Martyn Ware calls Tina Turner ‘powerful exemplar of Black female power’

Martyn Ware, the co-producer of Tina Turner’s 1983 hit cover Let’s Stay Together, recently spoke to PEOPLE and fondly remembered the late singer’s extraordinary talent, describing her as “the best performer” he has ever collaborated with.

Heaven 17 played a pivotal role in revitalizing Tina Turner’s career by proposing that she record cover songs, with Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together topping their list. This cover went on to achieve global success and cemented Turner’s status as a pop icon.

Looking back at the time he made music with Turner, Ware said, “She was very professional, very friendly and very humble . She had utmost confidence in her ability and her ability to perform,”

“She was always funny and charming and always had a twinkle in her eye. For that, I am eternally grateful.”

Ware acknowledged the struggle Turner must have gone through in Hollywood as a Black female, “She had to fight for her dues in a largely white-dominated industry. She was a very powerful exemplar of Black female power”.

“She was purely the best performer I have worked with in a recording studio. She had this unique talent to communicate with people as though she was talking directly to them,” he added.

He concluded by saying, “Anybody can do energy and sexuality, but it doesn’t make you one of the all-time great performers. You need to have a wide range of performative skills from delicacy to sensitivity — emotions that people can empathize with.”

Which Turner, in his opinion, did.