Tina Turner remembers Sheffield concert that was her last-ever show

Singer Tina Turner has spoken about her 'wonderful' final gig - a concert at Sheffield Arena almost a decade ago - as a new stage production is launched about her life.
Tina Turner at Sheffield Arena in 2009Tina Turner at Sheffield Arena in 2009
Tina Turner at Sheffield Arena in 2009

Tina: The Musical has opened at the Aldwych Theatre in London, and tells the performer's story from her youth in Nutbush, Tennessee, through her tumultuous relationship with Ike Turner, and comeback as a rock 'n' roll star in her 40s.

The show is a 'jukebox musical', fully endorsed by Turner, and treats audiences to a succession of her hits from River Deep, Mountain High to Private Dancer, Steamy Windows and What's Love Got To Do With It. It stars Adrienne Warren, who is tasked with portraying Tina through the years and recreating her forceful vocals.

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Turner herself is now aged 78. Her final tour - a 50th anniversary trek that grossed $130 million - finished with a date at Sheffield Arena on May 5, 2009, after which she went into retirement.

Speaking to Graham Norton on BBC Radio 2 to promote the new musical she recalled the Sheffield concert, saying: "We had the greatest show, it was really wonderful. But the next day, me, my husband Erwin and my cook got on the plane and I took a deep breath and said 'This is it, I'm not going back for anything'."

A comeback appearance at the arena - or any venue, for that matter - is highly unlikely.

"I started singing in my twenties and didn't stop until 70," she told Norton. "That's almost every night on a bus, on a plane, in a car, in a hotel - no life at all except that. I really became tired of singing and dancing. I wanted to be at home and be normal."

But the musical, she added, 'is different, because I'm not doing it.'