Tina Turner’s Philadelphia Live Aid performance was one for the ages

Tina Turner, the explosively energetic performer who rose to fame in the 1960s and overcame an abusive relationship in an inspirational second act to become one of the most popular artists in the world, died in Switzerland on Wednesday at 83.

The singer born Anna Mae Bullock in Brownsville, Tenn., had an electrifying presence on stage. And she didn’t lose that in the second phase of her career when the 1984 album Private Dancer vaulted her to solo superstardom behind the hit “What’s Love Got To Do With It.” It was that mature Turner — independent and on her own, in no need of Ike, and still ferociously sexy — who grabbed the attention of a global audience at Live Aid, at the most widely viewed music event to ever be staged in Philadelphia, or for that matter, the world. Eighty-nine thousand people watched in person, and 1.5 billion viewed it around the world.

Turner’s moment came when she paired off with Mick Jagger, the Rolling Stones singer who freely admitted that early in his career he copped his dance moves from Turner and James Brown.

At Live Aid, Jagger performed separately from his Rolling Stones bandmates. (Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood backed up Bob Dylan, in a famously mumbled acoustic set.)

Jagger came out first and did “Miss You” and “Just Another Night” from his solo album She’s the Boss, and then called out “All right, where’s Tina?” Turner strutted out in stiletto heels first for “State of Shock,” which the Stones front man had sung with Michael Jackson on the The Jacksons’ Victory album.

Then, singing face to face and hamming it up while enjoying each other’s company, Turner was at her raspy-voiced best in front of the South Philly audience. The duo ended their mini-set with “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

Jagger first stripped off his own T-shirt, then costume changed into a yellow blazer before ripping off Turner’s skirt, leaving her to finish the song in a leotard as the two vamped in front of a band led by guitarist G.E. Smith on the “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll” coda.

Along with Patti LaBelle’s grandiose, over the top “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” it was unquestionably the high-energy climax of the star-studded concert for African famine relief.

The Live Aid appearance was not the only productive day Turner spent in Philadelphia that summer.

Live Aid took place on July 13, 1985, at JFK Stadium. On July 29, Turner returned to the city to shoot the video for “One Of The Living” at Eastern State Penitentiary. The song was from George Miller’s Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, which she starred in that year. It wasn’t the big hit from the movie: That was “We Don’t Need Another Hero.” Three years later, Philly’s Dead Milkmen followed in Turner’s footsteps and used Eastern State in the video for their iconic-in-its-own-right “Punk Rock Girl.”

On Wednesday, Jagger posted on Twitter: “I’m so saddened by the passing of my wonderful friend Tina Turner. She was truly an enormously talented performer and singer. She was inspiring, warm, funny and generous. She helped me so much when I was young and I will never forget her.”

He included four photos, one of which featured the two together on stage in Philadelphia.