Melanie Pierce has two Tina Turner wigs. She describes one as the “big hair ’80s” wig and the other, the “short, bouncy with curls” wig.
Turner’s later curly hair style still had “a rock-and-roll feel, but more of a classy rock-and-roll feel,” says Pierce, who, along with La-Shon Robinson, are founders of Elevation Memphis: A Tina Turner Tribute Experience. They will be part of the Beale Street Brass Notes Walk of Fame ceremony honoring the late singer November 9th at 3 p.m. at Alfred’s on Beale. Memphis guitarist, songwriter, and recording artist Robert Allen Parker also will be featured at the event.
There’s probably nothing you could ask Pierce and Robinson about the late singer that they can’t answer.
It all began when they went to see Tina: The Tina Turner Musical in February 2023 at the Orpheum Theatre. Both women were familiar with Turner, but they were awestruck after they went to the show.
“I am a child of the ’80s,” Robinson says, recalling when she saw the 1984 video for Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It.” “I was like, ‘Woah. My God. Who is this mature lady? She’s walking with all this confidence in this video. I’ve got to find out more about her.’ And from there I became fan.”
A native of Grenada, Mississippi, Robinson, a sergeant in the Army National Guard, already had an alternative band, Elevation Memphis. “We do covers of all genres — from ’60s to today’s hits. And we also have original music.”
After the Tina musical at the Orpheum, she thought, “Hey, let’s add Tina.”
Robinson plays flute, tambourine, and a little percussion, and Pierce plays bass and the African djembe drum in the cover band. “Our keyboardist Derrin Lee has played an integral part in all of the arrangements for our Tina tunes. And he’s been with us almost since day one. And it’s been almost four years.”
The band also includes core member dancers and musicians. “We have great dancers and we do have some of the best musicians in Memphis,” Pierce says.
Robinson and Pierce write the originals. “We currently have six originals out right now streaming,” Robinson says.
Almost immediately after they put the Turner tribute together, she and Pierce were referred by Memphian Richard Day to perform their show at the Tina Turner Museum at the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center in Brownsville, Tennessee. They met Turner’s granddaughter, great-grandson, and a lot of her first-cousins, Robinson says. “And they all look just like her.”
Robinson and Pierce became friends with the family members and they began Facebook-ing each other.
More and more people began asking them to play at their venues, she says.
And “next thing you know” they were invited to perform at the Brass Note ceremony, Robinson says. “We will perform 25 minutes of Tina’s biggest hits.”
Robinson doesn’t portray Turner in the tribute show. “I don’t do Tina. I wear a wig, but Melanie definitely has the look. And when I tell you she studies day in and day out to perfect her — I’ve never seen anybody put in so much work and dedication.”
“I’m learning her every day,” Pierce says. “Her elegance. The way she carries herself on stage. Her confidence on stage.”
And, she says, “Anybody would love to impersonate Tina just because of who she is and just the name. Everything about her.”
Asked how she’d describe Turner, Pierce says, “I would say that she’s very calm. Looking at her interviews, she’s very educated. She just has a peace when you listen to her speak.”
Pierce studies Turner’s voice. “I do try to talk like her. I have made some songs where my sound is similar to her, but I think because I’m bringing the look and that confidence and that presence on stage, sounding like her is not even the thing. ‘I can feel Tina in you.’ ‘You are the next Tina.’ That’s the type of feedback that I get.
“But I do work really hard to talk like her when I am talking in the microphone. I would say Tina’s stage voice is so powerful. It’s raspy. It’s very rock-and-roll.”
And, she says, “Tina Turner has the best legs. I definitely don’t compare to her legs, but I think I have pretty nice legs. I don’t need insurance on them, though. Tina definitely did.”
A native of West Memphis, Arkansas, Pierce got into singing three and a half years ago. “It was just karaoke from time to time.”
Robinson, who worked with her in an office back then, invited her to try out for her Elevation band. “She asked me to come and audition because she heard me playing the djembe with my friend, jamming out at my house. And we had a video on Facebook [of us] jamming out. She said, ‘I really want you to sing. Do you sing?’ I said, ‘No, I’ve never been in a band. I don’t know anything about it.’”
Pierce sang but “just for fun around the house. But not thinking about growing up and being a singer.”
After being coached by Robinson, Pierce got in the band.
When they began getting ready to do the Turner tribute, Pierce began working on the Turner look. “I started off just ordering my first wig off of Amazon. Just because I needed something.”
When ordering it, Pierce says, “I just put in ‘Tina Turner’ and this big hair wig came in.”
Now, she says, “People make me custom wigs.”
In addition to her “rock-and-roll hair,” Pierce dresses like Turner. She describes the look as “female, classy, but sexy rock-and-roll. She wears the dresses with the tights. With the fishnet tights. With the high heels. I do dance in heels.”
Portraying Turner carries over into her daily life, Pierce says. “I have more confidence because I’m having to play a very confident woman.”
Pierce changes her persona from the cover band to the Turner tribute. “I get in ‘Tina’ mode as soon as I hit the stage. I’m ready to go. Ready for whatever crowd, whatever genre of music we do.”
And, she adds, “Tina is always ready. She’s bold. She’s daring. She’s a visionary. She’s fearless.”
They perform their Turner tribute at Memphis locations, including Neil’s Music Room and Lafayette’s Music Room, but not very often. “We don’t want to water it down here in the city,” Robinson says. “So, we’re just starting to go outside Memphis. Arkansas last weekend. St. Louis. Nashville.”
They’d love to one day take their Tina Turner show to Las Vegas. “People have already reached out.”
So, what do they think Tina Turner would think of their band if she were still alive? “I think that if Tina saw us from day one till now, she would definitely say she is very proud of us,” Pierce says. “She can see how hard we’ve been working to improve our show. And she would tell us we have what it takes to be the best Tina Turner tribute band of our time.”
