Tina’s had a long wait for stardom

Press, 31 January 1986, Page 14

Tina’s had a long wait for stardom

The queen of rock has been working hard all her life ... GEORGE HADLEY-GARCIA talks to Tina Turner.

"I knew I was a star, last year,” says Tina Turner, “when I began to fill whole giant auditoriums and stadiums. Having 10,000 people come to see just you, whether it’s in England or anywhere else, is the tops, careerwise.

“It makes up for the lean years, when everyone seems to like you, but nobody will give you a big break, and you know you’re wasting your talents.”

Now Tina Turner is at the top of her occupation and has proved herself in movies. In 1975 she played a small role in the hit “Tommy,” and last year she had a co-starring role with Mel Gibson in the hit, “Mad Max III: Beyond Thunderdome.” She notes quietly but forcefully, “When the movie was a success, and I got good personal reviews besides, that’s when i knew I was what you call a superstar.

It meant so much to •me, not because it’s an ego thing, but because it means I’m in for the long haul. I’ve survived. My comeback isn’t a fluke.

“That’s so important, psychologically. It means I won’t have to scrape the bottom of the barrel again, emotionally or professionally. I can do my best work — it’s hard to. give your all, the way I like to do, when you feel you’re in a rut.”

Tina even had the confidence to turn down Steven Spielberg three times. He kept asking her to star in his first serious movie, an adaptation of Alice Walker’s best-selling “The Color Purple.”

Some in the movie industry felt that the role might have won Turner an Academy Award, at least a nomination. But

she says, “I lived that role, and I would not want to go back again, to recreate those feelings and experiences. That’s too high a price to pay, to make a movie.” The role is that of a poor black woman who is physically battered and spiritually broken before finding her own balance and success.

By now it’s well known that Tina’s former husband, Ike Turner, beat her regularly — about which he is publicly unrepentant. The details of Tina’s lows, and her unliberated marriage, are contained in her sizzling autobiography, “I, Tina,” for which she received a $500,000 advance from her publisher. Was it painful to relive the past for her book? “Quite painful.” She pauses, then adds, “And that’s why I could not re-relive it for the picture.” As for Ike Turner, Tina refuses to speak ill of him, having said her piece in her book. “That was one reason I did the book — to exorcise the past without having to put anyone down on one TV talk show after another; that would really demoralise me, and it goes against my Buddhist ethics.

"If somebody really wants to know what I went through, they can read the book.” Ike Turner was arrested last year for possession and selling of cocaine. Ironically, this was just after he gave a major interview in which he was less than complimentary about Tina’s career, or their years together.

Does she feel the arrest is justice or revenge? “Revenge is not in my

vocabulary. When I chant daily, I chant to expell bad feeling and bring in good feelings, to hopefully increase the goodness for others and myself.” Tina like Patrick Duffy (formerly of “Dallas”), is a member of NSA, the Japan-based Buddhist organisation which is particularly fast growing in California.

Last year, Tina completed an arduous European tour, won several Grammy and other awards, and began a tour of dozens of American cities. How, well in her 40s, does she find the energy?

“Because I never stopped doing that. I’ve been working as long as I can remember; I’ve always loved performing live, because I love people. Although I like the permanence of movies!

“I’m in good shape, body-wise, because I move so much on stage; I don’t need any outside exercise, though I do love to swim, especially at my pool at home in L.A.”

She notes that she eats fairly lightly, “but sometimes I overdo. And I too

have a sweet tooth! What kind of life would it be, never eating anything you enjoy?” she asks. Recently it was reported that Tina Turner is a royal-class shopper, sometimes spending $5OOO an hour. She clarifies this side of her image: “I’m not a jet-setter and I do not indulge my every whim. Even though as a child we had so little.

“Once in a while, I overspend on myself, my family and friends. But what happens is, I hardly ever have time to go out and shop, and one day in London, I put aside several hours and did all my year’s shopping that day.

“But some journalists came with me, and the way it appeared in print, you’d think that was a typical day for me!” She laughs in amazement, but quickly adds, “I like to live as well as the next celebrity or rich per son, but I do feel that in a world where so many people are starving, and have so little, that the more you have, the more you ought to give. That is part of Buddhism,' and I try to practise that. Tina has been very active in USA for Africa and

other charities but one aspect of her past has come to haunt her. The N.A.A.C.P. (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) declined to nominate Turner for an award, because several years ago, when she desperately needed the work, she performed in South Africa. That she did not perform for segregated audiences there did not alter the N.A.A.C.P.’s mind. How does she feel about it now?

"I don’t support segregation, ever, and I stuck to my principles throughout my career. But I’m sorry that there was offence taken.” ,

Tina concludes, “Nobody can please everyone all the time. To try to is self-defeating. But I’m an entertainer, and I feel nothing but love from audiences, from all ages and nationalities. “We must all unite and focus on our similarities, not our differences. I’m trying to bridge the gap by entertaining, and hopefully by communicating ... I want to keep doing this for as long as I can Copyright. Duo.