YouTube Gold: Tina Turner Live

Out of all the many celebrity redemption arcs, did anyone’s make people happier than that of Tina Turner?

Turner, whose death was announced Wednesday, was a major star, along with her husband Ike, in the 1960’s and ‘70’s.

Before she was known as Tina, Anna Mae Bullock met Turner in a club and asked to sing with his band. He put her off and at a certain point, she just took the microphone and changed musical history.

The Ike and Tina Turner Review was soon born and there was nothing else like it, as you’ll see in this performance of CCR’s Proud Mary in 1971, perhaps from the Ed Sullivan Show.

But the marriage was troubled as Tina would explain later: Ike was a violent man and his drug use certainly didn't help.

When Tina finally left him in 1976, she walked away penniless. And then she started over, becoming an even bigger star on her own than she had ever been in the Review.

She won immense respect for her talent, certainly, but also for the strength of character she showed after she decided to leave Ike, rebuilding her life and career step by excruciating, liberating step. It’s fair to say that Tina Turner inspired hundreds of thousands if not millions of women.

Later in life, she converted to Buddhism and moved to Switzerland, where, by all accounts, she led a quiet and fulfilling life. There will never be another.

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