From the Magazine (January–February 2021)
As a young girl growing up in Tennessee, Anna Mae Bullock liked to sing and recite movie dialogue to entertain her family. By age 20 she had a new name—Tina Turner—and a burgeoning music career with her partner, Ike. But behind the scenes, he was abusing her. Eventually, she found the courage to leave him and move on as a chart-topping, world-touring solo artist. She now lives out of the spotlight in Switzerland and recently released a new book, Happiness Becomes You.
HBR: You’ve had so many ups and downs in your life and career. What have you learned?
Turner: I used to be baffled about why I had to endure so much abuse, because I hadn’t done anything to deserve it. After I began practicing Buddhism, I realized that my hardships could give me a mission—a purpose. I saw that by overcoming my obstacles, I could build indestructible happiness and inspire others to do the same. Then I could see everything that came my way, both the highs and the lows, as an opportunity for self-improvement and for sparking hope in others.
How else has your spirituality—your Baptist upbringing and your Buddhist practice—driven you?
Of everything I’ve done to succeed as an artist, spirituality has had the greatest influence. The Buddhist teachings of compassion and kindness, which have much in common with the principles of “Love thy neighbor” and “Do unto others” that I learned from the Baptist influences in my childhood, have always been guiding forces for me. After I began studying Buddhism and chanting Nam-myōhō-renge-kyō, I felt as if a different person emerged. My true self came out, and I became cheerful, confident, and resilient. My approach to life and work became calmer and more thoughtful, and my reactions were more tempered. I used to get angry first and ask questions later. But after I embraced Buddhism, it flipped. I could easily stay calm and figure out the details instead of jumping to conclusions. I came to understand that any achievement stems from inner change. The more I studied Buddhist principles, the deeper I dug within myself and cleaned up whatever attitudes or habits were standing in my way. And the more I chanted and aligned my goals with an authentic desire to inspire happiness in others, the more my life began to improve. I credit my spiritual practice with all the positive transformations—from the smallest to the largest—I’ve had in my career and personal life.
You were Anna Mae and then became Tina. Is the latter a persona or the real you?
I’m Anna Mae, and I’m also Tina. They’re two sides of my personality, two facets of my life. Anna Mae is the homebody side and loves peace and quiet and privacy, and Tina is the artistic side and loves all kinds of artistic expression. I’m sure aspects of Anna have merged with Tina and vice versa.
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| Tina Turner |
Did you always dream of a music career?
As a teenager I was a nurse’s assistant and looked after small children as well. I always liked kids, and caring for others came naturally to me. My mother thought I would become either a nurse or a teacher, but in my heart of hearts, I knew those paths wouldn’t be mine. I did love singing and dancing as a child, and everyone told me how much they enjoyed hearing me sing. But I never thought much of becoming a professional singer until I was older.
Were your performance skills innate, or did you build them?
I’ve been a performer since childhood. As a girl, every chance I got, I’d go to our local movie theater and memorize scenes so I could reenact them. Although I did have a bit of singing training in high school and even learned some opera, my voice and dance abilities have mostly come naturally to me.
When and why did you take up songwriting?
In the late 1960s I had some success with the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. But by the early 1970s we hit difficult times, both personally and professionally. I wanted to do something to help get us out of our career slump, so I decided to try songwriting. I started with the topic I knew best: my own life. I wrote about my hometown of Nutbush in what became the 1973 hit “Nutbush City Limits.” Soon after, when I started practicing Buddhism, I also wrote some spiritual songs, but I never finished them. Fortunately, I got another chance to create spiritual music over the past decade in the Beyond Music interfaith albums.
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| Tina Turner |
When you confronted discrimination as a Black woman, how did you respond?
I’ve always felt that superficial differences like skin color and social status shouldn’t matter. In my view any labels people use to separate “us” and “them” are illusions and delusions. I do my best to see people as individuals and emphasize common ground. This is also what my Buddhist faith teaches: that our essential identities as human beings are equally precious, regardless of differences. When I started as a solo artist, I was a female Black singer in my forties with no money and few prospects for gigs. Still, I kept a “never give up” spirit. I understood that although many people might have a limited view of me, I could help open their minds. Through hard work and determination, I showed all the naysayers that maybe their preconceived doubts were wrong. Part of my spiritual practice is to “change poison into medicine,” to take negative situations or roadblocks and transform or remove them through positivity. The force of my positivity pushed all the discriminatory “isms” standing in my way right out the window.
How did you muster the strength to leave Ike?
