''Break Every Rule'' is the sixth solo studio album by
Tina Turner
Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...
. It was released on September 8, 1986, through
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...
. It was the follow-up to Turner's globally successful comeback album, ''
Private Dancer
''Private Dancer'' is the fifth solo studio album by singer Tina Turner. It was released on May 29, 1984, by Capitol Records and was her first album released by the label. After a challenging start to her solo career after divorcing Ike Turner, ...
'', released two years earlier. The lead single "
Typical Male" peaked at number two for three consecutive weeks in October 1986, while "
Two People" and "
What You Get Is What You See" reached the top 20. "
Back Where You Started" earned Turner her third consecutive
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
for
Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female in 1987. It was Turner's first solo album of original songs.
Composition
The original A-side of the vinyl album was entirely produced by
Graham Lyle and
Terry Britten
Terence Ernest Britten (born 17 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 (band), Status Quo and Michael Jackson amongst many ot ...
, the team behind Turner's 1984 single "
What's Love Got to Do with It", while side B included tracks produced by
Bryan Adams
Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...
,
Bob Clearmountain,
Mark Knopfler
Mark Freuder Knopfler OBE (born 12 August 1949) is a British musician. He was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits from 1977 to 1995, and he is the one of the two members who stayed during the band's existence ...
and
Rupert Hine. Out of the album's eleven tracks, eight were released as singles, either in Europe or the United States or both; "
Typical Male" (U.S. No. 2) featuring
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...
on drums, "
What You Get Is What You See" (U.S. No. 13), "
Two People" (Spain No. 1, U.S. R&B No. 18),
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...
's "
Girls" (Poland No. 11), "
Back Where You Started" (U.S. Rock No. 18) co-written and produced by
Bryan Adams
Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...
, "
Afterglow" (U.S. Dance No. 2) featuring
Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist prominent for his dis ...
on keyboards, "
Break Every Rule" (Poland No. 15) co-written and produced by
Rupert Hine and "
Paradise Is Here" (Ireland No. 24).
Most of the
12-inch single
The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a "single" or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compa ...
s that were released from the album included extended or alternate mixes, live versions and/or non-album tracks, many of which would not see a release on compact disc until the Deluxe Edition box set of ''Break Every Rule'' in 2022. Turner also recorded other tracks during the sessions for the album with
Steve Lillywhite
Stephen Alan Lillywhite (born 15 March 1955) is an English record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited on over 500 records, and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including new wave acts The Alarm ...
and Bryan Adams; "
Don't Turn Around
"Don't Turn Around" is a Popular music, popular song written by Albert Hammond and Diane Warren. It was originally recorded by American singer Tina Turner and released as the A-side and B-side, B-side to her 1986 Hit song, hit single "Typical ...
", produced by Adams, was released as a B-side, but the others remain unreleased.
Following the release of the ''Break Every Rule'' album Turner recorded the duet "
Tearing Us Apart" with
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...
, included on his
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...
-produced 1986 album ''
August
August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days.
In the Southern Hemisphere, August is the seasonal equivalent of February in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Northern Hemisphere, August ...
'' and also issued as a single in early 1987.
Commercial performance
''Break Every Rule'' was a commercial success worldwide. It reached No. 4 on the
''Billboard'' 200, No. 2 on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
and No. 1 in
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
, and also
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
(for 12 weeks). The album sold over 5 million copies worldwide within its first year of release. The RIAA certified ''Break Every Rule'' platinum,
denoting 1 million shipments in the United States. It was also certified 2× platinum in countries including Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Canada.
Tour
Turner undertook a huge world tour to promote the album, including a record-breaking date in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
in which she played to 180,000 people. The concert was filmed and released on home video. Further dates from the European leg of her world tour were recorded and released as the live album ''
Tina Live in Europe'' in 1988, which won a Grammy Award for
Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.
