"What's Love Got to Do with It" is a song recorded by the American singer

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...

, released in 1984. It was taken from her fifth solo album, ''

Private Dancer ''Private Dancer'' is the fifth solo studio album by Tina Turner. It was released on May 29, 1984, through Capitol Records and was her first album released through the label. After several challenging years of going solo after divorcing Ike T ...

'' (1984), and became Turner's most successful single. Although Turner had already scored a late-1983 Top 30 hit with her rendition of " Let's Stay Together", "What's Love Got to Do with It" gave Turner her first and only ''Billboard'' Hot 100 No. 1 single, selling over 1.5 million copies worldwide. At the time, aged 44, she became the oldest solo female artist to top the Hot 100 chart. It was the second-biggest single of 1984 in the U.S. and the 17th-biggest in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number three. It ranked second on the ''Billboard'' Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1984. The song received three awards at the 1985

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

, Song of the Year, and

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The awar ...

. In 1993, the song's title was used as the title for the biographical film about Turner's life. In 2012, "What's Love Got to Do with It" was inducted into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

, giving Turner her third

Grammy Hall of Fame Award The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

. The song ranked number 309 on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its cov ...

'' magazine's list of "

The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...

" and at 134 in their 2021 update. It also ranked number 38 on the Songs of the Century list. Several musical artists have covered the song and experienced commercial success with their recordings. American rapper

Warren G Warren Griffin III (born November 10, 1970) is an American rapper and producer known for his role in West Coast rap's 1990s ascent.Steve Huey"Warren G: Biography" ''AllMusic.com'', Netaktion LLC, visited May 8, 2020. Along with Snoop Dogg and N ...

released a hip-hop version in 1996, and in July 2020, Norwegian DJ and producer

Kygo Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll (born 11 September 1991), known professionally as Kygo (), is a Norwegian DJ and music producer. He garnered international attention with his December 2013 remix of the track "I See Fire" by Ed Sheeran and his December 201 ...

released a remix of the song.

Background

The song was written by

Terry Britten Terence Ernest Britten (born July 1947) is an English-Australian singer-songwriter and record producer, who has written songs for Tina Turner, Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Status Quo and Michael Jackson amongst many others. Britten (along w ...

and

Graham Lyle Graham Hamilton Lyle (born 11 March 1944, in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, Scotland) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. Between 1970 and 1997, he co-wrote 18 British Top 40 hits, 9 ''Billboard'' Hot 100 entries, 4 US Country No ...

, who originally offered it to Cliff Richard, but it was rejected. It was then given to

Phyllis Hyman Phyllis Linda Hyman (July 6, 1949 – June 30, 1995) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Hyman is best known for her music during the late 1970s through the early 1990s, some of her most notable songs were " You Know How to Love Me" ...

, who wanted to do the song, but Arista Records head

Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to ...

would not allow her. The song then was offered to Donna Summer, who has stated she sat with it for a couple of years but never recorded it. Some months before Turner recorded the song, the British pop group

Bucks Fizz Bucks Fizz were a British pop group that achieved success in the 1980s, most notably for winning the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Making Your Mind Up". The group was formed in January 1981 specifically for the contest and comp ...

were offered it. Member

Jay Aston Jay Hilda Aston (born 4 May 1961 in Purley, Surrey) is a British singer and occasional songwriter. She was a member of the British pop group Bucks Fizz from 1981 to 1985 and now under The Fizz. She was the youngest member of the group's orig ...

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 Bobby G (also known as Bobby Gee) (born Robert Alan Gubby, 23 August 1953) is a member of pop group Bucks Fizz, best known for winning the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest and for achieving three UK number one hits with "Making Your Mind Up" (1981 ...

. Aston recalls 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 her version 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 included the song in their reunion concert tour in October 2009.

Composition

The song is performed in the key of

A minor A minor is a minor scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats and no sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major. The A natural minor scale is: : Changes ...

with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 98 beats per minute in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure ( bar), and which note va ...

. The key transposes to

B minor B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel major is B major. The B natural minor scale is: : Changes needed ...

after the second chorus. Turner's vocals span from E₃ to D₅.

