There will only ever be one Tina Turner. She was ‘simply the best’, her never-ending string of hits shaping and reshaping the music industry as we know it. Her passing in May this year was a great loss to the music industry and the world.
This week the sensational Rebecca O’Connor is heading to Adelaide with her critically acclaimed show, TINA – Simply the Best!, thanks to local promotor Markus Hamence. Rebecca has been touring this show around the world and even has a personal endorsement by Tina Turner herself.
Rebecca spoke to Glam Adelaide about the show and where her love of performing and of Tina came from.
“I grew up in Ireland. I was adopted; my mum and dad are both Irish and I’m half Jamaican and half Irish. I went into Irish dancing from the age of three and ended up becoming eighth in the world at solo Irish dancing. I was always dancing and performing. My dad called me in to watch TV with him one day and there was Tina Turner performing. I was just gobsmacked – by the way she moved, the massive hair, the high heels, the glitz, and her voice. I loved her voice. I started mimicking her around the house. I was able to dance like her because from Irish dancing I was able to walk in high heels, so from a young age I was able to strut because I was always on my tippy toes. It was actually the Irish dancing that got me into Tina!”
It didn’t take Rebecca long to forge a successful career in the performing arts industry.
“I joined my first band at 17, which was the Soul Masters in Cork, as their lead singer. I started bringing Tina Turner songs into Soul Masters shows, and eventually my mum put me into a competition called Stars In Their Eyes. I got second place in Britain, and then I went on to represent Ireland and I won European Stars In Their Eyes in front of 34 million viewers. That’s really when my career kickstarted. I thought, maybe I could just do the Tina on its own. I travelled around Ireland and Europe, singing and having fun and then went over to Australia, and that’s where I caught up with Dennis Dunstan, who is now my manager. He heard me singing on a CD and actually thought it was Tina herself. He got back to me and said that Tina Turner had actually heard my CD and I was so good it was scary. Tina also said that If she had my energy today, she’d still be touring. I’ve been in Australia now for fifteen years touring my Tina show around the world and I love it.”
Tina Turner’s music has stood the test of time and is still as popular today as it was when she first released her mega hits. Rebecca shared her thoughts as to why this is the case
“She’s just so empowering — nothing will break her. Even at her lowest points of life, she survived. You can hear it in all her music. She makes them her own. All her songs are like anthems; they all stick in your head. And there’s no way you could say you don’t like her because she’s so powerful. She’s a masterpiece.”
Rebecca is bringing her smash hit show TINA – Simply the Best! to Adelaide this week.
“We’ve just returned from Europe with massive sellout shows, which was amazing. So we’re all full of energy and we just can’t wait to get in and perform again in Adelaide for four shows. You’re going to just be blown away by the power of the band. I’ve handpicked them all myself, and I’ve been working with them for fifteen years now. It’ll be electric. We’ll be doing all the hits from when she first started, with Shake A Tail Feather, right up to When The Heartache Is Over, River Deep Mountain High, Proud Mary, Simply The Best….the set list is endless. There’ll be plenty of glitz and glam. Lots of heels, big hair, red lips.”
Rebecca O’Connor as TINA – Simply the Best! hits the Regal Theatre for four shows only – Thursday 3 August 2023, 8.00pm, Friday 4 August 2023, 8.00pm, Saturday 5 August 2023, 2.00pm, Saturday 5 August 2023, 8.00pm. Limited tickets remain, with the best seats on Thursday night. Head to https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/964842 for tickets and further information.
Interviewed by Ben Stefanoff
Photo credit: supplied
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