Track listing
B-sides
Personnel
Musicians
* Tina Turner – lead vocals, backing vocals (8, 11)
*
Nick Glennie-Smith – keyboards (1–6), string arrangements (4)
*
Billy Livsey – keyboards (3)
*
Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist prominent for his dis ...
– synthesizer solo (5)
*
Bryan Adams
Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...
– acoustic piano (7), guitar (7), backing vocals (7)
*
Tommy Mandel –
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...
(7)
*
Rupert Hine – all instruments (8, 11), arrangements (8, 11), backing vocals (8, 11)
*
Guy Fletcher
Guy Edward Fletcher (born 24 May 1960) is an English musician, best known for his position as one of the two keyboard players in the rock band Dire Straits from 1984 until the group's dissolution, and his subsequent work with Dire Straits fron ...
– keyboards (9, 10)
* Albert Boekholt – programming (9, 10)
*
Terry Britten
Terence Ernest Britten (born 17 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 (band), Status Quo and Michael Jackson amongst many ot ...
– guitars (1–6), bass (1–6), backing vocals (1, 3, 4), programming (2, 4, 5)
*
Graham Lyle –
mandolin
A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...
(2)
*
Keith Scott – lead guitar (7)
*
Jamie West-Oram – guitars (8, 11)
*
Mark Knopfler
Mark Freuder Knopfler OBE (born 12 August 1949) is a British musician. He was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits from 1977 to 1995, and he is the one of the two members who stayed during the band's existence ...
– guitars (9, 10)
*
Dave Taylor – bass (7)
* Micky Feat – bass (9)
*
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...
– drums (1, 6)
* Jack Bruno – drums (3, 5)
*
Mickey Curry – drums (7)
* Jamie Lane – drums (9)
* Garry Katell – percussion (6)
*
Jim Vallance
James Douglas Vallance (born May 31, 1952) is a Canadian songwriter, arranger and producer. He is best known as the songwriting partner of Canadian musician Bryan Adams. Vallance began his professional career as the original drummer and main song ...
– percussion (7)
*
Frank Ricotti – percussion (9, 10)
*
Tim Cappello – saxophone solo (1)
*
Branford Marsalis – soprano saxophone (10)
*
Tessa Niles – backing vocals (1, 4, 5)
*
Samantha Brown – backing vocals (10)
*
Margo Buchanan – backing vocals (10)
* Jimmy Chambers – backing vocals (10)
* George Chandler – backing vocals (10)
Production
* Terry Britten – producer (1–6)
* Bryan Adams – producer (7)
*
Bob Clearmountain – producer (7), engineer (7), mixing (7)
* Rupert Hine – producer (8, 11)
* Mark Knopfler – producer (9, 10)
*
Neil Dorfsman – producer (9, 10), engineer (9, 10)
* Richard Elen – sound designer (1–6)
* John Hudson – engineer (1–6), mixing (1–6)
* Stephen W. Tayler – engineer (8, 11), mixing (8, 11)
* Mike Ging – assistant engineer (1–6)
* Paul Hamilton – assistant engineer (7)
* Mark McKenna – assistant engineer (7)
* Richard Moakes – assistant engineer (7, 9, 10)
* Steve Rinkoff – assistant engineer (7)
* Andrew Scarth – assistant engineer (8, 11)
*
Stephen Marcussen – mastering at Precision Lacquer (Hollywood, California).
*
Stylorouge – design
*
Herb Ritts
Herbert Ritts Jr. (August 13, 1952 – December 26, 2002) was an American fashion photographer and director known for his photographs of celebrities, models, and other cultural figures throughout the 1980s and 1990s. His work concentrated on b ...
– photography
* Jenni Bolton – stylist, personal assistant
* Phyllis Cohen – make-up
*
Roger Davies – director
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
{{Authority control
Tina Turner albums
1986 albums
Albums produced by Bob Clearmountain
Albums produced by Mark Knopfler
Albums produced by Rupert Hine
Country albums by American artists