title: Demi Lovato

text: Lovato launched a podcast series titled "4D with Demi Lovato" on May 19, 2021, with new episodes releasing every Wednesday. Confirmed guests for the podcast include Chelsea Handler, Jane Fonda, Jameela Jamil, Alok Vaid-Menon, and Glennon Doyle. On July 30, 2021, a talk show hosted by Lovato titled "The Demi Lovato Show" was released on Roku's streaming platform. Consisting of ten-minute episodes, it features candid, unfiltered conversations between Lovato and both expert and celebrity guests, exploring topics such as activism, body positivity, gender identity, sex, relationships, social media, and wellness. The show had initially been announced in February 2020 to air on Quibi under the title "Pillow Talk with Demi Lovato" before Quibi sold its contents to Roku.


title: Demi Lovato

text: On September 17, 2021, American rapper G-Eazy released "Breakdown" featuring Lovato as the second single from his album "These Things Happen Too". On September 30, Lovato launched a four-episode series titled "Unidentified with Demi Lovato" on Peacock. The show follows Lovato as she searches for signs of extraterrestrial life with her sister Dallas and friend Matthew Montgomery.


title: Demi Lovato

text: In early 2022, Lovato began teasing her eighth studio album. On May 23, 2022, she confirmed that "Skin of My Teeth" would serve as the lead single, which was ultimately released on June 10. Lovato premiered "Skin of My Teeth" on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" on June 9. On June 6, the title of the album was officially announced as "Holy Fvck", which was released on August 19, 2022, preceded by two other singles: "Substance" and "29". Lovato stated that its sound is reminiscent of her rock-infused first two studio albums "Don't Forget" (2008) and "Here We Go Again" (2009). In support of this album, she embarked on the Holy Fvck Tour, which commenced on August 13, 2022.


title: Demi Lovato

text: Lovato has frequently cited "power vocalists" such as Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Whitney Houston, and Aretha Franklin as major musical and vocal influences. Lovato says, "I had a lot of respect for Whitney Houston, and Christina Aguilera." About her admiration for Clarkson, Lovato says, "I just thought she was a great role model. I feel like she set a really great example and she was extremely talented." Lovato also said that she was "obsessed with Kelly Clarkson" as a child, and she even had an AOL username, "Little Kelly", inspired by the singer.


title: Demi Lovato

text: Her other influences or inspirations include Britney Spears, Rihanna, JoJo, Keri Hilson, Jennifer Lopez, Gladys Knight, Alexz Johnson, Billie Holiday, the Spice Girls, and Billy Gilman. About Gilman she said, "We had the same voice range when I was young. I would practice to his songs all the time." In her teens, Lovato listened to heavy metal music, including bands such as the Devil Wears Prada, Job for a Cowboy, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, and Bring Me the Horizon. She has said that John Mayer's songwriting has in particular been a "huge influence" on hers and that he taught her to write songs by starting with the titles. Following the release of "Unbroken", her musical style shifted towards hip hop and R&B. Upon the release of the song "Without a Fight" by country music singer Brad Paisley featuring Lovato, she cited the country genre as a lifelong strong musical influence of hers, as she "grew up listening to country" and her mother "was a country singer".


title: Demi Lovato

text: Lovato's Neon Lights Tour was "inspired by Beyoncé" and specifically her 2013 self-titled visual album in regard to the visuals shown onscreen. Moreover, Lovato revealed that her sixth studio album, "Tell Me You Love Me", was inspired by Aguilera. Lovato said "I grew up listening to Christina Aguilera. She was one of my idols growing up. She still is. Her voice is incredible, and in "Stripped" you really got to hear that. I think it was her breakout album that really transformed her into the icon that she is today. So that inspired me … she really inspired this album. I was even inspired by the black and white artwork!"


title: Demi Lovato

text: Throughout her career, Lovato has received acclaim from critics for her singing abilities. Regarding her vocals on "Don't Forget", Nick Levine of Digital Spy stated, "she's certainly a stronger singer than the Jonases. In fact, her full-bodied vocal performances are consistently impressive." Becky Brain of "Idolator" remarked that Lovato has a "killer voice and the A-list material to put it to good use". According to Sophie Schillaci of "The Hollywood Reporter", Lovato "has a voice that can silence even the harshest of critics." In his review of Lovato's second studio album "Here We Go Again", Jeff Miers from "The Buffalo News" stated, "Unlike so many of her Disney-fied peers, Lovato can really sing," and he found it "refreshing" that she "doesn't need the help of Auto-Tune ... to mask any lack of natural ability."


title: Demi Lovato

text: Commenting on working with Lovato on her third studio album "Unbroken", Ryan Tedder stated that Lovato "blew me out of the water vocally! I had no idea how good her voice is. She's one of the best singers I've ever worked with. Literally, that good ... I mean, she's a Kelly Clarkson-level vocalist. And Kelly has a set of pipes." He also commented on their work together on the song "Neon Lights" from her fourth studio album, saying that Lovato "has one of the biggest ranges, possibly the highest full voice singer I've ever worked with." Tamsyn Wilce from Alter the Press commented on her vocals on "Demi", stating "it shows just how strong her vocal chords are and the variation of styles that she can completely work to make her own."


title: Demi Lovato

text: In a review of the Neon Lights Tour, Mike Wass from Idolator remarked "you don't need shiny distractions when you can belt out songs like Demi and connect with the crowd on such an emotional level". In a review of the Demi World Tour, Marielle Wakim from "Los Angeles" magazine praised Lovato's vocals, commenting, "For those who haven't bothered to follow Lovato's career, let's get something out of the way: [Lovato] can sing... At 22 years old, her vocal range is astounding." Wakim also described Lovato's vocals as "spectacular".


title: Demi Lovato

text: Lovato was lauded for her performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl LIV in 2020. Patrick Ryan of "USA Today" commended her for delivering a "flawless performance" and described Lovato as "one of the best vocalists in the industry today". He remarked that Lovato "hit all the high notes with ease" and ultimately "even added some of her own riffs" which he says resulted in "a rendition that was uniquely and phenomenally" her own.


title: Demi Lovato

text: On August 20, 2010, her 18th birthday, Lovato purchased a Mediterranean-style house in Los Angeles for her family; however, Lovato decided to live in a "sober house" in Los Angeles after leaving rehab in January 2011. In September 2016, Lovato also purchased a Laurel Canyon home in Los Angeles for $8.3 million, which she sold in June 2020 for $8.25 million. In September 2020, Lovato purchased a Studio City home in Los Angeles for $7 million.


title: Demi Lovato

text: Lovato started training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, a martial art derived from jujutsu, in 2016. She is ranked as a blue belt .


title: Demi Lovato

text: For a few months, Lovato dated singer Trace Cyrus in 2009. Lovato briefly dated her "Camp Rock" co-star Joe Jonas in 2010. Lovato then had an on-again, off-again relationship with actor Wilmer Valderrama; they first began dating in August 2010 when Valderrama was 29 and Lovato was 18. They ended their relationship in June 2016. Her 2022 single "29" was widely believed to be about Valderrama and the significant age gap in their relationship, although Lovato did not directly confirm this. Lovato later dated UFC athlete Guilherme "Bomba" Vasconcelos from January to July 2017. In late 2018, Lovato briefly dated designer Henry Levy until March 2019. She dated model Austin Wilson for a few months until late 2019. On July 23, 2020, Lovato announced her engagement to actor Max Ehrich. The two had begun dating four months prior, but eventually called off the engagement that September. In early August 2022, "People" reported that Lovato was in a "happy and healthy relationship" with a male musician. On August 20, Canadian musician Jutes confirmed the relationship in an Instagram post marking Lovato's 30th birthday.


title: Demi Lovato

text: Lovato describes her sexuality as fluid, and has said she is open to finding love with someone of any gender. In July 2020, she labeled herself queer in a social media statement mourning the death of her "Glee" co-star Naya Rivera. In March 2021, Lovato came out as pansexual and sexually fluid, stating "I've always known I was hella queer, but I have fully embraced it." In the same interview, she called herself "just too queer" to date men at the time. She also expressed feeling proud of belonging to the "alphabet mafia", referring to the LGBT community.


title: Demi Lovato

text: On May 19, 2021, Lovato publicly came out as non-binary and announced the decision to change her gender pronouns to they/them, stating that "this has come after a lot of healing and self-reflective work. I'm still learning and coming into myself; I don't claim to be an expert or a spokesperson. Sharing this with you now opens another level of vulnerability for me." She had previously come out as non-binary to her family and friends towards the end of 2020. Lovato later changed her pronouns to include she/her in April 2022, and described herself the following August as a "fluid person" who had "adopted the pronouns of she/her again" after starting to feel "more feminine". That September, she reiterated that she "still feel[s] very comfortable with they/them".


title: Demi Lovato

text: Lovato had suffered from bulimia nervosa, self-harm, and being bullied before her first stint in rehab at age 18. On November 1, 2010, Lovato withdrew from the Jonas Brothers: Live in Concert tour, entering a treatment facility for "physical and emotional issues". It was reported that she decided to enter treatment after punching backup dancer Alex Welch; her family and management team convinced her that she needed help. Lovato said she took "100 percent, full responsibility" for the incident. On January 28, 2011, she completed in-patient treatment at Timberline Knolls and returned home. Lovato acknowledged that she had bulimia, had cut herself, and had been "self-medicating" with drugs and alcohol "like a lot of teens do to numb their pain". She added that she "basically had a nervous breakdown" and had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder during her treatment. She later commented that she used to use cocaine several times a day and smuggled cocaine onto airplanes. In a 2022 interview on the podcast "Call Her Daddy", Lovato added that she began using opiates at the age of 13 after a car accident and "was already drinking" by that time. She said that this eventually led her to experiment with cocaine at the age of 17.


title: Demi Lovato

text: In April 2011, Lovato became a contributing editor for "Seventeen" magazine, penning an article that described her struggles. In March 2012, MTV aired a documentary, "", about her rehab and recovery. She began work on her fourth studio album the following month. In January 2013, it was reported that Lovato had been living in a sober-living facility in Los Angeles for over a year because she felt it was the best way to avoid returning to her addiction and eating disorder. Lovato celebrated the five-year anniversary of her sobriety on March 15, 2017.


