The fire ignited by Tina Turner right here in St. Louis never stopped glowing. And on Feb. 15, that flame will rise inside the newly renovated Powell Hall. This weekend, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and St. Louis City SC join forces for Eternal: A Tribute to Tina Turner, presented by Purina. It’s a one‑night‑only celebration of a woman whose voice, power, and resilience shaped generations.
Anna Mae Bullock may have been born — and mostly raised — in Nutbush, Tennessee. But Tina Turner is a St. Louis original. It was in St. Louis and East St. Louis that she found her voice as a performer. By day, she was Ann Bullock, a quiet student at the historically Black Charles Sumner High School. By night, she was honing her craft as the lead singer in a band led by her future husband, Ike Turner. In the 1958 Sumner yearbook, beside her senior photo, she declared she would become an entertainer. In her relentless pursuit of that goal, she became an icon.
Turner passed away on May 24, 2023, at the age of 83, leaving behind a legacy that stretched across decades and continues to reverberate around the world. That spirit is what the SLSO and City SC hope to honor — not just the superstar, but the woman whose earliest dreams were shaped by this region…