Review: 'Tina' a Wonderful Celebration of a Remarkable Life

The instantly infamous interview that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex gave to the Queen – oops, we meant Oprah Winfrey – is just yet another example of how the tabloid media obsession with "bad news" can ruin lives. It's kind of irrelevant to them if the news is real or fake; it's hard to escape it.�

It is, therefore, a relief to us, and Tina Turner herself, that this glorious new documentary from Academy Award Winners Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin is a true celebration of an extraordinarily talented woman.�Yes, they covered her short and tumultuous life with Ike Turner, but they didn't allow that melodrama to dominate the Queen of Rock 'n' Roll's real story.

The film draws on a wonderful treasure trove of archival footage and comes alive when, at the age of 44 in the 1980s, Turner breaks free with her first solo album, "Private Dancer," which went multi-platinum. Her new fame from this so-called "comeback"�saw her hair cut short and her short dresses getting even shorter.�She may still have had to struggle to get her way in a male-dominated industry, but - now empowered by her musical success - she refused to bow down anymore.�

Even when U.S. radio stations were slow to support her, Turner always could rely on audiences in the� U.K., where she toured often. It was there her new manager introduced Turner to Terry Britten, who had written a new song for the pop group Bucks Fizz. Their version was sugary and upbeat and completely unrecognizable as the raspy interpretation delivered by Turner. It was "What's Love Got To Do With It," and it became her very first Billboard No 1.

Turner had always set her eyes on being a female Mick Jagger. She wanted to take her sexy act and perform in big stadiums, which no female singer had ever done before.�She got her way, and 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.

Now a Swiss resident after marrying her husband Erwin Bach, current-day Turner is interviewed for the film from her estate in Zurich. It's a very long way from where she was born into a family of cotton-picking sharecroppers in Tennesse. The journey from there to here, we learn, was not only extraordinary but included some unimaginable achievements.�

Selling over 100 million records, Turner has received 12�Grammy Awards; she was the first Black artist and first female on Rolling Stone's cover; she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame�in 1991; and in 2005, she received the Kennedy Center Honors.�

What strikes you most of all, however, is Turner's sense of real contentment and happiness. It gives us a sense of joy and gratitude, as she has been part of our lives for so many decades that we consider her like family, only with more talent and energy than we could ever dream of.

Back in 1993, when Turner was at the Venice Film Festival for the premiere of the biopic "What Love Got To Do With It," she couldn't hide her disdain; she claimed the film portrayed her simply as a victim.�This doc, however, is a celebration of her remarkable life, and we think she'll love it as much as we did.

"Tina" is available on HBO starting March 27th.