Bronze Statue Honors Tina Turner in her Tennessee Hometown
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Brownsville, Tennessee, has quietly celebrated Tina Turner for years. On Sept. 27, the city unveiled a new tribute cast in bronze: a life-size statue of the Rock ’n’ Roll icon near Carver High School, across from Heritage Park and a short drive from Nutbush, where she grew up.
Designed by Atlanta-based sculptor Fred Ajanogha, the piece captures Turner’s kinetic stage presencew, wild hair, powerful stance, and the sense of motion that defined her performances, Billboard reported.
The unveiling formed the centerpiece of Tina Turner Heritage Days, the city’s annual salute to her early life before she left as a teenager to chase a recording career.
Fans traveled in to witness the moment. Karen Cook, who has family ties to Turner’s relatives, said the event stirred memories of listening to the singer with her mother. “She’s a great artist, I love her music,” Cook said. “It’s a big deal and a great thing for the community to have Tina Turner in her small town.”
Local partners helped bring the project to life. Ford Motor Company contributed $150,000 toward the statue. Marianne Dunavant, Ford’s community relations manager, said the investment aligns with the company’s commitment to elevating local voices and preserving cultural memory.
“We want to preserve history for our youth,” she told WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News. “These statues will still tell that story and remember that Tina Turner came from this community, and we want our young people to know that they can do anything they want and thrive too.”
Turner, who died on May 24, 2023, left an imprint on American music that spans generations. She stamped Nutbush into popular culture with “Nutbush City Limits” and delivered era-defining hits including “Proud Mary,” “Private Dancer,” and “What’s Love Got To Do With It.”
Over a career that inspired everyone from Mick Jagger and Mariah Carey to Beyoncé, she earned the affectionate crown of the Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll.
Her story continues to reach new audiences on stage. “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical,” directed by Phyllida Lloyd and written by Pulitzer Prize-winner Katori Hall with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins, is back on tour after a brief hiatus to recast. The musical premiered on Broadway in 2019 with Adrienne Warren in the title role—performance work that Turner herself praised.
In an essay for Rolling Stone, Turner reflected on the arc of her life and why she ultimately gave the production her blessing: a childhood of big ambitions; a young woman escaping an abusive marriage with little more than her voice; and a midlife reinvention that brought global success and true love. Of Warren, she wrote: “With every note and every move of her hips, Adrienne is pure Tina. She has my admiration and my blessing… now that she’s onstage, I can truly retire.”
The new statue in Brownsville adds another chapter to that legacy, rooted not in stadium lights but in hometown pride, where a community can point to a bronze likeness and tell its children: Tina Turner started here.
