Tina Turner Quiz: Guess the Song & Test Your Trivia

A Tina Turner quiz is really a test of ownership, because she built a catalog mostly from other writers' songs and sang them so hard they became hers. Guess the Tina Turner song from 'What's Love Got to Do with It', 'The Best' or the slow-to-fast 'Proud Mary', then test your trivia on provenance: 'Private Dancer' came from Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler, 'Let's Stay Together' is an Al Green cover, and 'Nutbush City Limits' is the one she wrote herself. Knowing the writers is the real test.

Main genrePop (soul, rock and R&B)

Active1957 to 2009, peak in the 1980s

Best-known songs to guessWhat's Love Got to Do with It, The Best, Proud Mary, Private Dancer, We Don't Need Another Hero

Deep cuts fans missNutbush City Limits, Steamy Windows, I Don't Wanna Fight, Typical Male, Show Some Respect

Songs she wrote herself'Nutbush City Limits' (1973), the rare self-penned hit in the set

Covers she made her own'Proud Mary' (Creedence), 'The Best' (Bonnie Tyler), 'Let's Stay Together' (Al Green)

Eras in the quizIke & Tina soul-rock (from the 60s), 80s Private Dancer solo comeback, 90s soundtracks

Real nameAnna Mae Bullock

Related artistsThe Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Beyoncé

Quiz difficultyEasy on the anthems, hard on who wrote them

Start your solo quiz

Name as many tracks as you can from short audio clips. The faster you answer, the more you score.

10 questions4 answers each

Guess the Tina Turner Song, Cover or Not

Her biggest ones land from the first bars, from the slow build of 'Proud Mary' to the strut of 'What's Love Got to Do with It'. The twist is that most of them are covers she made unmistakably her own.

What's Love Got to Do with It

The Best

Proud Mary

Private Dancer

We Don't Need Another Hero

Nutbush City Limits

Steamy Windows

I Don't Wanna Fight

Tina Turner Trivia: Whose Song Was It?

The stories behind the songs decide the close ones: a 'Proud Mary' that started with Creedence, a chart-topper other singers turned down, and a signature anthem Bonnie Tyler cut a year first.

✦'Proud Mary' was a Creedence Clearwater Revival song first; the Ike & Tina Turner version, with its slow 'nice and easy' opening, is the one that won a Grammy and stuck.

✦'The Best' was recorded by Bonnie Tyler a year before Tina Turner made it a signature anthem in 1989.

✦'What's Love Got to Do with It' was written by Terry Britten and Graham Lyle and turned down by other artists before Tina Turner took it to number one in 1984.

✦'Private Dancer', the title track of her comeback album, was written by Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler.

✦She wrote her 1973 hit 'Nutbush City Limits' herself, naming it after the tiny Tennessee community where she grew up.

How Well Do You Know Tina Turner's Catalog?

The deeper you go, the trickier it gets. It opens on the anthems everyone knows, then the covers, then the writers who actually penned the hits, and finally the rare few, like 'Nutbush City Limits', she wrote herself.

The anthems everyone knows (where casual fans score)

These land from the first bars: the horn-punch of 'The Best', the slow build of 'Proud Mary', the strut of 'What's Love Got to Do with It'. Most players name them fast, so they are the easy opening points on any Tina Turner quiz, no matter who first recorded them.

Whose song is it? (the cover trap)

Here is where the quiz sharpens. 'Proud Mary' started with Creedence Clearwater Revival, 'The Best' was a Bonnie Tyler single, and 'Let's Stay Together' is an Al Green classic. You may know every Tina Turner version by heart, but the trap is remembering she did not write them.

The writers behind the hits (where superfans pull ahead)

Deeper fans track the songwriting. 'What's Love Got to Do with It' came from Terry Britten and Graham Lyle, 'Private Dancer' from Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler, and 'GoldenEye' from Bono and The Edge. Knowing who handed her the song is what separates a good score from a great one.

The ones she wrote, and the curveballs

The flip side is the handful she authored herself, led by 'Nutbush City Limits', named after her Tennessee hometown. Add the film work, 'We Don't Need Another Hero' from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, and her hard-driving cover of the Beatles' 'Help!', and you have cleared the whole board.

Tina Turner Quiz FAQ

How well do you know Tina Turner?

Play a Tina Turner quiz on Songtrivia and find out. Guess the song from a short clip across the Ike & Tina years and her Private Dancer comeback. Naming the anthems is easy; the harder points come from knowing which ones she wrote and which she borrowed.

Are Tina Turner's biggest songs covers?

Many of them are. 'Proud Mary' came from Creedence Clearwater Revival, 'The Best' was a Bonnie Tyler single, and 'Let's Stay Together' is an Al Green song. Her raspy voice made each one feel like the original, which is exactly what the quiz tests.

What are Tina Turner's most guessed songs?

'What's Love Got to Do with It', 'The Best', 'Proud Mary' and 'Private Dancer' are named fastest. 'We Don't Need Another Hero' from Mad Max comes up for the film fans.

How hard is the Tina Turner quiz?

The anthems are easy points, but most were written by other people, so the real challenge is provenance: which songs are covers, who wrote them, and which few, like 'Nutbush City Limits', she wrote herself.

What was Tina Turner's real name and where was she from?

She was born Anna Mae Bullock in Brownsville, Tennessee, in 1939, and grew up in nearby Nutbush. She performed as Tina Turner from her Ike & Tina days until her death in Switzerland in 2023.

Is the Tina Turner quiz free?

Yes. Every Tina Turner quiz is free to play on Songtrivia, with no signup and no Spotify account needed. Just pick one and press play.

📚 Sources & methodology

Sources consulted

Wikipedia · AllMusic · Pitchfork · Billboard · Songtrivia editorial team.

Our methodology

Each topic is curated by a Quiz Master with category expertise. Selection crosses cultural impact, chart performance, recognition potential and era variety.