Almost 6,000 Aussies break world record with Tina Turner dance

Virgin Radio

7 Jul 2023, 09:50

It’s one of Tina Turner's most iconic songs, and now Nutbush City Limits has provided the soundtrack to a successful world record attempt in Australia.

Whilst the song is about life in Tennessee, where the iconic artist grew up, it also makes up part of Aussie culture, thanks to Nutbush dance, which is a line-dance that everyone Down Under seems to know. Indeed, the dance is even part of some schools’ curricula, and is often performed at school and community events and social gatherings.

This week, 5,838 festival-goers gathered on a dusty dance floor to high-kick their way into the Australian Book of Records in the Simpson Desert in Outback Queensland. 

On Thursday morning (6th June), the crowd at the Big Red Bash festival near Birdsville performed the dance to the famous tune, and raised a whole bunch of money for charity in the process.

Cheered on by hundreds of onlookers, participants - many of whom were dressed in wigs and their best Tina Turner outfits - paid $15 to take part, and the attempt and all proceeds going to the Royal Flying Doctor Service, meaning that an impressive $87,570 was raised this year. 

The epic effort beat the previous record, which stood at 4,084 people, at last year’s event.

The world record comes on the 50th anniversary of the song. Released in August 1973, it is one of the last hits that Ike & Tina Turner released as a duo. 

The legendary singer died in May at the age of 83, and left behind a brilliant legacy of work, having sold over 100 million records worldwide over the course of a glittering career spanning 60 years.

In the UK, she was the first artist to have a top 40 hit in seven consecutive decades, with a total of 35 UK top 40 hits.

And she also gave the soundtrack to this epic dance, even though she apparently never performed a version of the dance herself.