Critical reception

Mark Millan of ''The Daily Vault'' described "What's Love Got to Do with It" as "three minutes and 48 seconds of pop perfection". He noted that it is a "soft synth-driven track countered by Turner's battle weary voice, barely hiding the cynic in her", and stated that the song "reeks of attitude". A reviewer from ''

People Magazine ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People'' had the lar ...

'' noted "the sophisticated pop" of the song, adding that it has "the characteristic flair and energy that have made Tina the envy of every singer this side of Aretha."

Chart performance

Until the release of "What's Love Got to Do with It", Tina Turner had not had a US top-ten single since the early 1970s. The single went to number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and remained there for three weeks, giving Turner her first and only solo number-one hit in the U.S. Turner was 44 when the song hit number one, at the time making her the oldest female solo artist to place a number-one single on the US Hot 100. In 1999,

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female autonomy in a male-dominated industr ...

, at age 53, became the oldest woman – solo or as part of a group – to have a US number-one hit, with her song " Believe". The song also spent five weeks at number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot Black Singles chart, from July 14 to August 18, 1984, "

When Doves Cry "When Doves Cry" is a song by American musician Prince, and the lead single from his sixth studio album '' Purple Rain''. According to the DVD commentary of the film '' Purple Rain'' (1984), Prince was asked by director Albert Magnoli to write a ...

", by

Prince A prince is a Monarch, male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in s ...

, being the reason it never reached its number-one spot. At the end of the year, the song was ranked the second-best-performing song of 1984 on the ''Billboard'' Year-End Hot 100, behind the aforementioned "When Doves Cry". Worldwide, the song did well on the music charts, reaching number one in Australia and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world ...

. It peaked at number three in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country ...

and on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top ...

, becoming her highest-charting single on the latter chart alongside " River Deep – Mountain High" and " We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)". Elsewhere, the song reached the top 10 in many European countries, including the top 5 in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

, and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populou ...

. It also reached number two in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

Versions and remixes

* Album version – 3:48 * Extended remix – 5:43 * Kygo rearrangement (2020) – 3:28

Music video

The accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "What's Love Got to Do with It" features Turner walking down the street in a leather miniskirt, engaging with the public, intercut with scenes where she is singing directly to camera. The video was shot in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

during the spring of 1984. Pamela Springsteen, Bruce Springsteen's sister from '' Sleepaway Camp 2'', makes an appearance as a street dancer along with

Vanessa Bell Calloway Vanessa Bell Calloway ( Bell; born March 20, 1957) is an American actress. Beginning her career as a dancer, Bell Calloway became known for her film roles as Princess Imani Izzi in the 1988 comedy '' Coming to America'', as well as for her roles ...

, who would later portray the fictional character of Jackie (Turner's friend) in the 1993 film '' What's Love Got to Do with It''. The video was directed by Mark Robinson. An alternate black-and-white video directed by Bud Schaetzle features Tina singing the song against a black background while couples argue in a bar.

Awards

The song received three awards at the 1985

, Song of the Year, and

. 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 The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

in 1985 for "

Best Female Video The MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video is one of the original general awards that has been handed out every year since the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. In 2007, however, the award was briefly renamed Female Artist of the Y ...

". In 2012, "What's Love Got to Do with It" was inducted into the

Legacy

The name of the song was used as the title of the 1993 biopic based on Turner's life. The first line of the song's chorus was interpolated in the 2002 song " What's Luv?" by rapper

Fat Joe Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper from New York City. He began his music career as a member of hip hop group Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.), then forged a so ...

and R&B singer Ashanti. In 2018, a cover of the song was released as a non-album single by singer, La'Porsha Renae.

Mickey Guyton Mickey Guyton (; born Candace Mycale Guyton; June 17, 1983) is an American country music artist. Raised in Texas, Guyton was exposed to various types of music at a young age, and her material subsequently incorporates elements of contemporary cou ...

performed the song at the 2021

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music an ...

Induction Ceremony.

