MOBO’s Working for Tina
ROCK DIVA TURNER IS HONOURED AT AWARDS
The Mirror October 1999
By RICHARD WALLACE
I T'S 17 years since Tina Turner temporarily relocated to Britain , a '60s diva many had written off as yesterday’s woman.
But within 12 months she was back in the Top 10 with a cover of Al Green's Let's Stay Together, her spectacular leonine hair and slinky, short skirts creating an instant iconic pop image. Fast forward to the eve of the mil lennium and Ms Turner is still on top of the world. And now she wants to say "Thank You" to the people who first got her back in the limelight. Next Wednesday she will be guest of honor at the prestigious Music of Black Origin (MOBO) Awards, where she will receive a lifetime achievement prize at London 's Royal Albert Hall. So, Ms Turner - "Hey, call me Tina" - it must be a tad weird being back in Blighty again? "Oh, it's great, the British have always been very supportive, especially when I was broke and going through such hard times in the late Seventies," she says in an exclusive A List interview. "Later, when I did Let's Stay Together, Britain was the only country which would release it at the start, and for that I will always be grateful. ” The MOBO award is very special to me. It's a thank you from my British fans who made that record a hit, revit alized my career and subsequently my whole life. It's a true honor." Tina, still sexy and glamorous at 60, slipped into the capital last week to prepare for the imminent release of her new album, Twenty Four Seven, another landmark in her 40-year career. The title sums up the superstar to a T - she's a 24 hours a day, seven days a week lady. "It describes me and my com mitment to my life and work," she giggles. "It certainly feels right to be launching the record here. In 1966 River Deep Mountain High's success in Britain was a door opener for my career in Europe in the same way that the Private Dancer album in 1983 was another rebirth. So this is a very special place for me. Everything that has been good in my life in the last 20 years has directly or indirectly been rooted out of Britain ”. Tina, who reckons the new album is as good as anything she's done, says the two key elements in her obvious satisfaction with life are her record company boss husband Erwin Bach. 17 years her junior and her abiding interest in Buddhism”. "I must say that earlier this year I realised I was in the happiest and greatest place I could be in my life. I'm happy where I live. I'm happy with my relationship with my man, I'm happy with all the people around me. It is a very good and harmonious time for me. Mentally and physically, I feel about 35 years old, but I know in real ity that I'm not. I like to think young and I love being around young people. But I don't like the idea of being a sex symbol. Off-stage, I don't want that attention. I seldom wear dresses and tight clothes. As a matter of fact, I wear men's clothes a lot, shoes and all.” "Erwin has always been a great sup port and has given me great love in our time together. "Buddhism also helped change my life around. It gave me a lot of inner strength and the determination to do what I've done. "It stops you from saying what you can't do and makes you say what you are going to do. It just makes you so positive. It's that positively which has helped me climb up the mountain. " Seeing the world f rom the mountain top, Tina still has time to reflect. "I had a flash back the other day which I had to laugh about," she adds. "Here I am in England again with a new album which has been put together very quickly, just like PrivateDancer, but this time we're not on foot, out in the cold, waiting for a taxi. Times certainly have changed, boy have they changed..." She laughs long and loud. Who can blame her? TINA Turner's new single, When The Heartache Is Over, is released on October 18.
