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Fortune
Fortune
Emma Hinchliffe, Kinsey Crowley

Tina Turner proved the power of career reinvention

(Credit: DENIZE alain/Sygma via Getty Images)

Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Target reconsiders some Pride items following right-wing backlash, Hillary Clinton weighs in on the Dianne Feinstein debate, and we remember Tina Turner. Happy Thursday!

- Simply the best. If you're considering any kind of pivot or second act right now, take a moment to reflect on the legacy of Tina Turner. The legendary singer and star, known for her hits like "What's Love Got to Do With It," died at 83 this week, her representative confirmed yesterday.

Tributes to Turner have poured in, a testament to how she inspired generations of performers from Mick Jagger to Beyoncé. But her massive influence reached beyond pop music; Turner epitomized the ways women can evolve and dislodge their lives and careers from fixed trajectories.

Turner escaped an abusive marriage to Ike Turner that began in 1962; he physically abused her throughout their years performing together as the "Ike and Tina Turner Revue." Turner left him in 1976 "with just a Mobil credit card and 36 cents."

American Singer Tina Turner (Photo by DENIZE alain/Sygma via Getty Images)

The direction her career would take from there was far from certain. At first, she struggled. "Her first solo album had flopped and her live shows were mostly confined to the cabaret circuit," the Associated Press wrote in her obituary. But Turner reinvented herself in her 40s. She was crowned the undisputed "Queen of Rock & Roll" and a 1980s pop icon. She won four Grammys in 1984 for her album Private Dancer.

As she became a singular solo star, her former onstage partner was relegated to a footnote in the Tina story. Then, in her later years, Turner sought peace on her own terms living far from the music scene in Switzerland, where she died this week.

Turner's story is a reminder that what seems like an ending is sometimes a new beginning. No matter where you are in life, reinvention is always possible.

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe

The Broadsheet is Fortune's newsletter for and about the world's most powerful women. Today's edition was curated by Kinsey Crowley. Subscribe here.

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