Kerry Parnell: RIP Tina Turner — and the era of stage and screen megastars

For as we mourn the loss of the grande dame of rock ‘n’ roll, it serves as a reminder there are fewer and fewer stars to replace her.

The sad passing of Tina Turner this week marks the loss of one of the all-time divas.

The superstar died on Wednesday, aged 83, saying in her final interview that she wanted to be remembered as “the queen of rock ’n’ roll — as a woman who showed other women that it is OK to strive for success on their own terms”.

You were certainly that Tina but while other female stars behind you are doing it their way, it’s not quite on the same terms.

For as we mourn the loss of the grande dame of music, it serves as a reminder there are fewer and fewer stars to replace her.

Think about it — what has happened to all the divas of stage, screen and music?

Tina Turner performs onstage at the Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Illinois, USA, in 1984. Picture: Getty Images

Where are all the huge Hollywood movie stars, once shrouded in mystery and glamour?

Where are the pop and rock stars who used to enthral us not just with their performances, but also with their OTT behaviour and outrageous backstage rider demands?

I miss those days.

And presumably while executive assistants give a collective sigh of relief White Lotus Tanya-style bosses are dying out, part of me laments nobody will be driving Rolls Royces into swimming pools in the future, for fear of having their careers cancelled faster than you can say The Who?

Tina Turner in Mad Max 1993.

Smart phones, social media and streaming services have killed off the megastars and they’re never coming back.

The only people left fulfilling the role now are the royal family — which is probably why interest in the lives of the Windsors continues to grow, not subside.

It’s down to a combination of stars no longer retaining an air of mystery because of choosing to share more of their lives on social media, as well as not being able to sneeze without someone filming and posting it online.

Take Tom Hanks, for example, who hit the headlines this week for what looked like an angry exchange on the red carpet at Cannes.

“Oh no! Tom Hanks said a bad thing,” Twitter decided, until he and wife Rita Wilson had to clarify they were asking for directions.

Add to that the fact there are very few true movie stars left — those big-screen names who still refuse to sign up for the streaming services’ mega-cheques.

Tom Cruise is generally touted as “the last movie star” with Top Gun: Maverick the second-biggest grossing movie of last year, but at 60 it’s a Mission Impossible that he can be a box office action man forever.

His replacements are superheroes but while the Marvel universe might bring in the big bucks, audiences are there to see the characters, not who plays them.

It’s the same with musicians.

Forget the pub circuit — Gen Z discovers its stars on TikTok and YouTube, where they ironically often begin their road to fame covering old rock songs.

And while, of course, I realise everything has to change, part of me is sad to see the day of the diva disappear.

They were, in the words of Tina, simply the best.

twitter.com/kerryparnell