title: Demi Lovato

text: In her 2017 YouTube documentary "Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated", Lovato revealed that her treatment at Timberline Knolls had not been entirely successful, stating that she still struggled with alcoholism and a cocaine addiction in the year following her stint in the treatment center and further admitting that she was in fact under the influence of cocaine while being interviewed about her sobriety for "Demi Lovato: Stay Strong". She stated, "I wasn't working my program. I wasn't ready to get sober. I was sneaking it on planes, sneaking it in bathrooms, sneaking it throughout the night. Nobody knew."


title: Demi Lovato

text: Lovato also stated that her drug and alcohol addiction not only caused her to nearly overdose several times, but later began to impact her ability to perform live and promote her "Unbroken" album, referencing a 2012 performance on "American Idol" where she was severely hungover. After her management team had expressed their intentions to leave her, Lovato agreed to resume treatment and counseling for her addiction, leading to her move to a sober-living facility in Los Angeles with roommates and responsibilities to help her overcome her drug and alcohol problems. Although she had previously stated that she was entirely done with hard drugs such as heroin, Lovato revealed in March 2021 that she was not completely sober; she drank alcohol and smoked marijuana in moderation at that point, a choice that many of her friends openly disagreed with. She decided on moderation as she felt she was setting herself up for failure if she told herself she was never going to drink or smoke again. Lovato said it was because it had been drilled into her that "one drink was equivalent to a crack pipe." This changed the following December when she abandoned her "California sober ways" and declared herself "sober sober".


title: Demi Lovato

text: In 2021, Lovato said she had initially accepted her bipolar diagnosis and shared this in 2011 because it explained her erratic behavior, but later came to believe it was inaccurate: "I was acting out when I was 18 for many reasons, but I know now from multiple different doctors that it was not because I was bipolar. I had to grow the fuck up." Lovato also stated that the diagnosis has been revised to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).


title: Demi Lovato

text: On June 21, 2018, Lovato released the single "Sober" in which she revealed she had relapsed after six years of sobriety. On July 24, 2018, she was rushed to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after emergency services were called to her home due to an opioid overdose. Lovato recalled, "The doctors told me that I had five to 10 minutes, like, if no one had found me, then I wouldn't be here." The singer was reported to be stable and recovering later in the day. She reportedly overdosed on oxycodone laced with fentanyl and was revived with naloxone.


title: Demi Lovato

text: Lovato also had multiple health complications stemming from the overdose, including multiple strokes, a heart attack, and brain damage, the latter of which caused lasting vision problems. She was hospitalized for two weeks and subsequently entered an in-patient rehab facility.


title: Demi Lovato

text: Lovato's drug overdose received widespread media coverage, leading to her becoming the most googled person of 2018, ahead of other figures who had received extensive coverage throughout the year, due largely to the public interest surrounding the overdose. CBS News ranked the overdose the 29th biggest story of 2018.


title: Demi Lovato

text: In December 2018, Lovato took to Twitter to dismiss rumors regarding her overdose and went on to thank fans, writing, "If I feel like the world needs to know something, I will tell them MYSELF. All my fans need to know is I'm working hard on myself, I'm happy and clean and I'm SO grateful for their support." She added that some day she would "tell the world what exactly happened, why it happened and what my life is like today .. but until I'm ready to share that with people please stop prying and making up shit that you know nothing about. I still need space and time to heal."


title: Demi Lovato

text: Lovato addressed the matter during a 2020 appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show", elaborating on how her worsened struggles with bulimia in 2018 contributed to her eventual drug overdose as she relapsed three months prior to the incident due to being extremely unhappy. The singer attributed these struggles to the extreme measures that her then-manager, Phil McIntyre, took to control the food she ingested. Lovato further explained that, along with the controlling nature of her management team, they did not provide her with the help she needed: "People checking what my orders at Starbucks were on my bank statements ... just little things like that ... it led me to being really unhappy and my bulimia got really bad and I asked for help and I didn't receive the help that I needed." Moreover, she recounted that her thought process the night she relapsed after six years of sobriety was as follows, "I'm six years sober and I'm miserable. I'm even more miserable than I was when I was drinking. Why am I sober?" When Lovato confronted her management about these thoughts, the latter responded with, "You're being very selfish, this would ruin things for not just you but for us as well." This made Lovato feel "completely abandoned" due to triggering her underlying abandonment issues with her birth father, and so she "drank ... that night".


title: Demi Lovato

text: In 2021, Lovato said she was raped at age 15 when she was an actor on the Disney Channel, and that the rapist was a co-star whom she had to continue seeing thereafter. The incident contributed to her bulimia and self-harm. She told someone about the incident, but the assaulter "never got in trouble for it. They never got taken out of the movie they were in." Lovato stated she did not acknowledge the act as rape at the time, because sexual activity was not normalized to her and she was part of the Disney crowd who wore purity rings and were waiting until marriage. However, she decided to share her experience because she believed that everyone should "speak their voice if they can and feel comfortable doing so". Lovato also stated she was raped during her 2018 drug overdose, realizing a month after the incident that she was not in a place to consent at that point.


title: Demi Lovato

text: Lovato's work as an LGBT rights activist has been recognized by GLAAD, which awarded her the Vanguard Award in 2016. When the Defense of Marriage Act was appealed in June 2013, Lovato celebrated the occasion on social media. Lovato has previously affirmed her support for the LGBT community: "I believe in gay marriage, I believe in equality. I think there's a lot of hypocrisy with religion. But I just found that you can have your own relationship with God, and I still have a lot of faith." In May 2014, Lovato was named lead performer for NYC Pride Week and Grand Marshal of the LA Pride Parade, where she later filmed the music video for "Really Don't Care". Lovato became the face of Human Rights Campaign's America's for Marriage Equality in 2015. In June 2016, Lovato participated in a video released by the Human Rights Campaign honoring the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting.


title: Demi Lovato

text: Lovato has also raised awareness for health and mental health issues. For her efforts to fight mental health stigma, she were honored with the Artistic Award of Courage by The Jane and Terry Semel Institute. In May 2009, Lovato was named an Honorary Ambassador of Education by the American Partnership For Eosinophilic Disorders. In December 2011, Lovato condemned the Disney Channel for airing episodes of "Shake It Up" and "So Random!" in which characters joked about eating disorders. The network subsequently issued an apology and removed the episodes from their broadcast and video on demand services. In May 2013, she was cited for her dedication to mentoring teens and young adults with mental-health problems at a National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day hosted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in Washington. Lovato has paid treatment costs for mentally-ill patients through the Lovato Treatment Scholarship Program, named for her late father, since 2013. Her speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention focused on raising awareness for mental health. In September 2017, Lovato was named a Global Citizen ambassador for championing the mental health of thousands of children displaced within Iraq and other communities" and helped "fund the expansion of a Save the Children pilot program, Healing and Education through the Arts, to violence-scarred young people living around Kirkuk and Saladin Governorate, Iraq". In April 2020, Lovato joined a mental health campaign in support of Irish charity SpunOut.i.e. to launch The Mental Health Fund which is raising money for mental health support.


title: Demi Lovato

text: Lovato identifies as a feminist. In a 2017 interview with "Dolly" magazine, she explained that "Feminism ... doesn't have to mean burning bras and hating men" but instead "standing up for gender equality and trying to empower our youth. And showing women that you can embrace your sexuality and you deserve to have confidence and you don't need to conform to society's views on what women should be or how you should dress. So, I think it is just about supporting other women and empowering other women." In May 2017, Lovato partnered with Fabletics to create a limited edition activewear collection for the United Nations Foundation's Girl Up campaign to fund programs for "the world's most marginalized adolescent girls".


title: Demi Lovato

text: Lovato is a vocal anti-bullying advocate. In October 2010, she served as spokesperson for the anti-bullying organization PACER and appeared on "America's Next Top Model" to speak out against bullying. Lovato participated in the "A Day Made Better" school advocacy campaign and has supported DonateMyDress.org, Kids Wish Network, Love Our Children USA, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and City of Hope. In April 2012, she became a contributing editor of "Seventeen" magazine, describing her personal struggles to its female teenage readers. In September 2012, Lovato was named the ambassador of "Mean Stinks", a campaign focused on eliminating bullying by girls.


title: Demi Lovato

text: Lovato is politically active, often speaking out against gun violence and racial injustice. In January 2010, she was featured in a public-service announcement for Voto Latino to promote the organization's "Be Counted" campaign ahead of the 2010 United States Census. In June 2016, Lovato signed an open letter from "Billboard" urging gun reform and performed at the March for Our Lives anti-gun violence rally in Washington, D.C. in March 2018. In May 2020, Lovato condemned police brutality and the officers responsible for the murder of George Floyd and the shooting of Breonna Taylor. She shared resources to support the Black Lives Matter movement and black-owned businesses and denounced white privilege.


title: Demi Lovato

text: Throughout her career, Lovato has donated to and partnered with various charities. In 2009, she recorded the theme song "Send It On" with the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, and Selena Gomez for the Disney's Friends for Change program. The song debuted on the "Billboard" Hot 100 at number 20, and its proceeds were directed to environmental charities through the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund. Lovato and Joe Jonas recorded the song "Make a Wave" for the charity in March 2010. In August 2013, she traveled to Kenya for her 21st birthday to participate in a program of the international charity organization Free the Children. She returned to Kenya in January 2017 with We Movement to work with women and children. In March 2017, as a celebration of her five-year anniversary of sobriety, Lovato donated money to Los Angeles-based charities specializing in animal, LGBT and adoption rights. In August 2017, Lovato donated $50000 to Hurricane Harvey relief and started fund with Nick Jonas, DNCE and her then-manager Phil McIntyre. Lovato's second limited edition activewear collection with Fabletics, released in June 2020, pledged up to $125,000 in proceeds to COVID-19 pandemic relief efforts. As spokesperson for the Join the Surge Campaign, DoSomething.Org and Joining the Surge by Clean & Clear, she has encouraged fans to take action in their own communities.


title: Demi Lovato

text: In September 2021, Lovato performed from the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles to raise awareness of the different crises that the world is going through and promoting global unity, as part of the Global Citizen Live organization.


title: Demi Lovato

text: From 2014 to 2016, Lovato was the face of the Skechers footwear brand. She partnered with Shazam on the Demi World Tour in 2014. Lovato launched her skincare line "Devonne by Demi" in December of the same year. In addition, she became the first-ever brand ambassador of the makeup brand N.Y.C. New York Color in 2015. That year, Lovato promoted The Radiant Collection for Tampax for "empowering females of all ages to stay fearless and wear what they want anytime of the month." In June 2016, Lovato partnered with streaming service Tidal to livestream the first date of her Future Now Tour with Nick Jonas. Since 2017, Lovato has released activewear collections with the women's athleisure brand Fabletics to raise money for organizations such as United Nations Foundation's Girl Up campaign and COVID-19 relief efforts. Also in 2017, she performed at a dinner hosted by the jewelry company Bulgari to celebrate the opening of the brand's Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York City.


