"Queen" Tina

In 1984, Tina Turner made a huge comeback with her Private Dancer album. The first song on the album is called "I Might Have Been Queen". After a number of rocky years, many due to her tumultuous marriage to guitarist Ike Turner, and others due to her long struggle back to the top, the lyrics were spiritual, yet accurately described Tina's struggles and triumphs:

I'm a new pair of eyes everytime I am born
An original mind because I just died
And I'm scanning the horizon
For someone recognizing that I might have been queen
For every sun that sets there is a new one dawning
For every empire crushed there is a brand new nation
Let the waters rise, I have ridden each tide
From the gates of the city where the first born died

And I might have been queen
I remember the girl in the fields with no name
She had a love
But the rivers wont stop for me
No, the rivers wont stop to me

During the recent Grammy Awards, Beyonce performed a duet of "Proud Mary" with the still-going-strong-at-68 Turner. During her introduction, where she paid tribute to the prolific jazz and soul singers before her, Beyonce introduced Turner as "the Queen". When Aretha Franklin got wind of this, she was more than just a little miffed. For years, Franklin has been referred to as "the Queen of Soul". Although not an official title, most of the press and music industry refer to her as this.

There is no doubt that Aretha Franklin has been a trailblazer in soul music. Her Atlantic material from 1967 to 1974 is unsurpassed in its power. However, for the past 30 or so years, Franklin has never matched her groundbreaking work from that time period. But she still is bestowed the "Queen of Soul" title. The very fact that she got upset that another female singer was referred to as a "queen" only shows how insecure Franklin is (if you don't believe me, read her autobiography, where she comes off as petty and catty towards other female singers, particularly Gladys Knight).

Franklin also must think of herself more than just the Queen of Soul. She apparently thinks she IS the Queen. After all, Beyonce never said Queen of Soul. She just said "Queen". And how can anyone NOT think of Tina Turner as a queen? This woman is simply music royalty.

Of course, many think Tina Turner is a queen simply for surviving her marriage to Ike Turner and for defying age by selling out world tours in her '60s and keeping up with dancers half her age. But Turner also has an incredible musical legacy behind her. Check out the recent Time Life compilation of Ike & Tina Turner's music partnership in the box set entitled The Ike & Tina Turner Story: 1960-1975 for proof of that. While many credit Ike as the musical genius behind the duo and Tina as the star, many forget that their greatest hits can be attributed to Tina herself. She helped their version of "Proud Mary" to become a huge hit by steering away from Ike's penchant for rhythm and blues to a more rock and roll sound; she wrote one of their biggest hits "Nutbush City Limits", a tribute to her hometown. And Tina herself was the star of Ike and Tina Turner. Watch any clips on Youtube and you'll see why.

Tina Turner's solo material may not match the power of her music with Ike, but she has successfully updated her sound with the times, particularly in Europe where she is massively popular. Watching Tina on the Grammys, she can still kick. She may be a little bigger, and her kicks may not be as sharp as they were in her 40s (or even 50s), but she is a survivor.

Tina Turner may sing she "might have been queen", and Aretha Franklin may get annoyed that another female contemporary is bestowed a royal title, but there is no denying this: Tina Turner IS Queen.