BROWNSVILLE, Tenn.— The West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center was a scene of excitement and jubilation as the long-awaited Tina Turner Museum at Flagg Grove School opened this morning. Press from all over the world attended a 10:30 a.m. conference to introduce the globe to West Tennessee’s latest music heritage attraction.
Hundreds were in attendance for the opening ceremony, which featured a special video message from Tina Turner herself.
The small section of Tennessee stretching from Memphis in the west to the Tennessee River near Savannah has long been known as one of the cradles of Americana music. Bluesman Sleepy John Estes was born in Lauderdale County before moving to Brownsville; Rock n’ Roll legend Carl Perkins pioneered the rockabilly sound in nearby Jackson, TN; Isaac Hayes perfected the art of soulful seduction from neighboring Tipton County; and Tina Turner began her journey as the Queen of Rock n’ Roll just a few miles from the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center in rural Haywood County.
Delta Heritage Museum officials say the Tina Turner Museum at Flagg Grove Schools was years in the making. Each and every piece of wood from the early 1900s schoolhouse was painstakingly taken off, numbered, and restored. In cases where the original wood could not be used, replacement wood from a similar schoolhouse of equal age was used. Inside the museum, visitors are taken into the life and world of Tina Turner through a replica stage and the world’s largest public collection of Tina Turner costumes and memorabilia.
Officials say the museum is expected to dramatically increase the number of tourists who visit the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Museum, located off of Exit 56 on Interstate 40.
For Brownsville, the new Tina Turner museum provides a steady link along the Music Highway from the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in Jackson and Graceland, Sun Studios and the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis.
The West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center will be hosting a concert featuring the W.S. Holland Band (of Sun Studios fame), Samira’s Truly Tina show—a Tina Turner tribute artist from Canada, and other musical guests at the Dunbar Carver Museum on Saturday night. Tickets start at $15.00.
Call the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center at (731) 779-9000 for more details.