title: Demi Lovato

text: Lovato became a brand ambassador for the JBL audio company in 2017 and for the mug company Ember in 2018. That year, she starred in CORE Hydration's "Finding Balance" campaign; she had become an initial investor of CORE Hydration after first discovering the brand in 2015. Jaguar, JBL, Lyft, Ferrari, TikTok and Samsung products have been featured in Lovato's music videos. She also appeared in commercials for Skechers, Acuvue, Apple, and Fabletics. In 2019, Dior used Lovato's song "Only Forever" from the album "Tell Me You Love Me" in a series of commercials and social media posts to promote the brand's "Dior Forever" makeup collection; the brand later used Lovato's song "Confident" in March 2021 to promote a new "Dior Forever" foundation in a series of social media campaigns. Since September 2020, Lovato has served as a Mental Health Spokesperson for the online and mobile therapy company Talkspace. In November 2021, Lovato announced the launch of her own vibrator, named Demi Wand, in partnership with Bellesa. The same month, she became Gaia, Inc.'s first celebrity ambassador; this endorsement attracted criticism from fans and the media due to the contents of the platform, which are widely described as promoting conspiracy theories.


title: Demi Lovato

text: Lovato has won an MTV Video Music Award, "Billboard" Women in Music, "Guinness World Record", iHeartRadio Much Music Video Award, and five People's Choice Awards. For her music work, she was nominated for two Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, and a American Music Award. With 14 wins she is the eight-most awarded solo artist at the Teen Choice Awards. In 2013, she was awarded the SAMHSA for mental health advocacy. In 2016, for her activism in the LGBT rights movement, Lovato awarded a GLAAD Vanguard Award at the GLAAD Media Award.


title: Demi Lovato

text: In 2009, Lovato became one of eleven singers in the world whose album debuted at number one on the "Billboard" 200 before turning 18 years old. In 2012, she became the youngest "X Factor" judge in the history of the show. In 2016, she was named to "Forbes" 30 Under 30 list in the music category. "Time" included Lovato on its annual list of the 100 most influential people in 2017. "Billboard" named Lovato one of the most successful artist to debut in the 2010s. With more than 140 million followers, Lovato is the twenty-third most followed person on Instagram, and with more than 53 million followers, she is the tenth most followed women on Twitter.


title: Demi Lovato

text: Lovato has earned almost 30 billion streams worldwide. Seven of Lovato's studio albums have debuted in top-5 of the "Billboard" 200, and four of them have gained more than one billion streams on Spotify. With her song "Sorry Not Sorry" Lovato entered the Billions Club on Spotify. According to Recording Industry Association of America(RIAA), Lovato has achieved 31.5 million certified units based on sales and on-demand streaming. As of June 2021, she has sold 2.7 million albums and 23.8 million song downloads and her songs have registered 5.6 billion on-demand streams in the United States. She has a total of 36 chart entries on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, including 4 top-tens songs.


title: Tina Turner

text: Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before launching a successful career as a solo performer.


title: Tina Turner

text: Turner began her career with Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm in 1957. Under the name Little Ann, she appeared on her first record, "Boxtop", in 1958. In 1960, she debuted as Tina Turner with the hit duet single "A Fool in Love". The duo Ike & Tina Turner became "one of the most formidable live acts in history". They released hits such as "It's Gonna Work Out Fine", "River Deep – Mountain High", "Proud Mary", and "Nutbush City Limits" before disbanding in 1976.


title: Tina Turner

text: In the 1980s, Turner launched "one of the greatest comebacks in music history". Her 1984 multi-platinum album "Private Dancer" contained the hit song "What's Love Got to Do with It", which won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and became her first and only number one song on the "Billboard" Hot 100. At age 44, she was the oldest female solo artist to top the Hot 100. Her chart success continued with "Better Be Good to Me", "Private Dancer", "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)", "Typical Male", "The Best", "I Don't Wanna Fight", and "GoldenEye". During her Break Every Rule World Tour in 1988, she set a then-Guinness World Record for the largest paying audience (180,000) for a solo performer. Turner also acted in the films "Tommy" (1975), "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" (1985), and "Last Action Hero" (1993). In 1993, "What's Love Got to Do with It", a biographical film adapted from her autobiography "I, Tina: My Life Story", was released. In 2009, Turner retired after completing her , which is the 15th highest-grossing tour of the 2000s. In 2018, she became the subject of the jukebox musical "Tina".


title: Tina Turner

text: Having sold over 100 million records worldwide, Turner is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time. She has received 12 Grammy Awards, which include eight competitive awards, three Grammy Hall of Fame awards, and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. She is the first black artist and first female to be on the cover of "Rolling Stone". "Rolling Stone" ranked her among the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. Turner has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the St. Louis Walk of Fame. She has twice been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with Ike Turner in 1991 and as a solo artist in 2021. She is also a 2005 recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors and Women of the Year award.


title: Tina Turner

text: Tina Turner was born Anna Mae Bullock on November 26, 1939, in Brownsville, Tennessee, the youngest daughter of Zelma Priscilla (née Currie) and Floyd Richard Bullock. The family lived in the nearby rural unincorporated community of Nutbush, Tennessee, where her father worked as an overseer of the sharecroppers at Poindexter Farm on Highway 180; she later recalled picking cotton with her family at an early age. When she participated in the PBS series "African American Lives 2" with Dr. Henry Louis Gates, he shared her genealogical DNA test estimates, which were predominantly African, approximately 33% European, and only 1% Native American. Previously, she believed she had a significant amount of Native American ancestry.


title: Tina Turner

text: Bullock had two older sisters, Evelyn Juanita Currie and Ruby Alline Bullock, a songwriter. She is also the first cousin once removed of bluesman Eugene Bridges. As young children, the three sisters were separated when their parents relocated to Knoxville, Tennessee, to work at a defense facility during World War II. Bullock went to stay with her strict, religious paternal grandparents, Alex and Roxanna Bullock, who were deacon and deaconess at the Woodlawn Missionary Baptist Church. After the war, the sisters reunited with their parents and moved with them to Knoxville. Two years later, the family returned to Nutbush to live in the Flagg Grove community, where Bullock attended Flagg Grove Elementary School from first through eighth grade.


title: Tina Turner

text: As a young girl, Bullock sang in the church choir at Nutbush's Spring Hill Baptist Church. When she was 11, her mother Zelma ran off without warning, seeking freedom from her abusive relationship with Floyd by relocating to St. Louis in 1950. Two years after her mother left the family, her father married another woman and moved to Detroit in 1952. Bullock and her sisters were sent to live with their maternal grandmother, Georgeanna Currie in Brownsville, Tennessee. She stated in her autobiography "I, Tina" that her parents had not loved her and she wasn't wanted. Zelma had planned to leave Floyd but stayed once she became pregnant. "She was a very young woman who didn't want another kid," Turner recalled.


title: Tina Turner

text: As a teenager, Bullock worked as a domestic worker for the Henderson family. She was at the Henderson house when she was notified that her half-sister Evelyn had died in a car crash alongside her cousins Margaret and Vela Evans. A self-professed tomboy, Bullock joined both the cheerleading squad and the female basketball team at Carver High School in Brownsville, and "socialized every chance she got". When Bullock was 16, her grandmother died, so she went to live with her mother in St. Louis. She graduated from Sumner High School in 1958. After her graduation, Bullock worked as a nurse's aide at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.


title: Tina Turner

text: Bullock and her sister began to frequent nightclubs in St. Louis and East St. Louis. She first saw Ike Turner perform with his band the Kings of Rhythm at the Manhattan Club in East St. Louis. Bullock was impressed by his talent, recalling that she "almost went into a trance" watching him play. She asked Turner to let her sing in his band despite the fact that few women had ever sung with him. Turner said he'd call her but never did. One night in 1957, she got hold of the microphone from Kings of Rhythm drummer Eugene Washington during an intermission and she sang the B.B. King blues ballad, "You Know I Love You". Upon hearing her sing, Turner asked her if she knew more songs. She sang the rest of the night and became a featured vocalist with his band. During this period, he taught her the finer points of vocal control and performance. Bullock's first recording was in 1958 under the name Little Ann on the single "Boxtop". She is credited as a vocalist on the record alongside Ike and fellow Kings of Rhythm singer Carlson Oliver.


title: Tina Turner

text: In 1960, Turner wrote "A Fool in Love" for singer Art Lassiter. Bullock was to sing background with Lassiter's backing vocalists, the Artettes. Lassiter failed to show up for the recording session at Technisonic Studios. Since Turner already paid for the studio time, Bullock suggested to sing lead. He decided to use her to record a demo with the intention of erasing her vocals and adding Lassiter's at a later date. Local St. Louis disc jockey Dave Dixon convinced Turner to send the tape to Juggy Murray, president of R&B label Sue Records. Upon hearing the song, Murray was impressed with Bullock's vocals, later stating that "Tina sounded like screaming dirt. It was a funky sound." Murray bought the track and paid Turner a $25,000 advance for the recording and publishing rights. Murray also convinced Turner to make Bullock "the star of the show". Turner responded by renaming her "Tina" because it rhymed with Sheena; however, family and friends still called her Ann. He was inspired by Sheena, Queen of the Jungle and Nyoka the Jungle Girl to create her stage persona. Turner added his last name and trademarked the name as a form of protection, so that if Bullock left him like his previous singers had, he could replace her with another "Tina Turner".


title: Tina Turner

text: Bullock was introduced to the public as Tina Turner with the single "A Fool in Love" in July 1960. It reached No. 2 on the Hot R&B Sides chart and No. 27 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. Journalist Kurt Loder described the track as "the blackest record to ever creep into the white pop charts since Ray Charles's gospel-styled 'What'd I Say' that previous summer". Another single from the duo, "It's Gonna Work Out Fine", reached No. 14 on the Hot 100 and No. 2 on the R&B chart in 1961, earning them a Grammy nomination for Best Rock and Roll Performance. Singles released between 1960 and 1962 included the R&B hits "I Idolize You", "Poor Fool", and "Tra La La La La".


