Private Dancer

About Private Dancer

Private Dancer is the fifth solo studio album by Tina Turner. It was released by Capitol Records in May 1984, and was her first album released through the label. Recording sessions for the album took place at several studios in England and was overseen by four different production teams, including Rupert Hine, and Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh of Heaven 17. A radical departure from the rhythm and blues sound Turner had performed with her former husband and performing partner Ike Turner, the tracks in the album are a mixture of uptempos and ballads, inspired by pop and rock genres; it also features elements of smooth jazz and R&B. After several challenging years of going solo after divorcing Ike, Private Dancer propelled Turner into becoming a viable solo star, as well as one of the most marketable crossover singers in the recording industry. It became a worldwide commercial success, earning multi-platinum certifications in Australia, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. To date, it remains her best-selling album in North America. Private Dancer produced seven singles, including "What's Love Got to Do with It", "Better Be Good to Me", "Private Dancer", and "Let's Stay Together". Positively received by critics on release for Turner's ability to give energy and raw emotion to slickly-produced professional pop/rock songs; its long term legacy is that the softening of her raw Southern soul style produced a "landmark" in the "evolution of pop-soul music". The album was promoted throughout 1985 in a 177-date worldwide tour entitled the Private Dancer Tour more »