Tina Turner has quietly been honored in her hometown of Brownsville, Tennessee, for the past decade, but on Sept. 27, the Rock ‘n’ Roll legend received another honor, this one cast in bronze.
According to Billboard, Turner’s statue sits near her old high school, Carver High School, in close proximity to the community of Nutbush, where she grew up, in Heritage Park, located across the street from the high school.
Turner’s sculpture was designed by the Atlanta-based, world-famous artist, Fred Ajanogha, who aimed to capture her signature wild hair and flexible movement through the statue’s posing.
Before Turner died on May 24, 2023, she
immortalized Nutbush through her hit song “Nutbush City Limits,” and left her imprint on the American music scene through other hit songs such as “Proud Mary,” “Private Dancer,” and arguably her most well known song that became the title of an Angela Bassett-led film, “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” that recounted her tumultuous and abusive marriage to Ike Turner.Turner’s long career earned her a long list of admirers, from Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger to ’90’s R&B icon Mariah Carey to Beyoncé and the affectionately bestowed title of the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, a royal title she also shared with Little Richard, who was alternatively known as the Real King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
The statue’s unveiling was part of the city’s Tina Turner Heritage Days, which celebrates the early life of the singer, before she left the city as a teenager to pursue her dreams as a recording artist.
Karen Cook, friends with one of Turner’s cousins, traveled from Georgia to attend the event, which she said reminded her of listening to Turner with her mother.
“She’s a great artist, I love her music,” Cook told the outlet. “My mom listened to her a lot. It’s a big deal and a great thing for the community to have Tina Turner in her small town.”
According to Marianne Dunavant, community relations manager with the Ford Motor Company, their $150,000 contribution towards the statue’s construction is part of their commitment to listening to the voices of the local community.
“We want to preserve history for our youth, right, so when we’re no longer here these statues will still tell that story and remember that Tina Turner came from this community and we want our young people to know that they can do anything they want and thrive too,” she told WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News.
Currently, a jukebox musical, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, is
touring across the country, after taking a brief hiatus to recast. The play is directed by Phyllida Lloyd and was written by Pulitzer Prize-winner Katori Hall along with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins.RELATED CONTENT: Legendary Queen of Rock & Roll Tina Turner Passes Away At 83