16).

  In March 1994 she and Erwin moved from Cologne, Germany, to Zurich, Switzerland. Why Zurich? “Because my boyfriend was moved there to run the company, I always wanted to go to Switzerland, and I was very happy” (16).

  Then, she unexpectedly continued her European quest even further south, to the Mediterranean Sea, and the famed Cote d’Azur. As she explained it, “Then I bought a house, in the meantime, in the South of France, and I started to rebuild that” (16).

  In a way, it had been a gradual progression. When Tina’s career became so hot in Europe, before the United States fully embraced her return to prominence, she spent much more time in England and mainland Europe. Then, when her relationship with Erwin blossomed, she was in Cologne. Then from Cologne to Zurich, and now to Nice, France. According to her, “I lived the first half of my life in America. The second half, I’ll live in Europe. I don’t believe I’ll ever go back to America to live. It’s fine to go back to show my fans that I didn’t just die out, but what I don’t like in America is having the press down my throat about the old stuff. It’s the part that upsets me a little bit—maybe it’s too much of the past. I don’t dwell. I visit my mother and sister, but I don’t go back to Tennessee. That’s me—I don’t go back” (39).

  While she was taking her self-imposed sabbatical from the public eye, her music continued to sell briskly. Her Simply the Best album stayed in the U.K. Top 50 album charts for an astonishing 154 consecutive weeks. In November 1994, in America, the RIAA certified Simply the Best and the movie soundtrack What’s Love Got to Do With It? both as Platinum million-selling albums.

  In 1994, Capitol Records in the United States issued an impressive and excellently conceived Tina Turner boxed set of three CDs entitled Tina Turner: The Collected Recordings—Sixties to Nineties. With an eighty-four-page color booklet with liner notes by music expert Paul Grein, it was truly the ultimate Tina package. The first disc encompassed the Ike & Tina years, from “A Fool in Love” to “It Ain’t Right (Lovin’ to Be Lovin’)” and sixteen impressive cuts in between. The second disc traced Tina’s solo career, from “Acid Queen” into her 1980s and 1990s rarities—including “Johnny and Mary,” “Games,” “Let’s Pretend We’re Married,” and her duets like “It Takes Two” with Rod Stewart. The third disc represented her chart-topping new era of international smashes, from “Let’s Stay Together” to “I Don’t Wanna Fight.”

  In September of 1995, Tina went into a recording studio with Bono and The Edge of the Irish group U2 to sing the theme song for the James Bond film Goldeneye. When it was released in November, the solo song that Bono and The Edge wrote for Tina, “Goldeneye,” became an instant No. 10 hit in the United Kingdom.

  In October, Tina started recording sessions for her first all-new studio album in five years. At the helm of this one was famed English producer Trevor Horn. Hit-making duo the Pet Shop Boys, along with Sheryl Crow were among the list of songwriters who contributed tunes for her to record on her exciting new album, titled Wildest Dreams.

  With regard to choosing material for her albums, Tina revealed, “That usually comes through my manager, and then after he goes through everything, then he and I sit down and listen to things, songs, and choose what we feel that’s—is the right song. It’s very difficult to listen for the world [audience], to listen for the media and what’s happening out there today. Choosing good songs and choosing trend songs is the problem these days” (16).

  She chose several more artsy songs for the Wildest Dreams album. However, she was insistent that she couldn’t get too mellow, that the overall tone had to truly rock & roll. “That’s my style,” she insists. “I take great songs and turn them into rock & roll songs on stage. I don’t really actually get rock & roll material because there’s not that much good music out there. Because my performance is an energy on stage, I need that kind of music, so I just transform the music. . . . I like really good ballads, melodic songs. And of course, I like uptempo rock & roll songs. Energy and fun, naughtiness a little bit” (16).

  In November 1995, Tina announced her plans for a massive European tour of stadiums in the summer of 1996. It was to be her first European tour in six years. That same month she attended the Royal premiere of Goldeneye alongside the handsome actor who portrayed the new 1990s James Bond, Pierce Brosnan.

  On December 3, 1995, VH-1 in America broadcast their first Fashion & Music Awards, which featured Tina Turner singing “Goldeneye,” as well as a duet with Elton John. December 6 found her performing at the Billboard Music Awards, which were telecast live from New York’s Coliseum. In February 1996, in England, Tina presented Annie Lennox with the award for Best Female Solo Artist at the Fifteenth Annual BRIT Awards.