title: Tina Turner

text: After the release of "A Fool in Love", Ike created the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, which included the Kings of Rhythm and a girl group, the Ikettes, as backing vocalists and dancers. He remained in the background as the bandleader. Ike put the entire revue through a rigorous touring schedule across the United States, performing 90 days straight in venues around the country. During the days of the Chitlin' Circuit, the Ike & Tina Turner Revue built a reputation as "one of the most hottest, most durable, and potentially most explosive of all R&B ensembles", rivaling the James Brown Revue in terms of musical spectacle. Due to their profitable performances, they were able to perform in front of desegregated audiences in southern clubs and hotels.


title: Tina Turner

text: Between 1963 and 1965, the band toured constantly and produced moderately successful R&B singles. Turner's first credited single as a solo artist, "Too Many Ties That Bind"/"We Need an Understanding", was released from Ike's label Sonja Records in 1964. Another single by the duo, "You Can't Miss Nothing That You Never Had", reached No. 29 on the "Billboard" R&B chart. After their tenure at Sue Records, the duo signed with more than ten labels during the remainder of the decade, including Kent, Cenco, Tangerine, Pompeii, A&M, and Minit. In 1964, they signed with Loma Records, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Records which was run by Bob Krasnow. Krasnow became their manager shortly after they left Sue Records. On the Warner Bros. label they achieved their first charting album with "Live! The Ike & Tina Turner Show", peaking at No. 8 on the "Billboard" Hot R&B LPs chart in February 1965. Their singles "Tell Her I'm Not Home" released on Loma and "Good Bye, So Long" released on Modern Records were top 40 R&B hits in 1965.


title: Tina Turner

text: Turner's profile was raised after several solo appearances on shows such as "American Bandstand" and "Shindig!", while the entire revue appeared on "Hollywood A Go-Go". In 1965, music producer Phil Spector attended an Ike & Tina Turner's show at a club on the Sunset Strip, and he invited them to appear in the concert film "The Big T.N.T. Show".


title: Tina Turner

text: Impressed by the duo's performance on "The Big T.N.T. Show", Phil Spector was eager to produce Turner. Working out a deal with Ike & Tina Turner's manager Bob Krasnow, who was also head of Loma, Spector offered $20,000 for creative control over the sessions to produce Turner and have them released from their contract with Loma. They signed to Spector's Philles label in April 1966 after Turner had already recorded with him. Their first single on his label, "River Deep – Mountain High", was released in May 1966. Spector considered that record, with Turner's maximum energy over the "Wall of Sound", to be his best work. It was successful overseas, reaching No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 1 on Los 40 Principales in Spain, but it failed to go any higher than No. 88 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. The impact of the record gave Ike & Tina Turner an opening spot on the Rolling Stones UK tour in the fall of 1966. In November 1967, Turner became the first female artist and the first black artist to appear on the cover of "Rolling Stone" magazine.


title: Tina Turner

text: The duo signed with Blue Thumb Records in 1968, releasing the album "Outta Season" in 1969. The album produced their charted cover of Otis Redding's "I've Been Loving You Too Long". Later that year they released "The Hunter". The title track, Albert King's "The Hunter" earned Turner a Grammy nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. The success of the albums led to the revue headlining in Las Vegas where their shows were attended by a variety of celebrities including David Bowie, Sly Stone, Janis Joplin, Cher, James Brown, Ray Charles, Elton John, and Elvis Presley.


title: Tina Turner

text: In the fall of 1969, Ike & Tina Turner's profile in their home country was raised after opening for the Rolling Stones on their US tour. They gained more exposure from performances on "The Ed Sullivan Show", "Playboy After Dark", and "The Andy Williams Show". The duo released two albums in 1970, "Come Together" and "Workin' Together". Their cover of "I Want to Take You Higher" peaked at No. 34 on the Hot 100 whereas the original by Sly and the Family Stone peaked four numbers below that position. The "Come Together" and "Workin' Together" albums marked a turning point in their careers in which they switched from their usual R&B repertoire to incorporate more rock tunes such as "Come Together", "Honky Tonk Woman" and "Get Back".


title: Tina Turner

text: In early 1971, their cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary" became their biggest hit. The single reached No. 4 on the Hot 100 and sold more than a million copies, winning them a Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group. In July 1971, their live album, "What You Hear Is What You Get," was released"." It was recorded at Carnegie Hall and became their first certified Gold album. Later that year they had a top 40 R&B hit with "Ooh Poo Pah Doo". Their next three singles to chart, "I'm Yours (Use Me Anyway You Wanna)", "Up in Heah" and "Early One Morning" all peaked at No. 47 on the R&B chart.


title: Tina Turner

text: In 1972, they opened Bolic Sound recording studio near their home in Inglewood. After Liberty was absorbed into United Artists Records, they were assigned to that label. Around this time, Turner began writing more songs. She wrote nine out of the ten tracks on their 1972 album "Feel Good". Their 1973 hit single "Nutbush City Limits" (No. 22 Pop, No. 11 R&B), penned by Turner, reached No. 1 in Austria, No. 4 in the UK and the top 5 in several other countries. It was certified Silver by the BPI for selling a quarter of a million in the UK. As a result of their success, they received the Golden European Record Award, the first ever given, for selling more than one million records of "Nutbush City Limits" in Europe. Follow up hits include "Sweet Rhode Island Red" and "Sexy Ida" in 1974.


title: Tina Turner

text: In 1974, the duo released the Grammy-nominated album "The Gospel According to Ike & Tina", which was nominated for Best Soul Gospel Performance. Ike also received a solo nomination for his single "Father Alone" from the album. Turner's first solo album, "Tina Turns the Country On!", earned her a nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female. That year, Turner filmed the rock opera "Tommy" in London. She played the Acid Queen, a drug-addicted prostitute; her performance was critically acclaimed. Shortly after filming wrapped, Turner appeared on Ann-Margret's TV special. Following the release of "Tommy" in 1975, another solo album by Turner was released titled "Acid Queen". The album reached No. 39 on the "Billboard" R&B chart. It produced charting singles "Baby, Get It On" and a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love".


title: Tina Turner

text: By the mid-1970s, Ike was heavily addicted to cocaine, which hindered his relationship with Turner. In 1976, they headlined at the Waldorf Astoria New York and signed a television deal with CBS-TV. Ike made plans to leave United Artists Records for a five-year deal with Cream Records for $150,000 per year; the deal was to be signed on July 5. On July 1, the Turners flew from Los Angeles to Dallas, where the revue had a gig at the Dallas Statler Hilton. They got into a physical altercation en route to the hotel. Shortly after arriving at the hotel, Turner fled from Ike and later hid at a friend's house. She filed for divorce on July 27, and it was finalized on March 29, 1978. After their separation, United Artists released two more studio albums credited to the duo: "Delilah's Power" (1977) and "Airwaves" (1978).


title: Tina Turner

text: In 1976 and 1977, Turner earned income by appearing on TV shows such as "The Hollywood Squares", "Donny & Marie", "The Sonny & Cher Show" and "The Brady Bunch Hour". As lawsuits were mounting for cancelled Ike & Tina Turner gigs, Turner resumed touring to pay off her debts with finances given to her by United Artists executive Mike Stewart. In 1977, Turner re-emerged with a sexier image and costumes created by Bob Mackie. She headlined a series of cabaret shows at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and took her act to smaller venues in the United States. Later that year, she embarked on her first solo concert tour in Australia.


title: Tina Turner

text: In 1978, Turner released her third solo album, "Rough", on United Artists with distribution in North America and Europe on EMI. That album, along with its 1979 follow-up, "Love Explosion", which included a brief diversion to disco music, failed to chart, so United Artists Records and Turner parted ways. Without the premise of a hit record, she continued performing and headlined her second tour.


title: Tina Turner

text: In 1979, Australian manager Roger Davies agreed to manage Turner after seeing her perform at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. In early 1979, Turner worked in Italy as a regular performer on the Rete 1 TV series "", hosted by Pippo Baudo and Heather Parisi. Later that year, she embarked on a controversial five-week tour of South Africa during the apartheid regime. She later regretted the decision, stating that she was "naive about the politics in South Africa" at the time.


title: Tina Turner

text: In October 1981, Rod Stewart attended Turner's show at the Ritz in New York City and invited her to perform "Hot Legs" with him on "Saturday Night Live". In November, Turner opened for the Rolling Stones during their 1981 American Tour. Turner's recording of the Temptations' "Ball of Confusion" for the UK production team BEF became a hit in European dance clubs in 1982. In 1982, Turner appeared on the album "Music of Quality and Distinction Volume 1" by B.E.F., a side project of Heaven 17 singing "Ball of Confusion". She filmed a music video for "Ball of Confusion" that aired on the fledgling music video channel MTV, becoming one of the first black American artists to gain airtime on the channel. Also in 1982, Turner appeared as a special guest on Chuck Berry's television special performed at The Roxy in West Hollywood. The concert was released a year later on home video.


title: Tina Turner

text: Until 1983, Turner was considered a nostalgia act, performing mostly at hotel ballrooms and clubs in the United States. During her second stint at the Ritz, she signed with Capitol Records in 1983. In November 1983, she released her cover of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" which was produced by B.E.F. It reached several European charts, including No. 6 in the UK. In the US, the song peaked at No. 26 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, No. 1 on the Hot Dance Club Songs, and No. 3 Hot Black Singles.


title: Tina Turner

text: Following the single's surprise success, Capitol Records greenlit a studio album. Turner had two weeks to record her "Private Dancer" album, which was released in May 1984. It reached No. 3 on the "Billboard" 200 and No. 2 in the United Kingdom. "Private Dancer" was certified 5× Platinum in the United States, and sold 10 million copies worldwide, becoming her most successful album. Also in May 1984, Capitol issued the album's second single, "What's Love Got to Do with It"; the song had previously been recorded by the pop group Bucks Fizz. Following the album's release, Turner joined Lionel Richie as the opening act on his tour.


title: Tina Turner

text: On September 1, 1984, Turner achieved her first and only No.1 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 with "What's Love Got to Do with It". The follow-up singles "Better Be Good to Me" and "Private Dancer" were both U.S. top 10 hits. Turner culminated her comeback when she won three Grammys at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Award for Record of the Year for "What's Love Got to Do with It". In February 1985, she embarked on her second world tour to support the "Private Dancer" album. Two nights were filmed at Birmingham, England's NEC Arena and later released as a concert on home video. During this time, she also contributed vocals to the USA for Africa benefit song "We Are the World".


