What’s Love Got to Do with It: Tina Turner’s Iconic Song and Biopic

Tina Turner called the song that became her biggest hit “terrible” and “awful.” She turned it down, then watched the 1993 biopic that borrowed its title — and couldn’t finish it. That unresolved tension runs through everything that follows.

Film Release Year: 1993 · Director: Brian Gibson · Lead Actress: Angela Bassett · Song Artist: Tina Turner · Based On: Tina Turner’s life

Did Tina Turner approve of the movie What’s Love Got to Do with It?

Turner publicly distanced herself from the 1993 biopic. In a 2018 interview with Oprah Winfrey, she said she watched part of the film but did not finish it, telling Winfrey that she “didn’t realize they would change the details so much.” (The Things) Rather than offering a full endorsement, she pointed audiences toward the Tina: The Tina Turner Musical as a more faithful representation of her story.

Tina Turner’s reaction to the portrayal

Turner did not take legal action against the filmmakers, but her discomfort was well-documented. She acknowledged the film drawn from her autobiography “I, Tina,” but felt the screenplay altered key events in ways that misrepresented her experience.

Accuracy of abuse depiction

The biopic, which starred Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne in Oscar-nominated roles, depicted Turner’s escape from an abusive relationship with Ike Turner. Critics and viewers generally praised this portrayal, but Turner herself felt the film cast her too narrowly as a victim rather than showing her agency in leaving. (The Things)

Turner’s failure to finish watching the biopic spoke louder than any formal statement — she made her position clear on her own terms.

Is What’s Love Got to Do with It worth watching?

For viewers interested in Tina Turner’s life story, the 1993 biopic remains a compelling watch — though its limitations as a factual document should be kept in mind. Angela Bassett’s performance earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, and Laurence Fishburne received the same recognition for his portrayal of Ike Turner. (The Things) The film captures the emotional core of Turner’s journey even when specific details don’t match the historical record.

Critical reception

The biopic received broadly positive reviews upon release, with particular praise for its lead performances. The film landed solidly in the drama-biopic genre, winning credit for its raw depiction of domestic abuse while drawing scrutiny for its creative departures from documented events.

Viewer recommendations

Those seeking a strictly factual account should treat the film as dramatization rather than documentary. Audiences who want a more Turner’s own account of her life may prefer the stage musical, which she publicly endorsed as more accurate. (The Things)

Bassett’s performance delivered an Oscar-nominated turn — but Turner herself said it wasn’t her story.

What song did Tina Turner refuse to sing?

The song Turner initially refused was “What’s Love Got to Do with It” itself — the very track that became her signature hit. She called it “terrible” and “awful” during the recording sessions, describing it as a pop song that didn’t fit her rock-and-roll identity. (Business Insider)

Initial rejection story

The song was written by Graham Lyle and Terry Britten and was first offered to Cliff Richard, who rejected it. It was then offered to the band Bucks Fizz, whose member Jay Aston was told the song was unsuitable for a female lead voice. (Wikipedia) When the demo reached Turner’s manager Roger Davies, he pushed her to give it a chance, arranging a meeting with producer Terry Britten. (Business Insider)

Reason for refusal

The original demo was described as “very white, very pop” — a description Turner herself echoed. (Harper’s Bazaar) Turner resisted what she saw as a generic pop track, but she eventually reworked the song with Britten, adding what she called her “heavy voice” to give it a rock edge. She recorded the Private Dancer album in two weeks after adapting the song. (Harper’s Bazaar)

What this means: the song Turner called awful became the cornerstone of the biggest comeback in 1980s pop — a contradiction that Turner herself later reflected on with visible emotion in the TINA documentary.

Did Mick Jagger like Tina Turner?

Mick Jagger and Tina Turner had a professional relationship that produced one of the most talked-about live performances of the 1980s. At the 1985 Live Aid concert in Philadelphia, Jagger invited Turner to join him on stage for a duet of “State of Shock.” (Business Insider) The chemistry was immediate, and the performance generated enough buzz to inspire a studio recording released the same year.

Live Aid duet details

The Live Aid duet was not part of any planned set. Turner had been in the audience when Jagger called her onstage spontaneously. Their performance was described as energetic and somewhat reckless — a marked contrast to the polished numbers elsewhere on the bill. Turner later recalled the experience as one of the most exhilarating of her comeback period.

Public comments

Jagger has spoken about Turner’s stage presence in general terms, acknowledging her force and charisma. However, no extensive published interview records Jagger making detailed personal comments about Turner beyond her professional abilities.

Their collaboration was a professional highlight for both artists, born from mutual respect on stage rather than deep personal friendship.

Did David Bowie have a fling with Tina Turner?

Reportedly yes, though the details are part of rock-and-roll lore rather than verified fact. Multiple entertainment accounts have suggested that David Bowie attempted to seduce Turner in the early 1980s, with one widely retold anecdote involving Bowie wearing a disguise. (Wikipedia) Turner herself has referenced these stories in various interviews, though no primary confirmation exists.

Reported seduction story

The anecdote typically involves Bowie making advances during a period when Turner was establishing her solo career. Whether the story is entirely accurate or has grown in the retelling is unclear. This is a case where the rumor-list comfortably outpaces the confirmed record.

Relationship context

Turner and Bowie moved in overlapping music industry circles during the early 1980s, and Turner has acknowledged mutual professional admiration. The specific nature of any reported personal encounter remains unverified by primary sources.

These stories add texture to Turner’s life before her comeback, but they should not be treated as established biography.

What the biopic got wrong

Four facts in particular stand out as documented errors in the 1993 film, based on Turner’s own accounts and verified historical records.

The implication: nearly every creative choice that deviated from documented fact either compressed a timeline, created dramatic characters where none existed, or repositioned a real event to serve the film’s narrative arc.

How the song and the biopic are linked

The biopic took its title from the song that Turner once called awful, and that irony was not lost on audiences. (Scalawag Magazine) The film’s final scene depicts Turner performing the song at The Ritz — the venue where she had first performed years earlier — but the specific show depicted was fabricated.

For Turner, the song represented emotional independence. The biopic, despite borrowing that message as its title, took liberties with the very life that inspired it. She addressed this directly in 2018, noting that she had not recognized how much the details would be changed.

“I thought ‘What’s Love’ could be a big song,” Turner’s manager Roger Davies said. “Tina never really liked it.”

— Roger Davies, Turner’s manager (Business Insider)

“It was terrible. It was awful… I was rock and roll. I was not… that was a pop song.”

— Tina Turner (Business Insider)

“I watched a little bit of it, but I didn’t finish it because that was not how things went… Oprah, I didn’t realize they would change the details so much.”

— Tina Turner (The Things)

“Did you know that when I first read the lyrics for ‘What’s love got to do with it’, I rejected the song? Crazy to think about that now.”

— Tina Turner (Harper’s Bazaar)

For anyone deciding whether to stream the 1993 biopic or seek out the musical instead: watch the film for Bassett’s performance, but understand that Turner’s own version of her story lives elsewhere — on stage and in her own words.

Related reading: Die with a Smile by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars · The Great Gatsby Musical

Tina Turner’s own dismissal of her #1 hit as ‘awful’ underscores its complex legacy, detailed in close-up on the iconic track linking it to her rock ‘n’ roll reign.

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