The JBIFC were very sad to learn of the death of singer Tina Turner, who passed away at her home near Zurich in Switzerland at the age of 83 after a long period of illness.
Tina’s many hit songs included such classics as A Fool in Love (1960), River Deep – Mountain High (1966), What’s Love Got To Do With It? (1984), We Don’t Need Another Hero (1985) and, of course, her hugely popular theme song for Goldeneye (1995), Pierce Brosnan’s debut James Bond adventure. The song was penned by U2’s Bono and the Edge and was sung powerfully by Tina, who also starred in a pop video of the song.
There have been numerous tributes, including one from the White House. Friends and fellow singers from across the worlds of showbiz, film and the media have expressed their heartfelt sorrow at her passing. The journalist Will Hodgkinson, commenting in a column in The Times, summed things up suitably by commenting that ‘Tina Turner had a passion that was impossible to replicate’, and argued that she was ‘the greatest female singer of the classic rock era’.
Bonding with James
Back in 1995, Tina gave some interesting backround context on how the song for Goldeneye came about: ‘Bono and the Edge are neighbours of mine in the south of France. They came over and Edge played the song on my piano. Bono wanted to write the song because he spent his honeymoon at Ian Fleming’s house in Jamaica’. Tina apparently immediately liked the song, and felt that it was a perfect fit for the new 007 movie. It was recorded at London’s Olympic Studios.
She also keenly participated in the tie-in promotional campaign for Brosnan’s first Bond film, which included the video of the song directed by Jake Scott, the son of the film director Ridley Scott. Tina also sang the title track for Goldeneye twice on American TV, and also in a very memorable appearance on Top of the Pops in the UK, where she was surrounded by a team of Bond-like male dancers. The song was also played extensively on UK radio and satellite channels.
Although there were mixed responses to Eric Serra’s industrial metallic-style soundtrack music for Goldeneye, the movie itself was a critical and commercial smash-hit around the globe, and the title song was viewed as a key contributory element in the success of the film. It remains a firm favourite of many Bond fans.
Tina Turner was not just a highly successful singer. She also carved out something of a film career, including in Ken Russell’s rock opera Tommy (1975) and in the Australian post-apocalypse road movie Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985), which starred Mel Gibson. All in all, Tina was a superb all-round performer.
Tina Turner, 1939-2023, R.I.P.