title: Tina Turner

text: Turner's success continued when she traveled to Australia to star opposite Mel Gibson in the 1985 post-apocalyptic film "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome". The movie provided her with her first acting role in ten years; she portrayed the glamorous Aunty Entity, the ruler of Bartertown. Upon release, critical response to her performance was generally positive. The film was a global success, grossing more than $36 million in the United States. Turner later received the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress for her role in the film. She recorded two songs for the film, "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)" and "One of the Living"; both became hits with the latter winning her a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. In July 1985, Turner performed at Live Aid alongside Mick Jagger. Their performance shocked observers when Jagger ripped her skirt off. Turner released a duet, "It's Only Love", with Bryan Adams. It was nominated for a Grammy Award, and the music video won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Stage Performance.


title: Tina Turner

text: In 1986, Turner released her sixth solo album, "Break Every Rule", which reached No. 1 in four countries and sold over five million copies worldwide within its first year of release. The album sold more than a million copies in the United States and Germany alone. The album featured the singles "Typical Male", "Two People", "What You Get Is What You See ", and the Grammy-winning "Back Where You Started". Prior to the album's release, Turner published her autobiography "I, Tina", which became a bestseller. That year, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her Break Every Rule World Tour, which began in March 1987 in Munich, Germany, was the third highest-grossing tour by a female artist in North America that year. In January 1988, Turner performed in front of approximately at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, setting a Guinness World Record at the time for the largest paying concert attendance for a solo artist. Turner released the "Tina Live in Europe" album in April 1988, which won a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. After taking time off following the end of the tour, she emerged with the "Foreign Affair" album in 1989. It reached No. 1 in eight countries, including in the UK (5× Platinum), her first number one album there. The album sold over six million copies worldwide and included the international hit single "The Best ".


title: Tina Turner

text: In 1990, Turner embarked on her , which drew in nearly four million spectators—breaking the record for a European tour that was previously set by the Rolling Stones. Turner released her first greatest hits compilation "Simply the Best" in October 1990, which sold seven million copies worldwide. The album is her biggest seller in the UK, where it's certified 8× Platinum with more than two million copies sold.


title: Tina Turner

text: In 1991, Ike & Tina Turner were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Ike was incarcerated and Turner did not attend. Turner stated through her publicist that she was taking a leave of absence following her tour and she felt "emotionally unequipped to return to the U.S. and respond to the night of celebration in the manner she would want." Phil Spector accepted the award on their behalf.


title: Tina Turner

text: In 1993, the semi-autobiographical film "What's Love Got to Do with It" was released. The film starred Angela Bassett as Tina Turner and Laurence Fishburne as Ike Turner; they received Best Actress and Best Actor Oscar nominations for their roles. While she was not heavily involved in the film, Turner contributed to the soundtrack for "What's Love Got to Do with It", re-recording old songs and several new songs. The single "I Don't Wanna Fight" from the soundtrack was a top 10 hit in the U.S. and UK. Turner embarked on her What's Love? Tour in 1993, which visited primarily North America with a few shows in Australasia and Europe.


title: Tina Turner

text: Turner returned to the studio in 1995, releasing "GoldenEye", which was written by Bono and the Edge of U2 for the James Bond film "GoldenEye". Turner released the "Wildest Dreams" album in 1996 accompanied by her "Wildest Dreams Tour". Before celebrating her 60th birthday, Turner released the dance-infused song "When the Heartache Is Over" in September 1999 as the leading single from her tenth and final solo album, "Twenty Four Seven". The success of the single and the following tour helped the album become certified Gold by the RIAA. The Twenty Four Seven Tour was the highest-grossing tour of 2000, grossing over $120 million. At a July 2000 concert in Zürich, Switzerland, Turner announced that she would retire at the end of the tour.


title: Tina Turner

text: In November 2004, Turner released "All the Best," which debuted at No. 2 on the "Billboard" 200 albums chart in 2005, her highest charting album in the United States. The album went platinum in the U.S. three months after its release and reached platinum status in seven other countries, including the UK.


title: Tina Turner

text: In December 2005, Turner was recognized by the Kennedy Center Honors at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. and was elected to join an elite group of entertainers.


title: Tina Turner

text: Turner made a public comeback in February 2008 at the Grammy Awards, where she performed alongside Beyoncé. In addition, she won a Grammy as a featured artist on "". In October 2008, Turner embarked on her first tour in nearly ten years with the . In support of the tour, Turner released a greatest hits compilation. The tour was a huge success and became one of the best-selling tours of all time. In 2009, Turner officially retired from performing.


title: Tina Turner

text: In April 2010, mainly due to an online campaign by fans of Rangers Football Club, Turner's 1989 hit, "The Best", returned to the UK singles chart, peaking at No. 9. This made Turner the first female recording artist in UK chart history to score top 40 hits in six consecutive decades (1960s–2010s). In 2011, Beyond's second album "Children – With Children United in Prayer" followed and charted again in Switzerland. Turner promoted the album by performing on TV shows in Germany and Switzerland. In April 2013, Turner appeared on the cover of the German issue of "Vogue" magazine at the age of 73, becoming the oldest person to be featured on the cover of "Vogue". In February 2014, Parlophone Records released a new compilation titled "Love Songs".


title: Tina Turner

text: Turner announced in December 2016 that she had been working on "Tina", a musical based on her life story, in collaboration with Phyllida Lloyd and Stage Entertainment. The show opened at the Aldwych Theatre in London in April 2018 with Adrienne Warren in the lead role. Warren reprised her role on Broadway in the fall of 2019.


title: Tina Turner

text: Turner received the 2018 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and her second memoir, "My Love Story", was released in October 2018. In 2020, she came out of retirement to collaborate with Norwegian producer Kygo on a remix of "What's Love Got to Do with It". With this release, she became the first artist to have a top 40 hit in seven consecutive decades in the UK.


title: Tina Turner

text: In 2020, Turner released her third book "Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good". She co-wrote the book with American author Taro Gold and Swiss singer Regula Curti. It was chosen by Amazon's editors as a Best Nonfiction book of 2020. In 2021, Turner appeared in the documentary film "Tina" directed by Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin.


title: Tina Turner

text: In October 2021, Turner sold her music rights to BMG Rights Management for $50 million. Later that month, Turner was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist accepting her award via satellite from her home in Zurich, Switzerland.


title: Tina Turner

text: While still in Brownsville, Turner (then called Ann Bullock) fell in love for the first time with Harry Taylor. They met at a high school basketball game. Taylor initially attended a different school, but he relocated to be near her. In 1986, she told "Rolling Stone": "Harry was real popular and had tons of girlfriends, but eventually I got him, and we went steady for a year." Their relationship ended after she discovered that Taylor had married another girl who was expecting his child.


title: Tina Turner

text: After moving to St. Louis, Bullock and her sister Alline became acquainted with Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm. Alline was dating the band's drummer Eugene Washington and Bullock began dating the saxophonist Raymond Hill. After she became pregnant during her senior year of high school, she moved in with Hill, who lived with Ike Turner. She recalled, "I didn't love him as much as I'd loved Harry. But he was good-looking. I thought, 'My baby’s going to be beautiful.'" Their relationship ended after Hill broke his ankle during a wrestling match with Kings of Rhythm singer Carlson Oliver. Hill returned to his hometown of Clarksdale before their son Craig was born in August 1958, leaving Bullock to become a single parent.


title: Tina Turner

text: Turner likened her early relationship with Ike Turner to that of a "brother and sister from another lifetime." They were platonic friends from the time they met in 1957 until 1960. Their affair began while Ike was with his live-in girlfriend Lorraine Taylor. They had sex when she went to sleep with him after another musician threatened to go into her room.


title: Tina Turner

text: After recording "A Fool In Love", Turner told Ike that she didn't want to continue their relationship; he responded by striking her in the head with a wooden shoe stretcher. Turner recalled that this incident was the first time he "instilled fear" in her, but she decided to stay with him because she "really did care about him". After the birth of their son Ronnie in October 1960, they moved to Los Angeles in 1962 and married in Tijuana. In 1963, Ike purchased a house in the View Park area. They brought their son Ronnie, Turner's son Craig, and Ike's two sons with Lorraine (Ike Jr. and Michael) from St. Louis to live with them. She later revealed in "I, Tina" that Ike was abusive and promiscuous throughout their marriage, which led to her suicide attempt in 1968 by overdosing on Valium pills. She said, "It was my relationship with Ike that made me most unhappy. At first, I had really been in love with him. Look what he'd done for me. But he was totally unpredictable." Ike was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder in his old age.


title: Tina Turner

text: Turner abruptly left Ike after they got into a fight on their way to the Dallas Statler Hilton on July 1, 1976. She fled with 36 cents and a Mobil credit card in her pocket. On July 27, Turner filed for divorce on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. Her divorce petition asked for $4,000 a month in alimony, $1,000 a month in child support, and custody of her sons Craig and Ronnie. The divorce was finalized on March 29, 1978. In the final divorce decree, Turner took responsibility for missed concert dates as well as an IRS lien. Turner retained songwriter royalties from songs she had written, but Ike got the publishing royalties for his compositions and hers. She also kept her two Jaguar Cars, furs and jewelry along with her stage name. Turner gave Ike her share of their Bolic Sound recording studio, publishing companies, real estate, and he kept his four cars. Several promoters lost money and sued to recoup their losses. For almost two years, she received food stamps and played small clubs to pay off debts.


title: Tina Turner

text: Ike Turner stated on several occasions that he was never officially married to Turner because he was legally married to another woman at the time of their ceremony. However they had a common-law marriage and still had to go through a formal divorce. He also stated that her birth name was Martha Nell Bullock (not Anna Mae Bullock). She signed her legal name as Martha Nell Turner on multiple contracts.


title: Tina Turner

text: In his autobiography "Takin' Back My Name", Ike Turner stated: "Sure, I've slapped Tina. We had fights and there have been times when I punched her to the ground without thinking. But I never beat her." In a 1999 interview on "The Roseanne Show", Roseanne Barr urged Ike to publicly apologize to Turner. In 2007, Ike told "Jet" that he still loved her and he had written a letter apologizing for "putting her and the kids through that kind of stuff", but he never sent it. After his death on December 12, 2007, Turner issued a brief statement through her spokesperson: "Tina hasn't had any contact with Ike in more than 30 years. No further comment will be made." Turner's sister Alline still considered Ike her brother-in-law and attended his funeral. Phil Spector criticized Tina Turner at the funeral. Turner told "The Sunday Times" in 2018 that "as an old person, I have forgiven him, but I would not work with him. He asked for one more tour with me, and I said, 'No, absolutely not.' Ike wasn't someone you could forgive and allow him back in."


