麻豆影视

Skip to main content

At Tennessee museum, fans remember Tina Turner's talent, strength, influence

Share
BROWNSVILLE, Tenn. -

Standing in a Tennessee museum, near exhibits of shimmering dresses worn by Tina Turner, Lisa Lyons wiped tears from her cheeks as she remembered the impact the singer and actor had on her life.

Lyons recalled watching Turner's performance in the film "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" as Auntie Entity, the tyrannical leader of a post-apocalyptic civilization.

"She was fierce, and she was strong, and she was powerful, and that has stayed with me," said Lyons, who, like Turner, is Black. "As a little girl of colour who didn't have that type of role model in real life, it has stuck with me all these years."

Turner, 83, died Wednesday, after a long illness in her home in Kusnacht near Zurich, according to her manager. Her Grammy-winning singing career includes the hit songs "Nutbush City Limits," "Proud Mary," "What's Love Got To Do With It" and "We Don't Need Another Hero," from "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome." Her film credits also include "Tommy" and "Last Action Hero."

Lyons, 56, said she heard about Turner's death on Wednesday and drove to the museum in Brownsville, west of Jackson, where Lyons lives.

When it comes to her musical legacy in a region known for its blues, rock and roll, R&B and soul music, Turner was the "cream of the crop," Lyons said.

"She is the standard. She is the goal to aspire for," Lyons said. "She did it and she did it well, and she did it on her own terms."

The museum opened in 2014 inside the renovated Flagg Grove School at the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center in Brownsville, about 50 miles (80 kilometres) northeast of Memphis. Turner attended school in the one-room building as a child growing up in nearby Nutbush, one of the small, rural towns that dot the farms and fields of West Tennessee.

Tina Turner, the unstoppable singer and stage performer who teamed with husband Ike Turner for a dynamic run of hit records and live shows in the 1960s and 鈥70s and triumphed in middle age with the chart-topping 'What's Love Got to Do With It,' has died at 83. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)

The building was on farmland owned by Benjamin Flagg, who saw a need for a school for the area's black children and began building it in 1889. The school is representative of the schoolhouses for African-American children that sprang up in the rural South after the Civil War.

The school closed in the 1960s and was used as a barn before the dilapidated building was moved by tractor-trailer from Nutbush to Brownsville.

The museum contains a setup of the classroom, including the original blackboard and wooden desks used by Turner and her fellow students. It also contains photos of Turner, and the Armani, Versace and Bob Mackie dresses Turner wore on stage during the energetic performances for which she was known.

On Wednesday, Turner fans went to the museum to pay their respects. Some of them had already planned to visit before news of Turner's death broke, while others made a special trip after they found out.

Sherry Raggett and her husband, Tom, had already planned to visit the center as the final stop of a museum tour that took them from their home in the Memphis suburb of Collierville to a few places in Kentucky and Nashville, then back to west Tennessee.

Sherry Raggett called Turner "a wonderful person" and praised her for "her strong influence on women and how they can overcome so many things."

"I grew up listening to her, and she was a fantastic entertainer," Tom Raggett said. "I loved every minute watching her."

The heritage center's director, Sonia Outlaw-Clark, said she met Turner in 2019 in New York during the opening of "Tina: The Tina Turner Musical."

"It was such an honour to be in her presence, but it was also such a feeling of ease," Outlaw-Clark said. "Even though she was an international icon, a superstar, I still felt that she was a hometown girl. It was like meeting a neighbour."

Outlaw-Clark said the center was hoping to honour Turner this weekend during its annual Exit 56 Blues Fest and during another event in September that takes place on the anniversary of the museum's opening.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Why brain aging can vary dramatically between people

Researchers are uncovering deeper insights into how the human brain ages and what factors may be tied to healthier cognitive aging, including exercising, avoiding tobacco, speaking a second language or even playing a musical instrument.

The union representing some 1,200 dockworkers at the Port of Montreal has overwhelmingly rejected a deal with their employers association.

A man who was critically injured in a police-involved shooting in Hamilton late Sunday afternoon has died in hospital, says the province鈥檚 police watchdog.

Local Spotlight

For the second year in a row, the 鈥楪ift-a-Family鈥 campaign is hoping to make the holidays happier for children and families in need throughout Barrie.

Some of the most prolific photographers behind CTV Skywatch Pics of the Day use the medium for fun, therapy, and connection.

A young family from Codroy Valley, N.L., is happy to be on land and resting with their newborn daughter, Miley, after an overwhelming, yet exciting experience at sea.

As Connor Nijsse prepared to remove some old drywall during his garage renovation, he feared the worst.

A group of women in Chester, N.S., has been busy on the weekends making quilts 鈥 not for themselves, but for those in need.

A Vancouver artist whose streetside singing led to a chance encounter with one of the world's biggest musicians is encouraging aspiring performers to try their hand at busking.

Ten-thousand hand-knit poppies were taken from the Sanctuary Arts Centre and displayed on the fence surrounding the Dartmouth Cenotaph on Monday.

A Vancouver man is saying goodbye to his nine-to-five and embarking on a road trip from the Canadian Arctic to Antarctica.