Portrait of Tina Turner

Birthday profile

Tina Turner

Tina Turner, American-Swiss singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress (died 2023)

Born
November 26, 1939
Died
May 24, 2023
Zodiac sign
Sagittarius
Birth year
1939

About Tina Turner

Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress and author. Dubbed the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she broke both racial and gender barriers in rock music with her vocal prowess and stage presence. She is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated sales of over 100 million records worldwide. Turner rose to prominence in the 1960s as the lead vocalist of the R&B husband-wife duo Ike & Tina Turner, known for their explosive live performances with the Ikettes and Kings of Rhythm. The duo achieved chart success with songs including "A Fool In Love", "River Deep – Mountain High", "Proud Mary", and "Nutbush City Limits". After separating from Ike Turner in 1976, she launched a solo career. Following the 1983 hit "Let's Stay Together", she made a comeback with her multi-platinum fifth solo album, Private Dancer (1984). The single "What's Love Got to Do with It" won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1985 and became her only number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100. She continued her success with the top-ten singles "Better Be Good to Me", "Private Dancer", "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)", "Typical Male", and "I Don't Wanna Fight". Later in her career, she sang the theme song for the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye. Turner's Break Every Rule World Tour became the highest-grossing tour by a female artist in the 1980s, and her 1988 concert in Rio de Janeiro set a Guinness World Record for the then-largest paying audience in a concert by a solo artist. She continued touring successfully in the 1990s and her Twenty Four Seven Tour was the highest-grossing tour of 2000. In 2009, she retired from performing after completing the Tina!: 50th Anniversary Tour. As an actress, Turner appeared in the films Tommy (1975), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), and Last Action Hero (1993). Her life was portrayed in the biopic What's Love Got to Do with It (1993), based on her autobiography I, Tina (1986), and later in the musical Tina (2018) and documentary Tina (2021). Turner received 12 Grammy Awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and three Grammy Hall of Fame inductions. In 1967, she became the first black artist and the first woman to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone, which later ranked her among the greatest artists and greatest singers of all time. She was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1986 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice—first with Ike Turner in 1991 and again as a solo artist in 2021. Turner received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2005. In 2013, Turner relinquished her US citizenship and became a Swiss citizen, residing in Switzerland until her death in Küsnacht in 2023. Known for her vocal prowess and stage presence, Turner is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated sales of over 100 million records worldwide. Turner rose to prominence in the 1960s as the lead vocalist of the husband-wife duo Ike & Tina Turner, known for their explosive live performances with the Ikettes and Kings of Rhythm. The single "What's Love Got to Do with It" won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1985 and became Turner's only number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Turner's Break Every Rule World Tour became the highest-grossing tour by a female artist of the 1980s and set a Guinness World Record for the then-largest paying audience in a concert (180,000). Dubbed the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she broke both racial and gender barriers in rock music and became a prominent figure in popular culture.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Tina Turner was born

Tina Turner was born in 1939. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1939

  • #1 song"Over the Rainbow" – Judy Garland
  • Top movieGone with the Wind
  • Best-selling bookThe Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentLou Gehrig delivers his "Luckiest Man" farewell speech
  • Top headlineGermany invades Poland — World War II begins
  • Technology milestoneFirst regular television broadcasts in the US (NBC)
  • Defining fadThe Wizard of Oz mania
  • Notable inventionNylon stockings
  • World population2.30 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • U.S. population130.9M

1939 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Tina Turner's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19392026
Gas$0.19$3.45/gal
Average home$5,200$435,000
Average income$2,900$67,500
Minimum wage$0.30$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population130.9M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb, MusicBrainz, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.