title: Tina Turner

text: In 1986, Turner met German music executive Erwin Bach, who was sent by her European record label (EMI) to greet Turner at Düsseldorf Airport. Bach is over sixteen years her junior; he was born on January 24, 1956, in Cologne, Germany. Initially friends, they began dating later that year. In July 2013, after a 27-year romantic relationship, they married in a civil ceremony on the banks of Lake Zurich in Küsnacht, Switzerland.


title: Tina Turner

text: Turner had two biological sons, one with Raymond Hill and the other with Ike Turner. She also adopted two of Ike Turner's children, raising them as her own.


title: Tina Turner

text: Turner was 18 years of age when she gave birth to her eldest son Craig in 1958. His biological father was Kings of Rhythm saxophonist Raymond Hill, and he was adopted by Ike Turner. He was found dead in July 2018 in an apparent suicide.


title: Tina Turner

text: Turner's youngest son, Ronnie Renelle, was born on October 27, 1960. He played bass guitar in a band called Manufactured Funk with songwriter and musician Patrick Moten, as well as both of his parents bands. Through him, Turner is the mother-in-law of French singer Afida Turner. Ronnie Turner died at his home in Encino, Los Angeles, California, on December 9, 2022, at the age of 62. According to reports, Ronnie had suffered from various health issues over the years, including cancer.


title: Tina Turner

text: During Turner's divorce trial, Ike sent their four sons to live with Turner and gave her money for one month's rent. Ike Turner Jr. worked as a sound engineer at Bolic Sound and briefly for Turner after her divorce, later winning a Grammy Award for producing his father's album "Risin' with the Blues". He toured with former Ikette Randi Love as Sweet Randi Love and the Love Thang Band. Ike Turner Jr. stated that he and his brothers have a distant relationship with their mother (Tina). Turner wrote in her autobiography "I, Tina" that after her divorce she became "a little bit estranged" from all her sons except Craig; however, she told "TV Week" that "she's still there for the boys".


title: Tina Turner

text: Turner has sometimes referred to herself as a "Buddhist–Baptist", alluding to her upbringing in the Baptist church where her father was a deacon and her later conversion to Buddhism as an adult. In a 2016 interview with "Lion's Roar" magazine, she declared, "I consider myself a Buddhist." The February 15, 1979, issue of "Jet" magazine featured Turner with her Buddhist altar on the cover. Turner has credited the "Liturgy of Nichiren Daishonin" and Soka Gakkai International for her introduction to spiritual knowledge.


title: Tina Turner

text: Turner stated in her 1986 autobiography "I, Tina" that she was introduced to Nichiren Buddhism by Ike Turner's friend, Valerie Bishop, who taught her the chant "nam-myōhō-renge-kyō" in 1973. Turner later stated in her 2020 spiritual memoir "Happiness Becomes You" that her son, Ronnie Turner, first suggested she might benefit from chanting. Turner practiced Buddhism with her neighborhood Soka Gakkai International chanting group. After chanting, Turner noticed positive changes in her life which she attributed to her newfound spiritual practice. "I realized that I had within me everyone I needed to change my life for the better," she said. During the hardest times of her life, Turner chanted four hours per day, and although she no longer chants as much she still maintains a daily practice. Turner likened Buddhist chanting to singing: "…"Nam-myoho-renge-kyo" is like a song. In the Soka Gakkai tradition, we are taught how to sing it. It is a sound and a rhythm and it touches a place inside you. That place we try to reach is the subconscious mind. I believe that is the highest place…". Dramatizations of Turner chanting were included both in the 1993 film "What's Love Got to Do with It" and in the 2021 documentary film "Tina".


title: Tina Turner

text: Turner met with the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso in Einsiedeln, Switzerland, on August 2, 2005. She also met with Swiss-Tibetan Buddhist singer Dechen Shak-Dagsay and in 2009 co-created a spiritual music project with Shak-Dagsay and Swiss singer Regula Curti called Beyond.


title: Tina Turner

text: Turner began living at Château Algonquin in Küsnacht on the shore of Lake Zurich in 1994. Turner previously owned property in Cologne, London, and Los Angeles, and a villa on the French Riviera named "Anna Fleur".


title: Tina Turner

text: On January 23, 2013, it was announced that Turner had applied for Swiss citizenship, and that she would relinquish her U.S. citizenship. In April, she undertook a mandatory citizenship test which included advanced knowledge of German (the official language of the canton of Zürich) and of Swiss history. On April 22, 2013, she became a citizen of Switzerland and was issued a Swiss passport. Turner signed the paperwork to relinquish her American citizenship at the U.S. embassy in Bern on October 24, 2013.


title: Tina Turner

text: In January 2022, Turner and her husband purchased a $76 million waterfront estate overlooking Lake Zurich at the eastern border of Stäfa.


title: Tina Turner

text: Turner revealed in her 2018 memoir "My Love Story" that she has suffered life-threatening illnesses. In 2013, three weeks after her wedding to Erwin Bach, she suffered a stroke and had to learn to walk again. In 2016, she was diagnosed with intestinal cancer. Turner opted for homeopathic remedies to treat her high blood pressure that resulted in damage to her kidneys and eventual kidney failure. Her chances of receiving a kidney were low, and she was urged to start dialysis. She considered assisted suicide and signed up to be a member of Exit, but Bach offered to donate a kidney for her transplant. Turner had kidney transplant surgery on April 7, 2017.


title: Tina Turner

text: Often referred to as "The Queen of Rock and Roll", Turner is considered one of the greatest singers of all time. She is noted for her "swagger, sensuality, gravelly vocals and unstoppable energy", along with her career longevity and her famous legs. Journalist Kurt Loder asserted that Turner's voice combined "the emotional force of the great blues singers with a sheer, wallpaper-peeling power that seemed made to order for the age of amplification."


title: Tina Turner

text: Daphne A. Brooks, a scholar of African American studies, wrote for "The Guardian":Turner merged sound and movement at a critical turning point in rock history, navigating and reflecting back the technological innovations of a new pop-music era in the 60s and 70s. She catapulted herself to the forefront of a musical revolution that had long marginalized and overlooked the pioneering contributions of African American women and then remade herself again at an age when most pop musicians were hitting the oldies circuit. Turner's musical character has always been a charged combination of mystery as well as light, melancholy mixed with a ferocious vitality that often flirted with danger.


title: Tina Turner

text: Turner previously held a Guinness World Record for the largest paying audience (180,000 in 1988) for a solo performer.


title: Tina Turner

text: In the UK, Turner is the first artist to have a top 40 hit in seven consecutive decades; she has a total of 35 UK top 40 hits. She has sold over 100 million records worldwide, which include certified RIAA album sales of 10 million.


title: Tina Turner

text: Turner has won a total of 12 Grammy Awards. These awards include eight competitive Grammy Awards; she holds the record with four awards given for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. Three of her recordings, "River Deep – Mountain High" (1999), "Proud Mary" (2003), and "What's Love Got to Do with It" (2012) are in the Grammy Hall of Fame. Turner is the only female artist to win a Grammy in the pop, rock, and R&B fields. Turner received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.


title: Tina Turner

text: Turner received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1986, and a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame in 1991. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a duo with Ike Turner in 1991.


title: Tina Turner

text: In 2005, Turner received the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors. President George W. Bush commented on her "natural skill, the energy, and sensuality", and referred to her legs as "the most famous in show business". Several artists paid tribute to her that night including Melissa Etheridge (performing "River Deep – Mountain High"), Queen Latifah (performing "What's Love Got to Do with It"), Beyoncé (performing "Proud Mary"), and Al Green (performing "Let's Stay Together"). Oprah Winfrey stated, "We don't need another hero. We need more heroines like you, Tina. You make me proud to spell my name w-o-m-a-n".


title: Tina Turner

text: In 2021, Turner was inducted by Angela Bassett into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist. Keith Urban and H.E.R. performed "It’s Only Love", Mickey Guyton performed "What’s Love Got to Do with It", and Christina Aguilera performed "River Deep – Mountain High".


title: Woody Allen

text: Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing material for television in the 1950s, mainly "Your Show of Shows" (1950–1954) working alongside Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Larry Gelbart, and Neil Simon. He also published several books featuring short stories and wrote humor pieces for "The New Yorker". In the early 1960s, he performed as a stand-up comedian in Greenwich Village alongside Lenny Bruce, Elaine May, Mike Nichols, and Joan Rivers. There he developed a monologue style (rather than traditional jokes) and the persona of an insecure, intellectual, fretful nebbish. He released three comedy albums during the mid to late 1960s, earning a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album nomination for his 1964 comedy album entitled simply "Woody Allen". In 2004, Comedy Central ranked Allen fourth on a list of the 100 greatest stand-up comedians, while a UK survey ranked Allen the third-greatest comedian.


title: Woody Allen

text: By the mid-1960s, Allen was writing and directing films, first specializing in slapstick comedies such as "Take the Money and Run" (1969), "Bananas" (1971), "Sleeper" (1973), and "Love and Death" (1975), before moving into dramatic material influenced by European art cinema during the late 1970s with "Interiors" (1978), "Manhattan" (1979), and "Stardust Memories" (1980), and alternating between comedies and dramas to the present. Allen is often identified as part of the New Hollywood wave of filmmakers of the mid-1960s to late 1970s such as Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, and Sidney Lumet. He often stars in his films, typically in the persona he developed as a standup. His film "Annie Hall" (1977), a romantic comedy featuring Allen and his frequent collaborator Diane Keaton, won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Actress for Keaton. Critics have called his work from the 1980s his most developed period with films such as "Zelig" (1983), "Broadway Danny Rose" (1984), "The Purple Rose of Cairo" (1985), "Hannah and Her Sisters" (1986), "Radio Days" (1987), and "Crimes and Misdemeanors" (1989). In the 21st century, many of Allen's films were shot in Europe, including "Match Point" (2005), "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (2008), "Midnight in Paris" (2011), and "To Rome with Love" (2012), returning to America with "Blue Jasmine" (2013), "Cafe Society" (2016), and "A Rainy Day in New York" (2018).