Personnel

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of th ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, background vocals * Nick Glennie-Smith – keyboards * Graham Jarvis – Oberheim DX * Billy Livsey –

Yamaha DX7 The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first successful digital synthesizer and is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history, selling more than 200,000 units. In the early 1980 ...

(synth harmonica solo) * Simon Morton – percussion *

Tessa Niles Tessa Margaret Niles ( ''née'' Webb; born 27 January 1961 in Ilford, Essex) is an English singer, best known as a backing singer for a wide variety of contemporary artists. She began her professional singing career in 1979. Early life and ca ...

– background vocals Production *

– producer * John Hudson – engineer & mixing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Warren G version

"What's Love Got to Do with It" was also recorded by American artists

and Adina Howard for the '' Supercop soundtrack''. The song both sampled and interpolated the chorus of

's 1984 song of the same name, though Warren G replaced the original lyrics with his own. "What's Love Got to Do with It" became a hit, making it to 32 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Warren G's third top-forty single, as well as number five on the ''Billboard''

Hot Rap Singles Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stati ...

chart. The single found greater success outside the US, peaking at number one in New Zealand, number two in Australia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, and reaching the top 10 in an additional nine countries.

Critical reception

British magazine ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music Wee ...

'' rated Warren G's cover of "What's Love Got to Do with It" four out of five in their review.

Music video

was produced to promote the single, directed by

Joseph Kahn Joseph Kahn may refer to: *Joseph Kahn (director) (born 1972), a film and music video director * Joseph Kahn (journalist) (born 1964), American journalist * Joseph Kahn (shipping executive) (1916–1979), American businessman See also *Joseph Hahn ...

. It features footage of Warren G and Adina Howard performing the song, with clips from the film '' Police Story 3: Super Cop''.

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

also appears near the end of the video, dancing along with the artists.

Track listing

*A-side # "What's Love Got to Do with It?" (album version) – 4:17 # "What's Love Got to Do with It?" (clean radio version) – 4:17 *B-side # "What's Love Got to Do with It?" (a cappella) – 4:15 # "What's Love Got to Do with It?" (instrumental) – 4:15

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Kygo version

A remix of the song was released as a single by Norwegian DJ and record producer

and

. The song was released on July 17, 2020.

Background

Talking about the song, Kygo said, "'What's Love Got To Do With It?' is one of my all time favourite songs and it feels surreal to get the opportunity to work with such a legendary artist. Can't wait for you all to hear it!" He also said in a statement, "I couldn't be more excited to collaborate with Tina Turner, who is an icon that I grew up listening to. 'What's Love Got To Do With It' is one of my all-time favorite songs so to have a chance to rework it has been a very special moment in my career. I love working around timeless vocals and although it's challenging to preserve elements of the original track and adding my own touch, I'm extremely happy with how it turned out!"

Music video

A music video to accompany the release of "What's Love Got to Do with It" was first released onto

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

on July 16, 2020. The video is directed by Sarah Bahbah and features

Laura Harrier Laura Ruth Harrier (born March 28, 1990) is an American actress and model. She began modeling at the age of 17 after she was discovered by a location scout. She moved to New York City where she continued modeling and was represented by agenci ...

and Charles Michael Davis as star-crossed lovers who, despite looking on paper as having a strong and playful relationship, behind the scenes the couple lacks a deep emotional connection to last. In the end, one of them must walk away.

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal. * Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll – producer, composer, associated performer, lyricist *

– lyricist *

– associated performer, lead vocals * Randy Merrill – mastering engineer * Serban Ghenea – mixing engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1980s ballads 1984 singles 1984 songs 1996 singles 2020 singles Tina Turner songs Adina Howard songs Bucks Fizz songs Kygo songs Warren G songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Capitol Records singles Contemporary R&B ballads Funk ballads Grammy Award for Record of the Year Grammy Award for Song of the Year Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Interscope Records singles MCA Records singles MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video Music videos directed by Joseph Kahn Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Poland Pop ballads RPM Top Singles number-one singles Song recordings produced by Kygo Songs written by Graham Lyle Songs written by Terry Britten Sony Music singles