In celebration of Tina Turner's 85th birthday (Nov. 26), the City of Brownsville and the Friends of the Delta Heritage Center are pleased to announce the official start of a fundraising effort to erect a six-foot bronze statue of "The Queen of Rock and Roll" in the city of Brownsville, where the young Tina (Anna Mae Bullock) grew up. The statue will be placed within the city's Heritage Park - an area located on historic Jefferson Street and across from Carver High where she attended secondary school. The city hopes to unveil the statue during its annual Tina Turner Heritage Days in September 2025.
Fans and corporations across the globe can have their names forever tied to this global icon with their financial contributions to this project. Though there is no minimum donation required and various levels of sponsorships available, a limited number of donors who contribute $500 or more will receive embossed paver bricks (based on a first-come, first-serve availability basis) for personal display, and an additional brick bearing their name/company will be installed in the landscaped paths surrounding the statue. In celebration of Turner's 85th birthday, a minimum donation of $85 is suggested. For more information and to make a donation online, please visit WestTNHeritage.com/donate.
"We want to be sure that we continue to honor the legacy of Tina Turner in a monumental way," stated Brownsville Mayor William Rawls. "To have a statue across the street from where she attended high school and played basketball is just another way for us to do our part to keep her legacy alive and tell more of her story."
The statue will be created by sculptor Fred Ajanogha (aka Ajano), whose works have been showcased all over the world, including the 1996 Olympics, Southern University Museum of Art and the Tubman Museum. His works are on also on display in Nigeria and Ghana, and a large portion of his public art pieces can be found in and around Atlanta.
The bronze statue and buildout of Heritage Park is the second installation within Brownsville honoring the late singer. In September 2014, before Turner's passing, Brownsville relocated the Flagg Grove School (the one-room schoolhouse built by Turner's great uncle and where she attended elementary school) from the small community of Nutbush to the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center property. Flagg Grove School now serves as the Tina Turner Museum. For more information, please visit WestTNHeritage.com.
