The 50th Anniversary Tour was the very last concert tour from Tina Turner, exactly 50 years after Anna Mae Bullock stepped on to an East St. Louis stage for her first professional performance.
After Tina’s performance at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2008, everybody wanted her back on stage, but Tina wasn’t sure. At a Giorgio Armani fashion show in Milan soon after the Grammys, Sophia Loren greeted Tina: „Why aren’t you working? You’ve had enough time off. You owe it to the people, go back to work!“ That was the moment Tina realised it was now or never. Eventually at a special Oprah Winfrey show in Las Vegas, Tina announced that she will embark once again on a world tour later that year.
The setlist included some of Tina's greatest solo hits as well as some classics from Ike & Tina Turner and a Rolling Stones medley. The concerts started with an updated version of the Beatles Get Back and was divided in two segments, with a video intermission showing the most memorable moments of Tina’s career with I Don’t Wanna Fight in the background. As special guests, the Ninjas, a group of four martial artists introduced some songs in a very artistic way.
Opening Night: October 1, 2008 / Kansas City (USA)
Closing Night: May 5, 2009 / Sheffield (UK)
Regions: North America, Europe
Concerts: 90+
Visitors: 1.2 Mio.
The Band: Warren McRae: Bass / Laurie Wisefield: Guitars, Vocals / Euge Groove: Saxophone, Percussion, Keyboards / Jack Bruno: Drums / Joel Campbell: Keyboards, Vocals / Ollie Marland: Musical Director, Keyboards, Vocals / John Miles: Guitar, Vocals / Lisa Fisher: Vocals / Stacy Campbell: Vocals / Djeneba Aduayom: Dancer / Ferly Prado: Dancer / Solange Guenier: Dancer / Clare Turton: Dance Captain / Ninjas: Xin Wuku, Philip Sahagun, Jesse "Justice" Smith, Danny Sre