Tina Turner statue unveiled in Tennessee community where she grew up

A 10-foot statue of Tina Turner was unveiled Saturday in Brownsville, Tenn., the rural town where the rock 'n' roll icon grew up before achieving global fame. The ceremony took place in a city park near Nutbush, the neighboring community where Turner attended school as a child and where she formed early ties to the region. The sculpture, which depicts Turner with her signature wild hair and a microphone in hand as if mid-song, was designed to capture the energy of her stage presence. Sculptor Fred Ajanogha said he sought to convey Turner’s on-stage movement, the way she held the microphone with her index finger extended, and her lion-like mane of hair.

Turner died May 24, 2023, at age 83 after a long illness at her home near Zurich. Her career spanned decades and earned multiple Grammys, with hits including Nutbush City Limits, Proud Mary, Private Dancer and We Don’t Need Another Hero from the film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Her film credits also include Tommy and Last Action Hero. Turner rose from collaborations with husband Ike Turner in the 1960s and 1970s to chart-topping solo success in the 1980s with What’s Love Got to Do With It. Her admirers included peers from Mick Jagger to Beyoncé and Mariah Carey, and she was widely known as the Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll.

The unveiling was part of the 10th-annual Tina Turner Heritage Days, a celebration of her life growing up in rural Tennessee before she moved away as a teenager. The statue was sculpted in clay and cast in bronze, and it took about a year to complete. About 50 donors contributed to the project, including Ford Motor Co., which donated $150,000. Ford is building an electric truck factory in nearby Stanton, underscoring the company’s continued regional investments. The statue stands near a museum honoring Turner at the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center in Brownsville. The museum opened in 2014 inside the renovated Flagg Grove School, a one-room building where Turner attended classes in Nutbush. The school closed in the 1960s and was used as a barn before being moved by tractor-trailer from Nutbush to Brownsville.

Officials described the tribute as a way to anchor Turner’s roots in the community that helped launch her extraordinary career. The statue’s proximity to the Delta Heritage Center links her early life to the broader story of the region’s music and cultural history, which attracts visitors and fans from across the country.

Brownsville, with about 9,000 residents, sits roughly an hour east of Memphis. Supporters said the project not only honors Turner’s artistic legacy but also sheds light on Nutbush, a small rural community that played a pivotal role in shaping one of pop music’s most enduring icons. The Tina Turner Heritage Days will continue with exhibits, performances and tours that highlight Turner’s Tennessee years and the people who supported her ascent to fame.