Dear subscriber,
There are many famous people who are admired.
There are many who are held in high regard.
And there are many who are liked.
But there are very few who are beloved.
One such famous person who was truly beloved is the late, great Tina Turner.
Tina Turner was not your garden-variety famous person.
She was a special star. She just shone brighter.
Most stars get so high on the fumes of their own self-importance that they lose touch with reality. Not Tina Turner. Tina always had her Louboutins (they were her favorite stage shoes) firmly planted on the ground.
Many stars are loaded with talent and charisma. Tina oozed talent and charisma, too. But, in my opinion, that’s not what made her so special. Those things made her a star, sure, but what made her star shine brighter was her soft heart and genuine kindness.
That’s what captured the people’s hearts and made her an absolute treasure.
She had a sweetness of soul that is rarely witnessed.
But here’s the kicker and it’s a big one:
If ever there was a star who had a reason or excuse to become hard, bitter, and cynical, it was Tina Turner.
Consider this:
Tina Turner was fighting to make it in the entertainment business in the ’60s.
Back then, if you were a woman, you had to work twice as hard as a man to be taken seriously. And if you were black, well sadly, you had to work twice as hard to be accepted by the mainstream. And if you were a female singer who did not fit the mold, once again, you had to work even harder.
Talk about a tough row to hoe.
And that’s not even mentioning the slew of sleazebag managers and money-grubbing music label execs she encountered along the way or her scumbucket husband who liked to use her as a punching bag.
Despite all that hell, she emerged with her softness of heart intact.
Do you see the beauty and rareness in that?
Tina Turner had the grit and gumption of a Navy Seal and the heart and sweetness of a saint.
Truly special. Truly rare.
Okay, let me finish this tribute on a lighter note, like a news channel that does a story about surfing squirrels right after covering a human tragedy story.
There’s a saying that goes, it’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.
Well, the following Tina Turner story exemplifies that saying.
Here’s the story:
There’s a singer in Australia named Jimmy Barnes. In the early 90s, Barnsey got the chance to sing with Turner on a marketing campaign for one of our football codes.
Tina Turner was a musical hero of Jimmy’s, so naturally, he was nervous to be singing with the great laydee.
Hang on. How about I let Jimmy tell the story?
Here’s the story in Jimmy Barnes’ words:
“I turned up to sing with Tina and I was terrified. And she was so gracious and so nurturing. Well, the director said to us, we’re just gonna pan across and have you two guys dancing as you sing.
Now, anyone who’s seen me dance knows that I dance like an elephant tied to a tree. Tina must have seen the panicked look on my face because she leaned in and whispered:
‘Don’t worry, honey. Just stand there and I’ll make you look good.’
And she almost did!”
***
Pure class.
Vale Tina Turner.
Is there a business lesson here? I dunno. Perhaps it’s this: be more like Tina.
To be honest, I wrote this for no other reason than this – I felt like writing it!
Oh, in case you want to see how Tina and Jimmy’s day of recording turned out, you can check it out here: Jimmy and Tina
Peace.
Your friend,
Kelvin
Email Marketing Maverick
P.S. The song Moves Like Jagger should be called Moves Like Turner, Why? Because Mick stole most of his dance moves from Tina.
True story.
