Tina Turner Brought Rock & Roll Back Home To Black Women

Black women like Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Big Mama Thornton, and Betty Davis were the vocal bibles for rock and roll. These Black women, along with others like The Shirelles and Lavern Baker established the foundation of the genre. Their vocal Blackness and swagger was emulated and duplicated by white rockers of the blues revival in 1960s like Mick Jagger who wanted the vocality of Blackness without the presence of Black musicians on stage. Their popularity eclipsed the contributions of Black women in rock. Then came Tina Turner, the original disruptor. A patron saint who returned rock to its original home of auditory Blackness.