title: Woody Allen

text: In 1979, Allen began a professional and personal relationship with actress Mia Farrow. Over a decade-long period, they collaborated on 13 films and conceived one child, the journalist Ronan Farrow, who was born in 1987. The couple separated after Allen began a relationship in 1991 with Mia's and Andre Previn's adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn. In 1992, Farrow publicly accused Allen of sexually abusing their adopted daughter, the seven-year-old Dylan Farrow. The allegation gained substantial media attention, but Allen was never charged or prosecuted, and he vehemently denied the allegation. Allen married Previn in 1997, and they adopted two children.


title: Woody Allen

text: Allen has received many accolades and honors, including the most nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, with 16. He has won four Academy Awards, one for Best Director, and three for Best Original Screenplay. He also garnered nine British Academy Film Awards. In 1997, Allen was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. In 2014, he received the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement and a Tony Award nomination for Best Book of a Musical for "Bullets over Broadway". In 2015, the Writers Guild of America named his screenplay for "Annie Hall" first on its list of the "101 Funniest Screenplays". In 2011, PBS televised the film biography "" on its series "American Masters".


title: Woody Allen

text: Allen was born Allan Stewart Konigsberg in New York City on November 30, 1935. Though his family lived in Brooklyn, the birth took place at Mount Eden Hospital in the Bronx. He is Jewish. Allen's parents were Nettie ("née" Cherry; 1906–2002), a bookkeeper at her family's delicatessen, and Martin Konigsberg (1900–2001), a jewelry engraver and waiter. His grandparents were immigrants to the U.S. from Austria and the Lithuanian city of Panevėžys. They spoke German, Hebrew and Yiddish. He and his younger sister, film producer Letty, were raised in Brooklyn's Midwood neighborhood. Both their parents were born and raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.


title: Woody Allen

text: Allen's parents did not get along, and he had an estranged relationship with his authoritarian, ill-tempered mother. He spoke German in his early years. He later joked that he was often sent to interfaith summer camps when he was young. While attending Hebrew school for eight years, he went to Public School 99 (now the Isaac Asimov School for Science and Literature) and Midwood High School, graduating in 1953. Unlike his comic persona, he was more interested in baseball than school and his strong arm ensured he was picked first for teams. He impressed students with his talent for cards and magic tricks.


title: Woody Allen

text: Allen wrote jokes (or "gags") for agent David O. Alber to make money, and Alber sold them to newspaper columnists. At age 17, he legally changed his name to Heywood Allen and later began to call himself Woody. According to Allen, his first published joke read: "Woody Allen says he ate at a restaurant that had O.P.S. prices—over people's salaries." He was soon earning more than both of his parents combined. After high school, he attended New York University, studying communication and film in 1953, before dropping out after failing the course "Motion Picture Production". He studied film at City College of New York in 1954, but left during the first semester. He taught himself rather than studying in the classroom. He later taught at The New School and studied with writing teacher Lajos Egri.


title: Woody Allen

text: Allen began writing short jokes when he was 15, and the following year began sending them to various Broadway writers to see if they'd be interested in buying any. One of those writers was Abe Burrows, coauthor of "Guys and Dolls", who wrote, "Wow! His stuff was dazzling." Burrows then wrote Allen letters of introduction to Sid Caesar, Phil Silvers, and Peter Lind Hayes, who immediately sent Allen a check for just the jokes Burrows included as samples.


title: Woody Allen

text: As a result of the jokes Allen mailed to various writers, he was invited, then age 19, to join the NBC Writer's Development Program in 1955, followed by a job on "The NBC Comedy Hour" in Los Angeles. He was later hired as a full-time writer for humorist Herb Shriner, initially earning $25 a week. He began writing scripts for "The Ed Sullivan Show", "The Tonight Show", specials for Sid Caesar post-"Caesar's Hour" (1954–1957), and other television shows. By the time he was working for Caesar, he was earning $1,500 a week. He worked alongside Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Larry Gelbart, and Neil Simon. He also worked with Danny Simon, whom Allen credits for helping form his writing style. In 1962 alone, he estimated that he wrote twenty thousand jokes for various comics. Allen also wrote for the "Candid Camera" television show, and appeared in some episodes.


title: Woody Allen

text: He wrote jokes for the Buddy Hackett sitcom "Stanley" and for "The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom," and in 1958 he co-wrote a few Sid Caesar specials with Larry Gelbart. After writing for many of television's leading comedians and comedy shows, Allen was gaining a reputation as a "genius", composer Mary Rodgers said. When given an assignment for a show he would leave and come back the next day with "reams of paper", according to producer Max Liebman. Similarly, after he wrote for Bob Hope, Hope called him "half a genius".


title: Woody Allen

text: His daily writing routine could last as long as 15 hours, and he could focus and write anywhere necessary. Dick Cavett was amazed at Allen's capacity to write: "He can go to a typewriter after breakfast and sit there until the sun sets and his head is pounding, interrupting work only for coffee and a brief walk, and then spend the whole evening working." When Allen wrote for other comedians, they would use eight out of ten of his jokes. When he began performing as a stand-up, he was much more selective, typically using only one out of ten jokes. He estimated that to prepare for a 30-minute show, he spent six months of intensive writing. He enjoyed writing, however, despite the work: "Nothing makes me happier than to tear open a ream of paper. And I can't wait to fill it! I love to do it."


title: Woody Allen

text: Allen started writing short stories and cartoon captions for magazines such as "The New Yorker"; he was inspired by the tradition of "New Yorker" humorists S. J. Perelman, George S. Kaufman, Robert Benchley, and Max Shulman, whose material he modernized. His collections of short pieces includes "Getting Even", "Without Feathers", "Side Effects", and "Mere Anarchy". His early comic fiction was influenced by the zany, pun-ridden humor of S.J. Perelman. In 2010 Allen released audio versions of his books in which he read 73 selections entitled, "The Woody Allen Collection". He was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.


title: Woody Allen

text: From 1960 to 1969 Allen performed as a comedian to supplement his comedy writing. He worked in various places around Greenwich Village, including The Bitter End and Cafe Au Go Go, alongside such contemporaries as Lenny Bruce, the team of Mike Nichols and Elaine May, Joan Rivers, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Dick Cavett, Bill Cosby and Mort Sahl (his personal favorite), as well as such other artists of the day as Bob Dylan and Barbra Streisand. Comedian Milton Berle claims to have suggested to Allen to go into standup comedy and even introduced him at the Village Vanguard. Comedy historian Gerald Nachman writes that Allen, while not the first to do standup, eventually had greater impact than all the others in the 1960s, and redefined standup comedy: "He helped turn it into biting, brutally honest satirical commentary on the cultural and psychological tenor of the times."


title: Woody Allen

text: After Allen was taken under the wing of his new manager, Jack Rollins, who had recently discovered Nichols and May, Rollins suggested he perform his written jokes as a stand-up. Allen was resistant at first, but after seeing Mort Sahl on stage, he felt safer to give it a try: "I'd never had the nerve to talk about it before. Then Mort Sahl came along with a whole new style of humor, opening up vistas for people like me." Allen made his professional stage debut at the Blue Angel nightclub in Manhattan in October 1960, where comedian Shelley Berman introduced him as a young television writer who would perform his own material.


title: Woody Allen

text: His early stand-up shows with his different style of humor were not always well received or understood by his audiences. Unlike other comedians, Allen spoke to his audiences in a gentle and conversational style, often appearing to be searching for words, although he was well rehearsed. He acted "normal", dressed casually, and made no attempt to project a stage "personality". And he did not improvise: "I put very little premium on improvisation," he told Studs Terkel. His jokes were created from life experiences, and typically presented with a dead serious demeanor that made them funnier: "I don't think my family liked me. They put a live teddy bear in my crib."


title: Woody Allen

text: The subjects of his jokes were rarely topical, political or socially relevant. Unlike Bruce and Sahl, he did not discuss current events such as civil rights, women's rights, the Cold War, or Vietnam. And although he was described as a "classic nebbish", he did not tell the standard Jewish jokes of the period. Comedy screenwriter Larry Gelbart compared Allen's style to Elaine May's: "He just styled himself completely after her". Like Nichols and May, he often made fun of intellectuals.


title: Woody Allen

text: Cavett, who was among the minority to quickly appreciate Allen's style, recalls seeing the Blue Angel audience mostly ignore Allen's monologue: "I recognized immediately that there was no young comedian in the country in the same class with him for sheer brilliance of jokes, and I resented the fact that the audience was too dumb to realize what they were getting." It was his subdued stage presence that eventually became one of Allen's strongest traits, Nachman argues: "The utter absence of showbiz veneer and shtick was the best shtick any comedian had ever devised. This uneasy onstage naturalness became a trademark." When the media finally noticed, writers like "The New York Times"s Arthur Gelb described Allen's nebbish quality as "Chaplinesque" and "refreshing".


title: Woody Allen

text: Allen developed an anxious, nervous, and intellectual persona for his stand-up act, a successful move that secured regular gigs for him in nightclubs and on television. He brought innovation to the comedy monologue genre and his stand-up comedy is considered influential. Allen first appeared on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" on November 1, 1963, and over nine years his guest appearances included 17 in the host's chair. He subsequently released three LP albums of live nightclub recordings: the self-titled "Woody Allen" (1964), "Volume 2" (1965), and "The Third Woody Allen Album" (1968), recorded at a fund-raiser for Senator Eugene McCarthy's presidential run.


title: Woody Allen

text: In 1965, Allen filmed a half-hour standup special in England for Granada Television, titled "The Woody Allen Show" in the U.K. and "Woody Allen: Standup Comic" in the U.S. It is the only complete standup show of Allen's on film. The same year, Allen along with Nichols and May, Barbra Streisand, Carol Channing, Harry Belafonte, Julie Andrews, Carol Burnett, and Alfred Hitchcock took part in Lyndon B. Johnson’s inaugural gala in Washington, D.C., on January 18, 1965. First Lady Lady Bird Johnson described Allen and the event in her published diary, "A White House Diary", writing in part, "Woody Allen, that forlorn, undernourished little comedian, stopped shooting a movie in Paris and flew across the Atlantic for about five minutes of jokes".


title: Woody Allen

text: In 1966, Allen wrote an hourlong musical comedy television special for CBS, "Gene Kelly in New York City". It focused on Gene Kelly in a musical tour around Manhattan, dancing along such landmarks as Rockefeller Center, the Plaza Hotel and the Museum of Modern Art, which serve as backdrops for the show's production numbers. Allen appeared in the special alongside Kelly. Guest stars included choreographer Gower Champion, British musical comedy star Tommy Steele, and songstress Damita Jo DeBlanc.