  On March 8, 1996, Tina announced that Hanes nylons would be sponsoring her upcoming tour of America. Since she has one of the most famous pairs of legs in all of show business, it was a perfect union of product and spokesperson. Tina was also featured in a heavy advertising campaign for the famed nylons, showing off her sexy gams. According to her, “They’re sponsoring us. They also are furnishing me with hosiery for the show, me and the girls. . . . It’s wonderful working with them” (16).

  In April 1996, Tina’s Wildest Dreams album was released—everywhere in the world except the United States. Since the States had proven such a fickle record-buying marketplace for Tina, the strategy was that the album would be released in Europe and the rest of the world first, where it was guaranteed that it would be a hit; then it could come into the United States as an established hit. That way, if snobby American rock critics didn’t like it for some reason, it really didn’t matter.

  Tina’s albums were no longer sure-fire sellers in her home country. It was not a desirable outcome—but in the long run, who cared? She had the rest of the world eating out of the palm of her hand. As predicted, the Wildest Dreams album became a huge smash in the United Kingdom and the rest of the world, and received a lukewarm reception when it came out in the United States.

  When Wildest Dreams was released in the United Kingdom in April, it hit No. 4 on the album chart. The single that followed “Goldeneye,” “Whatever You Want,” hit No. 23 in the United Kingdom, and its successor, “On Silent Wings,” hit No. 13. Tina was on tour in England from July 12 to 24 when the fourth single from the album, “Missing You,” hit No. 12 in the United Kingdom. She then continued her tour of mainland Europe. Her next single, “Something Beautiful Remains,” peaked at No. 27 on the U.K. charts.

  In September 1996, Wildest Dreams was released in America and peaked in Billboard at No. 61. The album included a seductive duet with crooner Barry White on the song “In Your Wildest Dreams,” and Sting is heard as a special guest vocalist on “On Silent Wings.” With U2 and the Pet Shop Boys each contributing cuts, it was a fitting all-star event. The first American single to be pulled from it was Tina’s hot version of John Waite’s “Missing You,” which made it to No. 84.

  From December 11 to 14, Tina headlined at Birmingham, England’s National Exhibition Centre. It was the final European date for her that year, and a tour that had encompassed more than 150 concerts throughout that continent.

  On February 22, 1998, Tina Turner was the musical guest star on NBC-TV’s Saturday Night Live. And, on February 28, she kicked off the Australian leg of her Wildest Dreams tour by headlining the Indoor Stadium in Canberra. On March 25, Tina’s longtime keyboard player, Kenneth L. Moore, suddenly died from apoplexy while on tour, in Sydney, Australia. Tina was saddened to lose him as a musician and a friend. He was replaced in the band, and the tour moved onward.

  Tina kicked off the U.S. leg of her world tour with a guest spot on the late night TV prog
ram, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The tour opened with a two-day engagement at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion at Woodlands, Texas, May 1-2. Her opening act for this tour was Cyndi Lauper. The tour continued across America until August 10, where it concluded at the Meadows Music Theatre in Hartford, Connecticut.

  Speaking admirably of Tina, Cyndi Lauper exclaimed, “Tina always looks stunning!” (40). According to the beautiful Ms. Turner, “It’s always been a priority for me to look as good as I can. Even when Ike was totally in control, telling me what I could and could not wear, I did my best. I knew that I was always capable of making myself look better. I’d look back at photographs, and I wasn’t pleased. And I wanted to be. Now that I’m in control, I’m still working on myself. I don’t think I’ll ever stop. I’m crazy when it comes to this” (7).

  At the end of August 1997, the entire world was stunned when Diana, Princess of Wales, was suddenly killed in a horrifying car crash in the streets of Paris. All activity on the globe seemed to come to a stop in its unity of sorrow. Late in the year, an all-star double album of songs was released to raise money for the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. Several stars recorded new material, and others contributed their songs for the cause. Among the celebrities featured on the album entitled Diana, Princess of Wales—Tribute included Aretha Franklin, Queen, Annie Lennox, Paul McCartney, Whitney Houston, Simply Red, Placido Domingo, Lesley Garrett, Luciano Pavarotti, Brian Ferry, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, and several others. Tina Turner donated her version of the song “Love Is a Beautiful Thing.” It was a new recording, only available on this album.