Rock legend Tina Turner is going back to school!
Turner now has her own museum housed inside the historic one-room schoolhouse she attended as a young child. The grand opening of the Tina Turner Museum at Flagg Grove School is set for Sept. 26 in Brownsville, Tenn. The restored school is where its most famous student, Anna Mae Bullock - now known worldwide as Tina Turner - went to class.
The museum features numerous costumes worn by the superstar, video and audio examples from her life and times, and even personal commentary from Turner herself. The grand opening will feature a new Turner video and video tributes from other celebrities.
Turner, tagged "The Queen of Rock n Roll," continues to be one of the world's most popular entertainers. She is recognized as the most successful female rock artist, winning an enviable eight Grammys. Her combined album and single sales total some 100 million copies. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.
The museum's home, the Flagg Grove School, is one of only a few remaining African-American one-room schoolhouses. The humble clapboard structure holds significant historical value, as the land the school was built on was purchased from Benjamin Flagg in 1889. Flagg was a former slave who came from North Carolina after the Civil War. He was also the brother of George Flagg, Tina's great-grandfather.
The school, originally located in Nutbush, Tenn., near Brownsville, closed in the 1960s and sat dormant until it was moved in 2012 to be a part of the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center.
"When we first discovered the Flagg Grove School and started developing ideas on preserving the structure, we could have never dreamed that we would be where we are today," explains Sonia Outlaw Clark, West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center's executive director. "Working with Tina's team has been such a rewarding experience, and the memorabilia we are unveiling has not been previously assembled nor on public view."
Tina Turner Heritage Days is held each year on the fourth weekend of September at the Delta Heritage Center in Brownsville. Fans from all over the world visit during this time to tour Nutbush and the surrounding area while celebrating Turner's music.
