Legendary Tina Turner to Kick Off First Tour In Eight Years

Eight-time Grammy Award winner and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Tina Turner announced plans Thursday to make her long-awaited return to arenas throughout North America beginning October 1st at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. Ms. Turner’s tour will delight fans in 17 cities across the U.S. and Canada before concluding on December 8th at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. The brand new stage show will feature hits spanning Turner’s entire career, with a spectacular production including the singer’s top-notch band, innovative choreography, hi-tech lighting and much more.

“After performing with Beyonce at The Grammy Awards, the response was overwhelming,” commented Tina. “Everywhere I went people were asking me when I was going back on tour. So after a lot of thought and planning, I can answer the only way I know how …. See you in Kansas City where we’ll kick the tour off!”

Tina Turner’s millennium worldwide trek, Twenty Four Seven, which Pollstar rated the most successful tour of 2000, attracted over three million fans to 23 stadiums around the globe over the course of nine months. One Last Time, the tour DVD of that elaborate production, was certified platinum in the U.S. Ms. Turner is the most successful female rock artist of all time with record sales exceeding 180 million.

With sensual, soulful and powerful vocals that have been part of music history for over four decades, the singer’s explosive live set will include everything from early career singles “River Deep Mountain High,” “Proud Mary,” and “Nutbush City Limits” through solo superstar smashes “Let’s Stay Together,” “What’s Love Got to Do With It”, “We Don’t Need Another Hero” and “The Best” as well as ‘90s comeback hits such as “I Don’t Wanna Fight” the theme song to the James Bond film “Goldeneye”.

The set, the production, the songs, and Turner’s unique stage presence will delight her legions of fans that have followed the legendary diva’s extraordinary creative journey, while seducing new admirers and proving that her vocal majesty still continues its reign to this day.

TINA TURNER 2008 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR ITINERARY

October
1 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center
3 Chicago, IL United Center
6 Chicago, IL Allstate Arena
13 Los Angeles, CA STAPLES Center
14 Anaheim, CA Honda Center
19 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion
22 Sacramento, CA ARCO Arena
24 Phoenix, AZ Jobing.com Arena
30 Miami, FL American Airlines Arena

November
2 Fort Lauderdale BankAtlantic Center
5 Orlando, FL Amway Arena
9 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena
13 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre
16 Boston, MA TD Banknorth Garden
23 Washington, DC Verizon Center
26 Newark, NJ Prudential Center

December
3 Uniondale, NY Nassau Coliseum
8 Montreal, QB Bell Centre

Herbie Shocks Music World

Herbie Hancock shocked just about anyone who was watching the Grammy Awards Show when the jazz veteran won the night's big prize for best-album with his "River: The Joni Letters." The album, a collection of Joni Mitchell's music, features various singers, including Norah Jones, Corinne Bailey Ray, and Tina Turner.
Herbie was as surprised as anyone. "It's immeasurable how surprised I am," Hancock said Sunday night after the show. "I didn't even hear my name at first," he continued. "Then I heard the word 'River' and I said, 'Is this true? Is this happening?'"

It was the 11th Grammy for the 67-year-old jazz great. He also won for best contemporary jazz album. But his win was a surprise for most music industry watchers, who saw the best-album category as a duel between Kanye West and Amy Winehouse.

Both performers won more that there fair share though. Kanye West won four Grammy awards and Amy Winehouse won five awards. Recording academy president Neil Portnow said, "I don't think sales have anything to do with what the academy decides in awarding albums or records. It's about excellence in music. "I think it was a very respectable choice."

Country singer Vince Gill, a 19-time winner and fellow nominee for album of the year, said Hancock deserved the award. "I think Herbie Hancock, hands down," he said, "is a better musician than all of us here put together."

Other highlights of the show included Alicia Keys opening the show with a duet with “Old Blue Eyes,” Frank Sinatra. I loved the old school – new school collaboration of Morris Day and the Time and Rhanna. But the show stopper was the duet with Beyonce and Tina Turner, with the 68 year old Tina showing that she could still move.

Herbie Hancock ended his acceptance speech with Senator Barack Obama slogan “Yes We Can”.