Tina Turner and David Bowie were long-time admirers and part-time collaborators. They worked on the same label, Capitol Records, and Bowie would describe Turner as his “favorite singer”.
Their relationship deepened in 1983, when Turner said that Bowie did “something very special and significant for me.”
“We were on the same label, but the decision had been taken not to re-sign me. David, however, had just had his contract renewed by Capitol, who wanted to take him out to dinner that night in New York to celebrate. ‘I’m sorry,’ he told them, ‘but I’m going to the Ritz to see my favorite singer perform.’ And that was me. Luckily it was a great show. Seeing it and the crowd’s reaction turned ’round how Capitol [Records] viewed me.”
That show earned Turner a second signing to Capitol Records, which would produce the later hits of her career.
“It was because of David that I got another deal, and everything else followed. I’ll be ever thankful to him,” she told Female First.
Bowie died six years earlier than Turner, of stomach cancer. Details of Turner’s death have yet to be released, but a statement said that she passed after a long illness,
Sources:
Tina Turner Thanks David Bowie For Career Rescue (femalefirst.co.uk)
Tina Turner revealed rock icon David Bowie saved her career — here’s how (nypost.com)
Tina Turner Credited David Bowie for Career After Abusive Marriage (people.com)
