May 25, 2023
Tina Turner inspired kiwi diva
Kiwi diva Bic Runga says Tina Turner was a big influence on women singers of her generation.
The former Anna Mae Bullock has died at her home in Switzerland at the age of 83, bringing down the curtain on a career that spanned more than six decades.
Her first career was fronting the hard driving soul and R&B review led by her then-husband Ike Turner, but the big break came when she reinvented herself as a solo artist with the 1984 multi-platinum album Private Dancer.
Bic Runga says it was a soundtrack for her teenage years.
“You know that song ‘What’s love got to do…’ I thrashed that all the time. It’s like I love her so much and I think for women of my generation, we always looked up to her and I didn’t realise she was 83 – she always seemed so vibrant. I’m a big fan of Tina Turner. I’m a bit gutted about the news today,” she says.
Bic Runga is getting ready for a July tour to mark the 20th anniversary of her own multi-platinum album, Beautiful Collision.