Tea With Tina Turner
Conversations with a cultural icon
For some people, charisma rolls off them in waves. They give out energy like radiating heat. They walk into a room and suddenly become the epicenter, all eyes drawn to them. According to all sources, Tina Turner had this electrifying ability.
Tina Turner’s energy was magnetic. Her inimitable voice made every song her own and she connected with people on a deep, subconscious level.
There have been many outpourings of grief and love for her over the past few days. Many have celebrated her triumph over adversity, her rags-to-riches tale of rising to stardom from a penniless low point. She survived domestic abuse and overcame hardship, showing resilience and determination to stage a career comeback in the 80s. More famous and more powerful in her 40s than in her 20s, she defied gender, race, and ageist boundaries to produce some of her biggest hits when many people would have marked her up as “past it”.
I wonder what stories she would bring to my kitchen, chatting with the other iconic women gathered. Her energy would match the ferocity of Boudicca, no doubt. Her life experiences would delight my Aunty Jo and Ruth Bader Ginsberg. And I’m sure Margaret Bourke-White would take a wonderful picture.
To honour her practice of Buddhism, though, we shouldn’t mourn her passing, we should celebrate what she brought to the world. Thank you, Tina. We will always have Proud Mary!
