A 10-foot statue of Tina Turner has been unveiled in the rural Tennessee community where she grew up, per ABC News.
The statue of the Grammy-winning singer was revealed during a ceremony at Brownsville’s Heritage Park – near Carver High School where Turner attended.
The monument embodies Turner aura with her signature wild hairdo and holding a microphone, as if she was singing on stage.
The sculptor, Fred Ajanogha, said was he was meticulous in design, aiming to capture her flexibility of movement on stage. He wanted to embody how she held the microphone with her index finger extended, and her hair style, which he compared to the “mane of a lion.”
As ABC News reports, the unveiling was part of the annual Tina Turner Heritage Days, a celebration of her life growing up in rural Tennessee, before she moved away as a teenager. The statue was sculpted in clay by Ajanogha in Atlanta and cast in bronze by a West Tennessee foundry, and it took about a year to complete. It is 7 feet and 9 inches tall with a base of 2 feet, making it stand about 10 feet high (3 meters).
Karen Cook said she traveled from Georgia to attend the event with her friend, a cousin of Turner’s, to honor the legendary performer.
“She’s a great artist, I love her music,” said Cook, 59. “My mom listened to her a lot. It’s a big deal and a great thing for the community to have Tina Turner in her small town.”
About 50 donors gave money for the statue, including Ford Motor Co., which donated $150,000. Ford is building an electric truck factory in nearby Stanton.
“We are proud to support this statue in the community where Tina Turner’s journey began. In helping to preserve her legacy, we celebrate all in this region who reach for their dreams,” said Ford Community Relations Director Gabby Bruno.
Turner was most famously known as the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll” during her music career. Born and raised in West Tennessee, she began her music career as the lead singer of the husband-and-wife duo Ike & Tina Turner. When the marriage and duo ended, Turner went on to become one of the best-selling recording artists of all time.
Turner died on May 24, 2023 at age 83 after a long illness in her home in Küsnacht, Switzerland.