Tina Turner… but make it country.
Kip Moore is currently on the road playing shows all over the country before he heads to South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. He has a massive following in all of those countries, which is really cool and quite unique in the country music world. They certainly have great taste because the man puts on a heck of a live show.
And on this tour, as well as at some of his media stops, he’s been doing an incredible cover of Tina Turner’s “The Best,” which he explained is sentimental to him because his mom used to play Tina Turner in their house all the time growing up. In the intro, he confesses that he always thought she was “the most amazing singer” that he had ever heard:
“Every winter, I go surf for like two months. We go tour for nine or ten months, and then I go surf and I check out, I was in this little Caribbean bar. Tina Turner, my mom used to play Tina Turner in the house all the time, and I thought she was the most amazing singer I had ever heard.
And there was this girl that was singing this song, and I’ve always loved the melody so much, and then every night I would come home, do whatever I was doing, and I’d pick up my guitar.
And it’s been so long since I’ve played other people’s music, I’ve always been working on mine for the last fifteen years, and I became obsessed with sitting around and playing this song so we’re gonna play it for you guys tonight if that’s cool.”
“The Best” was written by Mike Chapman and Holly Knight, and first recorded by Bonnie Tyler, becoming a top-10 hit in Norway and a minor hit everywhere else. In 1989, Turner released a cover version of “The Best” as part of her seventh studio album Foreign Affair.
It became a worldwide hit and an iconic song within all of music, and Turner also re-recorded the track as a duet with Australian singer Jimmy Barnes.
There are few entertainers who can compare to Tina Turner, she’s the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll” for a reason. The vocals, the stage presence…. I absolutely love how Kip turned this song into such an interesting, stripped back ballad that sounds right home as a country cover.
Like he mentioned, Kip doesn’t do covers too often, but his soulful vocals are just stunning on “The Best” and I absolutely need this as a studio cut now.
“The Best”
Kip Moore Tour Dates
August 20 – Cincinnati, OH – The Andrew J Brady Music Center *
August 21 – Chicago, IL – The Salt Shed *
August 22 – Sterling Heights, MI – Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill *
September 10 – Charleston, SC – Firefly Distillery *
September 11 – Charlotte, NC – Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre *
September 12 – Richmond, VA – Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront *
October 17 – Pretoria, ZA – SuperSport Park Stadium
October 23 – Cape Town, ZA – GrandWest Arena
October 24 – Cape Town, ZA – GrandWest Arena
October 30 – Melbourne, AU – The Forum
October 31 – Melbourne, AU – The Forum
November 6 – Brisbane, AU – The Fortitude Music Hall
November 7 – Brisbane, AU – The Fortitude Music Hall
November 13 – Sydney, AU – The Enmore Theatre
November 14 – Sydney, AU – The Enmore Theatre
November 21 – Christchurch, NZ – Christchurch Town Hall
November 22 – Auckland, NZ – Auckland Town Hall
^ – with Cody Johnson
* – Billy Currington & Kip Moore: Live In Concert
** with Jackson Dean
# – Festival
