What’s Bronze Got to Do With It? Tennessee Honors Tina Turner
Fans of Tina Turner listen to guest speakers at the unveiling of a statue of the late singer on Saturday in Brownsville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)
A 10-foot bronze statue of music legend Tina Turner has been unveiled in Brownsville, Tennessee, honoring the hometown roots of one of the world’s most celebrated entertainers.
The tribute was revealed Saturday during the 10th annual Tina Turner Heritage Days, a festival that celebrates her early years in rural Tennessee before she rose to international fame as a Grammy-winning singer and electrifying stage performer. Brownsville, a city of about 9,000 located an hour east of Memphis, sits near Nutbush—the community where Turner grew up and went to school.
The statue, created by sculptor Fred Ajanogha, captures Turner mid-performance, microphone in hand, with her trademark hair styled like what Ajanogha described as the “mane of a lion.” He said he aimed to reflect her signature stage presence, from her movements to the way she gripped the microphone. The piece, sculpted in clay and cast in bronze, took about a year to complete.
Turner, who died May 24, 2023, at the age of 83 in Switzerland, left behind an unmatched musical legacy. Her career produced iconic hits such as Nutbush City Limits, Proud Mary, Private Dancer, and We Don’t Need Another Hero. She also appeared in films including Tommy and Last Action Hero.
Support for the statue came from about 50 donors, including a $150,000 contribution from Ford Motor Co., which is currently building an electric truck factory in nearby Stanton. The statue now stands near the Tina Turner Museum at the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center, not far from the high school she once attended.
For fans like Karen Cook, who traveled from Georgia with a cousin of Turner’s to witness the unveiling, the monument is a source of pride. “It’s a big deal and a great thing for the community to have Tina Turner in her small town,” Cook said.
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