What's Love Got to Do with It (song)

"What's Love Got to Do with It"
Song
B-side	"Don't Rush the Good Things"

"What's Love Got to Do with It" is the second single (after "Let's Stay Together") released from Tina Turner's fifth solo album Private Dancer. In Europe, it was the third single following Turner's cover of The Beatles' "Help!". "What's Love Got to Do with It" became Turner's most successful single.

Turner had previously released two solo albums while still with her husband and musical partner Ike Turner. She split from him in 1976 and divorced him in 1978. Following the divorce, she released two more solo albums, both of which failed on the charts. However, "What's Love Got to Do with It", from her fifth solo album, reached the top five in both the United States and United Kingdom. The music video was directed by Mark Robinson. The song ranked #309 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". It also ranked #38 on Songs of the Century. It was the 17th best-selling single of 1984 in the UK. The song was originally recorded by UK pop group Bucks Fizz, but unreleased until 2000. In 1993, the song's name was used as the title for What's Love Got to Do With It, a biographical film about Tina Turner's life.

Background

This song was originally written for Sir Cliff Richard, however the song was rejected for someone at CRO (Cliff Richard Organization). Some months before Turner recorded the song, British pop group Bucks Fizz were newly offered it. Member Jay Aston requested to sing lead on the track after hearing the demo, but was told by the producer that it was unsuitable for a female lead vocal. The group went on to record it in February 1984, but sung by male member Bobby G. Aston recalls that the demo was very similar to the eventual Tina Turner version, but their finished version was in a very different style. It was intended for possible inclusion on their next album I Hear Talk but was shelved when Turner released it first. The Bucks Fizz version went unreleased until it was included on a re-issue of their Are You Ready album in 2000. The Original Bucks Fizz went on to include the song in their reunion concert tour in October 2009.

Chart information

Up until the release of "What's Love Got to Do with It", Tina Turner had not had a top ten single since the early 1970s. The single went to #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and remained there for three weeks, becoming Turner's first and only solo number-one hit in America. It peaked at #3 on the UK singles chart. Tina Turner, along with then-husband Ike, first charted in the United States in 1960 with the single "A Fool in Love". "What's Love Got to Do with It" went to number-one in the US on September 1, 1984, 24 years afterward. Another notable fact is that Turner was 45-years-old when the song hit number one, making her the oldest solo female artist to place a number-one single on the US Hot 100. (Grace Slick, who is older than Turner by about one month, hit #1 in 1985 and 1987 with "We Built This City" and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now", respectively, but she was not a solo act on those recordings but instead a member of Starship). In 1999, Cher at age 53 became the oldest solo female to have a US number-one hit when "Believe" hit the top position in America.

Versions and remixes

• Album version – 3:50
• Extended 12" Remix – 5:45

Music video

The video features Turner walking down the street engaging with the public, intercut with scenes where she's singing directly to the viewers. The video was shot in New York City during the summer of 1984. The music video also features Sleepaway Camp 2's Pamela Springsteen as a street dancer.

Awards

The song received three awards at the 1985 Grammy Awards: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Turner's live performance of the song at the Grammy show was released on the 1994 album Grammy's Greatest Moments Volume I.

The music video for the song claimed a prize at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1985 for "Best Female Video".

In popular culture

The song was also used on the 1980s cop show Miami Vice season one episode "Calderone's Return Part II".

Chart performance

Chart (1984)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart	1
Austrian Singles Chart	4
Belgium Singles Chart	23
Canadian Singles Chart	1
Canadian RPM	1
Dutch Singles Chart	15
French Singles Chart	21
French SNEP Chart	14
German Singles Chart	7
Irish Singles Chart	4
Italian Singles Chart	21
New Zealand Singles Chart	3
Norweigen Singles Chart	10
Polish Singles Chart	20
South African Singles Chart	2
Spanish Singles Chart	2
Swedish Singles Chart	4
Swiss Singles Chart	8
UK Singles Chart	3
US Billboard Hot 100	1
US R&B Singles Chart	2
US Adult Contemporary	8
US Cash Box	2
US Dance Club Songs	21

Chart (1996)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart
Billboard Hot 100	32
Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	36
Billboard Hot Rap Singles	5
Billboard Rhythmic Top 40	27 2

Cover versions

• Rapper Warren G and R&B singer Adina Howard released a remake in 1996. It reached #32 on the Billboard Hot 100.

• CKBE-FM David Tyler

• "Weird Al" Yankovic sampled this song as a part of "Hooked on Polkas" in 1985.

• Trombonist Ray Conniff recorded the song for an album in 1985.

• In 2001, Cliff Richard recorded the song for his album Wanted.

• Reggae performer Sylvia Tella recorded a very different working of the song in 2003.

• US singer Tiffany recorded a version for a various artists tribute album in 2004.

• In 2009, American Idol's Season 8 Lil Rounds sang this song for "The Year They Were Born" Week.

• Jaron and the Long Road to Love have performed the song in a few concerts

• The song is featured in the stage musical "Priscilla Queen of the Desert".

• In 2011, it was given a new and updated version by Naima Adedapo in Season 10 of American Idol, also for "The Year They Were Born" Week.