Tina Turner rocked rugby league in the 1990s and the NRL grand final will go retro in 2023 with a musical tribute to the late superstar set to headline the pre-show entertainment.
The NRL family felt the passing of Turner in May as much as anyone in the world given the rock icon’s lasting impact on the sport through arguably one of the greatest marketing campaigns in Australian sport, rugby league‘s “Simply the Best” campaign in 1990.
Turner died in May at the age of 83 after a long illness and on grand final day the cast of Tina – The Tina Turner musical, which is playing in Sydney, will sing some of her greatest hits before the match.
“Thirty years on, Tina Turner’s 1993 performance remains one of the great Grand Final moments,” NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said:
“This collaboration is a perfect way for Rugby League to pay tribute to Tina and everything she did for our game and it will be a special moment for fans amongst the outstanding entertainment on offer on grand final day.”
The musical features iconic songs including “Simply The Best”, “Nutbush” and “Proud Mary” which will be blasted out again on grand final day.
The NRL and NRLW premiership matches mark 30 years since Turner‘s celebrated performance at the 1993 grand final when she sang with Jimmy Barnes.
The entertainment line-up on grand final day includes two performances from Northern Territory rock band King Stingray which performs in English and YolNGu Matha languages.
