Beyoncé honored the late Tina Turner with a stellar performance of “River Deep, Mountain High” during her “Renaissance” world tour stop in London on Monday.
via Page Six:
The “Cuff It” singer belted out the lyrics to the 1996 hit in a slower tempo as she stood in front of the sold-out crowd at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, according to a video shared by a Beyoncé fan account on Twitter.
For the special performance, Beyoncé also debuted a new look, wearing an electric blue jumpsuit that bulged at the waist into a sheer train.
The 32-time Grammy winner’s tribute comes just days after she honored the “Proud Mary” singer during her tour stop in Paris, telling the audience to “scream so [Turner] can feel your love.”
“If you’re a fan of mine, you’re a fan of Tina Turner,” she continued. “‘Cause I wouldn’t be on this stage without Tina Turner.”
“I feel so blessed that I was alive to witness her brilliance. I also feel very blessed to be here to perform once again.”
Turner died on May 24 of natural causes. She was 83 years old.
Her rep previously disclosed that the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll had been battling a “long illness” but did not disclose further details.
After news surfaced of Tina’s passing, fans slammed Beyoncé and her husband, Jay-Z, for previously making a “mockery” of the late singer’s history of physical abuse from ex-husband Ike Turner.
In the Carters’ 2013 hit “Drunk In Love,” Jay-Z raps, “Beat the box up, like Mike in ’97, I bite / I’m Ike Turner, turn up baby, no, I don’t play / Baby, no, I don’t play, now eat the cake, Anna Mae / Said eat the cake, Anna Mae!”
The cake lyric was reportedly in reference to a dispute Ike once had with Tina — whose birth name was Anna Mae Bullock — over a pastry.
“Beyoncé putting up a Tina Turner post/tribute when she literally said, ‘Eat the cake Anna Mae’ on one of her biggest songs is wild,” tweeted one critic.
“knowing that Tina Turner was Beyoncé’s blueprint and one of her biggest influences makes that ‘Eat The Cake Anna Mae’ line in Drunk In Love even more jarring,” added another.
“All you need to do is watch ‘What’s Love got To Do With It’ to see where Jay Z got the ‘eat the cake, Anna Mae’ reference and that’ll make you sick to your stomach. Beyoncé was complicit because it was on HER song,” wrote a third.
A month after Beyoncé released “Drunk in Love,” a British radio station refused to play the unedited version of the track. Jennifer Ogole, CEO of Bang Radio, had the “4:44” rapper’s “Anna Mae” line removed because the rap displayed a “promotion of domestic violence against women.”
When Tina was asked about the song, she told the New York Times in 2019 that she was “not surprised.”
Check out a clip of the performance below.
Beyoncé pays homage to the late, great Tina Turner in #London, with a performance of “River Deep, Mountain High.”
?? https://t.co/gQt79tz5wy #RWT2023 pic.twitter.com/Dt07Ft3OW7
— BEYONCÉ LEGION (@BeyLegion) May 29, 2023
