Grammy winner Tina Turner has died at the age of 84. She was recognized as the “queen of rock and roll” and became one of the greatest performers in the history of American music. How Turner was connected with sports – in the material “RBC Sport”
Read full version
Eight-time Grammy-winning singer Tina Turner has died at the age of 83. She passed away in the city of Küsnacht near Zurich after a long illness.
In the 1980s, the singer released such hits as Typical Male, Two People, Back Where You Started and What You Get Is What You See, as well as a cover of Bonnie Tyler’s The Best. In total, she recorded nine studio albums. In 1995, Turner sang the theme song for the 17th James Bond film, Golden Eye.
Rolling Stone magazine named Turner one of the greatest singers of our time. She first entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 as a duo with Ike Turner and was inducted in person in 2021.
Super Bowl
Photo: Brian Bahr/Getty Images
On January 30, 2000, Turner performed at halftime in the Super Bowl final of the National Football League (NFL) in Atlanta. The tournament is the highest rated event in the United States and annually attracts more than 100 million viewers from television screens.
The Halftime Show has been an integral part of the Super Bowl since the first draw, which took place in 1967. However, only since 1991, famous singers began to perform during the break, before that university orchestras performed. This was done to increase interest in the Super Bowl. It was possible to achieve the goal in 1993 thanks to the performance of Michael Jackson.
Turner sang the national anthem, and also performed at halftime with famous artists: Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias and Toni Braxton.
In that final, the National Football Conference (NFC) champion St. Louis Rams defeated the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Tennessee Titans 23–16 to claim their first Super Bowl victory.
World record on the Maracana
In 1988, the singer broke a world record and got into the Guinness Book of Records. Turner performed in front of the largest audience – more than 188 thousand people at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.
In the early 2000s, she entered the Book of Records for the second time – as a solo artist who sold the largest number of concert tickets.
Last show at the Sheffield Arena
After the release of the album “Private Dancer” in 1984, Turner collected stadiums around the world. In 2000, she embarked on a farewell tour, but the singer returned to the stage in 2008 at the age of 69 to celebrate her 50th anniversary in music. On this tour, Turner raised $130 million.
The last concert of the tour was a performance at the Sheffield Arena on May 5, 2009, after which she ended her career.
Before the presentation of the biographical musical Turner, the singer participated in an interview with Graham Norton on BBC Radio 2. “We had the greatest show, it was really wonderful. But the next day, me, my husband Erwin, and my chef got on the plane, and I took a deep breath and said, “That’s it, I’m not going back for anything,” Turner recalled.
rugby icon
In the 1980s, the Winfield Cup (Australian rugby league trophy), according to the organizers, was outdated and did not attract fans. Then in 1988, the American superstar starred in an advertisement for the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL), spearheading the most successful advertising campaign in Australian sports history.
The clip for one of the most important Australian league moments was filmed at Craven Cottage in London. (football stadium in Fulham. – RBC.).
NSWRL’s first CEO John Quayle recalled filming in the cold. “We only had one day in London to film the commercial. We filmed in the old dressing room of Fulham, in the cold, and I will never forget that scene, ”he said.
Turner presented the hit “What You Get Is What You See”, which she filmed in the UK. CNN’s Australian reporter John Redler noted that after Turner’s ad, match attendance more than doubled. “Since the Tina Turner ad started in 1989, attendance at rugby league games has more than doubled. TV ratings skyrocketed and women started attending the games in large numbers,” Redler said.
Legendary is a 1990 ad in which Turner played rugby on the beach to her hit The Best. It is this advertisement, filmed in Australia and showing all the leading rugby players of that time, that now forever remains in the history of this sport.
The ad became so popular that in 2020 the National Rugby League (NRL) re-used it for its 30th anniversary. While many were skeptical that a female star would be able to make an impact on rugby in the country, now for many Australians “The Best” (Best. – RBC.) is synonymous with rugby league.
In addition, the singer performed with the 1990 hit in the 1993 Grand Final.
Former head of the Australian Rugby League (ARL) Ken Arthurson said the American star took rugby to the next level. “Tina was a pleasure to deal with. She was professional, energetic, warm. She took rugby league to the next level. It was the most outstanding and successful sports marketing campaign I can remember,” he said.
Impact on the Premier League
A few years after the rugby ad, the English Premier League (EPL), which was inspired by Turner’s video, created their own video for “A Completely Different Ball Game”. To the song “Alive and Kicking” by the Scottish rock band Simple Minds, the players trained in the gym and played with their children, after which they went out to play on the football field. With the help of this commercial, the Premier League was able to enter the “family market” and significantly increase their income. Turner was not directly related to him, but the clip showed that her work in Australia influenced the entire sports industry.
Alvina Tsakanyan.
