What the musical’s existence confirms is that the name on its title — Tina — carries, in 2024, a meaning that is immediately legible to audiences who may not have been born when “What’s Love Got to Do with It” reached number one. The name functions as a cultural shorthand for a specific kind of story: survival, reinvention, the building of something significant under difficult conditions. The musical deploys that shorthand and then fills it in with the specifics.
The specifics, as always, are better than the shorthand. The specifics are: Nutbush, Tennessee. Anna Mae Bullock. Little Ann on a 1958 recording. Tina, named after a television character by someone who trademarked the name to protect his business interests. The Chitlin’ Circuit. The Rolling Stones tour. “River Deep.” “Proud Mary.” July 1, 1976. Thirty-six cents. The divorce, finalized in 1978. The food stamps. The small clubs. Australia. Roger Davies. Martyn Ware. John Carter at Capitol. Terry Britten jogging in place in a London studio. May 1984. Number one on September 1, 1984. Four Grammys. 180,000 people at the Maracanã. Erwin Bach. Küsnacht. Swiss citizenship. A kidney. A quiet house on Lake Zurich. May 24, 2023.
The shorthand is Tina. The specifics are the answer to what the name means and how it got there.
## “One of the Living”: The Mad Max Appendix to a Comeback Story
Before the Grammy-winning first album, people sometimes forget that Tina Turner won a second Grammy for a soundtrack recording in 1986. “One of the Living,” the opening track from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, won Best Female Rock Vocal Performance at the 28th Annual Grammy Awards — the year after the Private Dancer sweep.