title: Woody Allen

text: In 1967, Allen hosted a TV special for NBC, "Woody Allen Looks at 1967". It featured Liza Minnelli, who acted alongside Allen in some skits; Aretha Franklin, the musical guest; and conservative writer William F. Buckley, the featured guest. In 1969, Allen hosted his first American special for CBS television, "The Woody Allen Special," which included skits with Candice Bergen, a musical performance from the 5th Dimension, and an interview between Allen and Billy Graham.


title: Woody Allen

text: Allen also performed standup comedy on other series, including "The Andy Williams Show" and "The Perry Como Show", where he interacted with other guests and occasionally sang. In 1971, he hosted one of his final "Tonight Shows", with guests Bob Hope and James Coco. Hope praised Allen on the show, calling him "one of the finest young talents in show business and a great delight". "Life" magazine put Allen on the cover of its March 21, 1969, issue.


title: Woody Allen

text: In 1979, Allen paid tribute to one of his comedy idols, Bob Hope, at the Film Society at Lincoln Center, creating a special for the event titled "My Favorite Comedian" that included clips from Hope's films, selected and narrated by Allen. Hope said of the honor, "It's great to have your past spring up in front of your eyes, especially when it's done by Woody Allen, because he's a near genius. Not a whole genius, but a near genius". Dick Cavett served as the host, but Allen was absent, editing "Manhattan". Guests at the event included Diane Keaton, Kurt Vonnegut, and Andy Warhol.


title: Woody Allen

text: In 1966, Allen wrote the play "Don't Drink the Water". The play starred Lou Jacobi, Kay Medford, Anita Gillette and Allen's future movie co-star Tony Roberts. A film adaptation of the play, directed by Howard Morris, was released in 1969, starring Jackie Gleason. Because he was not particularly happy with that version, in 1994 Allen directed and starred in a second version for television, with Michael J. Fox and Mayim Bialik.


title: Woody Allen

text: The next play Allen wrote for Broadway was "Play It Again, Sam", in which he also starred. The play opened on February 12, 1969, and ran for 453 performances. It featured Diane Keaton and Roberts. The play was significant to Keaton's budding career, and she has said she was in "awe" of Allen even before auditioning for her role, which was the first time she met him. In a 2013 interview Keaton said that she "fell in love with him right away", adding, "I wanted to be his girlfriend so I did something about it." After co-starring alongside Allen in the subsequent film version of "Play It Again, Sam", she later co-starred in "Sleeper", "Love and Death", "Annie Hall", "Interiors" and "Manhattan". "He showed me the ropes and I followed his lead. He is the most disciplined person I know. He works very hard," Keaton has said.


title: Woody Allen

text: In 1981, Allen's play "The Floating Light Bulb", starring Danny Aiello and Bea Arthur, premiered on Broadway and ran for 65 performances. While receiving mixed reviews, it gave autobiographical insight into Allen's childhood, specifically his fascination with magic tricks. The play, set in 1945, is a semi-autobiographical tale of a lower-middle-class family in Brooklyn. "New York Times" critic Frank Rich gave the play a mild review, writing, "there are a few laughs, a few well-wrought characters, and, in Act II, a beautifully written scene that leads to a moving final curtain". Rich also compared the play to Tennessee Williams's work.


title: Woody Allen

text: Allen has written several one-act plays off Broadway, including "Riverside Drive", "Old Saybrook" and "A Second Hand Memory", at the Variety Arts Theatre.


title: Woody Allen

text: On March 8, 1995, Allen's one-act play "Central Park West" opened off-Broadway as a part of a larger piece titled "Death Defying Acts", with two other one-act plays, one by David Mamet, and one by Elaine May. Critics described Allen's contribution as "the longest and most substantial of the evening".


title: Woody Allen

text: On October 20, 2011, Allen's one-act play "Honeymoon Motel" opened on Broadway as part of a larger piece titled "Relatively Speaking", with two other one-act plays, one by Ethan Coen and one by Elaine May.


title: Woody Allen

text: On March 11, 2014, Allen's musical "Bullets over Broadway" opened on Broadway at the St. James Theatre. It was directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman and starred Zach Braff, Nick Cordero, and Betsy Wolfe. The production received mixed reviews, with "The Hollywood Reporter" writing, "this frothy show does provide dazzling art direction and performances, as well as effervescent ensemble numbers." Allen received a Tony Award nomination for Best Book of a Musical. The show received six Tony nominations.


title: Woody Allen

text: Allen's first movie was the Charles K. Feldman production "What's New Pussycat?" (1965), for which he wrote the screenplay. He was disappointed with the final product, which inspired him to direct every film he wrote thereafter except "Play It Again, Sam". Allen's first directorial effort was "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" (1966, co-written with Mickey Rose), in which an existing Japanese spy movie—"" (1965), "International Secret Police: Key of Keys"—was redubbed in English by Allen and friends with fresh new, comic dialogue. In 1967, Allen played Jimmy Bond in the James Bond spoof "Casino Royale".


title: Woody Allen

text: In 1969, Allen directed, starred in, and co-wrote (with Mickey Rose) "Take the Money and Run", which he considers his true film directorial debut. The film received positive reviews; critic Vincent Canby of "The New York Times" wrote, "Allen has made a movie that is, in effect, a feature-length, two-reel comedy—something very special and eccentric and funny." Allen later signed a deal with United Artists to produce several films.


title: Woody Allen

text: During the 1970s, Allen directed films that were later known as his "early, funny" work. These include "Bananas" (1971, co-written with Rose), "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)" (1972), "Sleeper" (1973), and "Love and Death" (1975). "Sleeper" was the first of four screenplays co-written by Allen and Marshall Brickman.


title: Woody Allen

text: In 1972, Allen wrote and starred in the film version of "Play It Again, Sam", directed by Herbert Ross and co-starring Diane Keaton. In 1976, he starred as cashier Howard Prince in "The Front," directed by Martin Ritt. "The Front" was a humorous and poignant account of Hollywood blacklisting during the 1950s; Ritt, screenwriter Walter Bernstein, and three of Allen's cast-mates, Samuel "Zero" Mostel, Herschel Bernardi, and Lloyd Gough, had themselves been blacklisted.


title: Woody Allen

text: Then came two of Allen's most popular films: "Annie Hall" and "Manhattan". "Annie Hall" (1977) won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress in a Leading Role for Diane Keaton, Best Original Screenplay and Best Director for Woody Allen. "Annie Hall" set the standard for modern romantic comedy and ignited a fashion trend with the clothes Keaton wore in the film. In an interview with journalist Katie Couric, Keaton did not deny that Allen wrote the part for her and about her. The film is ranked 35th on the "American Film Institute" "100 Best Movies" and fourth on the AFI list of the "100 Best Comedies."


title: Woody Allen

text: In 1979, Allen directed "Manhattan", a black-and-white romantic comedy often viewed as an homage to New York City. The film features iconic scenes filmed in New York City, including an opening montage of scenes around the city, and Allen and Keaton's silhouette on a bench by the Queensboro Bridge. As in many Allen films, the main protagonists are upper-middle class writers and academics. "Manhattan" focuses on the complicated relationship between middle-aged Isaac Davis (Allen) and 17-year-old Tracy (Mariel Hemingway), and co-stars Diane Keaton and Meryl Streep. It was a box office and critical hit, and received two Academy Award nominations, for Hemingway for Best Supporting Actress and for Allen's screenplay.


title: Woody Allen

text: Keaton, who has made eight movies with Allen, has said, "He just has a mind like nobody else. He's bold. He's got a lot of strength, a lot of courage in terms of his work. And that is what it takes to do something really unique. Along with a genius imagination."


title: Woody Allen

text: Allen's films in the 1980s, even the comedies, became somber with philosophical undertones, influenced by European directors, especially Ingmar Bergman and Federico Fellini. "Stardust Memories" was based on "8½", which it parodies, and "Wild Strawberries". "A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy" was adapted from "Smiles of a Summer Night". In "Hannah and Her Sisters", part of the film's structure and background is borrowed from "Fanny and Alexander". Fellini's "Amarcord" inspired "Radio Days". "September" resembles Bergman's "Autumn Sonata". "Another Woman" and "Crimes and Misdemeanors" have elements reminiscent of "Wild Strawberries."


title: Woody Allen

text: "Stardust Memories" (1980) features Sandy Bates, a successful filmmaker played by Allen, who expresses resentment and scorn for his fans. Overcome by the recent death of a friend from illness, Bates says, "I don't want to make funny movies anymore" and a running gag has various people (including visiting space aliens) telling him that they appreciate his films, "especially the early, funny ones." Allen considers this one of his best films.


title: Woody Allen

text: "A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy" (1982) was the first movie Allen made starring Mia Farrow, who stepped into Diane Keaton's role when Keaton was shooting "Reds". He next directed "Zelig", in which he starred as a man who has the ability to transform his appearance to that of the people surrounding him.


title: Woody Allen

text: Allen has combined tragic and comic elements in such films as "Hannah and Her Sisters" (1986) and "Crimes and Misdemeanors" (1989), in which he tells two stories that connect at the end. He also made three films about show business: "Broadway Danny Rose", in which he plays a down-on-his-luck New York show business agent, "The Purple Rose of Cairo", set during the Great Depression, in which a movie character comes to life to romance an unhappy housewife, and "Radio Days", a film about his childhood in Brooklyn and the importance of the radio. The film co-starred Farrow in a part Allen wrote specifically for her. "The Purple Rose of Cairo" was named by "Time" as one of the 100 best films of all time. Allen called it one of his three best films with "Stardust Memories" and "Match Point". By "best" he said he meant they came closest to his vision. In 1989, Allen and directors Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese made "New York Stories", an anthology film about New Yorkers. Allen's short, "Oedipus Wrecks", is about a neurotic lawyer and his critical mother. Film critic Vincent Canby of "The New York Times" praised the segment as a "priceless contribution" to the film.


title: Woody Allen

text: Allen's 1991 film "Shadows and Fog" is a black-and-white homage to the German expressionists and features the music of Kurt Weill. Allen then made his critically acclaimed comedy-drama "Husbands and Wives" (1992), which received two Oscar nominations: Best Supporting Actress for Judy Davis and Best Original Screenplay for Allen. "Manhattan Murder Mystery" (1993) combined suspense with dark comedy and marked the return of Diane Keaton, Alan Alda and Anjelica Huston.