For a long time I felt like I was stuck, with no way out of the unhealthy situation I was in. Not knowing where I was headed or what I could do to get out was painful. But then I had a series of encounters with different people who encouraged me to start chanting. Finally, I listened. Thanks to this practice, I started to become conscious of the tendencies that were holding me back and bringing me down. And once I could see myself clearly, I began to change, opening the way to confidence and courage. It took a few years, but finally I was able to stand up for my life and start anew.
You weren’t immediately successful as a solo artist. Did you ever consider quitting?
I never considered giving up on my dreams. You could say I had an invincible optimism. And I always knew that the “what” was more important than the “how.” In other words, although I had a hard time seeing how I could make my dreams come true, I focused more on what I wanted to achieve in my life, personally and professionally. I took actions day by day, often outside my comfort zone, to better myself and bring me closer to those goals. In Buddhism we call this inner process of transformation “human revolution.”
When you were touring, how did you prep to take the stage in front of millions of people? Did you have a preshow routine?
Yes, once I started my solo career, I would chant for an hour before each show, focusing on the true happiness of each person who came to see me. I visualized my audience and prayed that I could be whoever each person needed me to be that day so that I could inspire their dreams and help them recharge their souls. For me, being onstage was the best—a great exchange of energy with each person in the audience. Afterward, it often felt like a blur of color, light, joy, and visions of the many smiling faces who had come to see me. Of course, we also had the usual preshow routines and sound checks!
You’ve also done some acting. Why expand beyond music?
Acting in movies was always a big dream, even though I had never expressed it outside my private prayers. So it was a total surprise when I was asked to play a starring role in the rock opera film Tommy. That was a real dream come true, as was starring in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.
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| Tina Turner |
One of your albums was called Break Every Rule. What rules did you choose to break over the years, and how and why did those decisions pay off?
As someone who believes in karma, I don’t want to break rules just for the sake of being a rule breaker. But there is value in breaking norms, in challenging the status quo—as I did to break through those “isms” that suggested I couldn’t achieve my dreams because of my skin color, my age, and my gender. That was rule breaking for the sake of positive change.
Of all the awards you’ve won, which have meant the most and why?
When I was going through some of the hardest times in my life as a solo artist, some of my jazz friends, Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock and their families, took in me and my sons and helped me get back on my feet. We would sometimes chant together for several hours, and I would dream about a future in which we’d all be happy and successful. So winning the Grammy for album of the year for River: The Joni Letters with Herbie and Wayne was very sweet.
What advice would you give to young people making their way up in creative fields today?
Stay true to yourself, work hard, and be reliable. Taking the road less traveled is often harder but well worth it. And no matter what, never give up.
Why did you leave the United States for Switzerland?
I have always felt connected to Switzerland and very much at home here. It is an especially spiritual place. It’s hard to describe, but the natural environment here embraces me with a loving energy that comes from both outside me and within. Where I live by Lake Zurich is not far from pastures that remind me of Nutbush, which is another reason I’ve always liked Switzerland.
What have you been doing in retirement?
My retirement has given me more time to relax and reflect. It offered an opportunity to pursue something I’d wanted to do for decades: write a book about my spiritual journey. This time in my life has also given me more time to read, to support the interfaith Beyond Music project, and to spend time just being.
In recent years you overcame a stroke and cancer. Did that require a new resilience?
For more than 50 years now, I’ve relied on my spiritual practice to get me through difficult experiences. The most important thing I’ve learned when facing bleak circumstances is to choose hope over despair. Sometimes our problems seem like they will never end. I know that a lot of us are feeling that way now. But as one of my favorite Buddhist sayings goes, “Winter always turns to spring.” My challenges can either make me a better version of myself or break me apart, and I have a choice as to which it will be. It’s so important to remember that you do have a choice, even when it feels as if you don’t. I choose to be hopeful and to honor each experience in my life, negative and positive, as a chance to increase my wisdom, courage, and compassion.
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| Tina Turner |
Have you found happiness?
It’s hard to give a brief answer to that question. In fact, the answer fills my entire book! But, after I began adopting Buddhist principles, I developed a strong sense of purpose. I also gained clear self-awareness of my potential to lift myself out of any problem and turn it into something of value, to transform any destructive negativity into hope-filled creativity and joy.
Is happiness a good or realistic goal for all of us?
Yes, absolutely. Regardless of cultural or religious background, personal beliefs, or any other factor, each one of us can open the path to our personal version of a peaceful and happy life. The advice I share in Happiness Becomes You is meant to help all people tap into their own wellspring of joy. I’m confident everyone can because I did it myself, even after facing seemingly impossible circumstances time and again. I’m not superhuman. I’m just a lady from Nutbush, Tennessee. If I can do it, we all can.
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