‘Tina’: The Ultimate Thesis of Why She Deserves Rock Hall Immortality – wmgk.com

Its 10:15 PM on Saturday, March 27th. Ive just finished watchingTina, the HBO documentary about the incomparable Tina Turner. The two-hour doc was filled with stunning footage and stories from Turners remarkable career, but it was the films ending that is really staying with me.

Tinacomes to a close with Turner and her husband,Erwin Bach, traveling from their home in Switzerland to New York City in November 2019 for the Broadway opening ofTINA: The Tina Turner Musical. Over footage from the star-studded event, Bach says the following:

She said, Im going to America, and Im going to say goodbye to my American fans and wrap it up. And I think this documentary and the play, this is it. Its a closure. A closure.

Tina Turner doesnt have to perform a single note ever again. She doesnt owe any of us a thing more. But shes still owed one more thing in order for this closure to be complete with me and likely countless other fans the world over: She needs to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in the 2021 class.

While she was inducted into the Rock Hall in 1991 as part of Ike & Tina Turner, Tina the solo artist has been eligible for induction since 1999. It would have been a nice touch to see her inducted in her first year of eligibility: her final studio album, Twenty Four Seven, was released that year.(Although many regard 1984s Private Dancer as her debut solo album, she has been putting out solo albums since 1974s Tina Turns the Country On!) It also goes without saying that she was more successful and impactful as a solo artist than she was with Ike Turner.

Plenty has been written by myself and countless others about the Rock Halls lack of women inductees; women account for less thaneight percentof artist inductees. The fact that it took until 2019, when Stevie Nicks became the first double-inductee, is ridiculous. Over twenty men have been inducted twice; Eric Clapton has been inducted three times. While Nicks solo honor was more than deserved, she shouldnt have been the Rock Halls first woman double-inductee.

It should have been Tina. AndTina, the documentary, makes the case that Turners solo career is more than worthy of induction. From the cotton fields of Tennessee to selling out the biggest stadiums in the world, shes done it all while simultaneously overcoming at times horrific odds. She paved the way forBeyonc, Taylor and any other musician recognized by just one name to become superstars. They all owe a debt to Tina, someone who achieved that worldwide stardom in her mid-40s, which is a staggering feat that also doesnt get enough attention. Becoming a headliner as an up-and-coming artist is one thing, but to do so while battling ageism AND crossing over multiple musical genres is another.

The figures and the powers-that-be at the Rock Hall both past and present cant go back in time and induct Tina as a solo artist two decades ago, but they can right one major wrong by inducting her this year, which is also somehow the first time she has been nominated as a solo artist.

Rock Hall voters have about a month left to submit their ballots for the 2021 class. Every single voter would have to be a fool not to mark Tina as one of their five selections.

And if they are somehowstillon the fence, just watchTina.

Erica Banas is a rock/classic rock news blogger who's well versed in etiquette and extraordinarily nice.

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'Tina': The Ultimate Thesis of Why She Deserves Rock Hall Immortality - wmgk.com