Four decades after Tina Turner first released her fifth studio album, Private Dancer, the BBC radio program Radio 2 Breakfast Show debuted a previously unheard track that had previously been scrapped from the record. Turner’s estate found the lost song while compiling material for the 40th anniversary edition of Private Dancer, released on March 21, 2025.
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New music from Turner, who died in 2023, would be interesting enough in 2025. But this posthumous release also reveals a fascinating connection between the vivacious performer from Tennessee and Australian rock band AC/DC. Indeed, the musical world is a small world.
The Connection Between AC/DC and Tina Turner
Tina Turner’s association with famous rock acts like the Rolling Stones and Rod Stewart is fairly common knowledge amongst fans of ‘70s and ‘80s rock ‘n’ roll. So, too, is Turner’s tenure as one-half of the iconic soul duo, Ike and Tina Turner, in the 1960s. While working on Private Dancer, Turner collaborated with other notable rockers like Mark Knopfler and Jeff Beck. But perhaps one of the most surprising connections Turner made as a solo artist was the thread that tied her to Australian rock band AC/DC.
The man behind Turner’s lost track, “Hot For You,” was George Young. Young was part of the songwriting duo Vanda & Young based in London. The musician, producer, and writer established Vanda & Young in 1970 with his childhood friend and colleague, Harry Vanda. Notable songs by the duo include the Easybeats’ “Friday on My Mind” and John Paul Young’s “Love Is in the Air.” Young also happened to be the older brother of Malcolm and Angus Young, founding members of AC/DC.
Naturally, Young helped his younger siblings out as they began working in the studio, serving as a producer on AC/DC’s earliest work. The Young brothers collaborated on AC/DC’s 1975 debut, High Voltage, T.N.T., the second High Voltage, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Let There Be Rock, and Powerage. Indeed, while Turner was struggling to make the transition from Ike Turner’s right-hand woman to a bona fide solo star, George Young was helping to create some of the most iconic rock records in history. So, it’s only fitting that a song George Young wrote would be part of an effort to propel Turner from R&B antiquity to the face of modern, fresh, radio-worthy rock.
Another Interesting Thread Tying The Rock Band and Singer Together
Interestingly, her 1983 version of “Hot For You” isn’t the only time Tina Turner crossed paths with Australian rock band AC/DC. Three years earlier, the band was on the hunt for a new vocalist after the tragic death of their original lead singer, Bon Scott. During their search, the surviving members reached out to Brian Johnson, who was then fronting a band called Geordie, to see if he would like to audition. Not entirely convinced it was worth pursuing, Johnson headed over to the studio after he got off work that day.
“I went down and met the boys,” Johnson recalled in an interview with Dan Rather. “I sang two songs or something. Then, there were some nods and smiles. I guess it was just this wonderful moment when, you know, the stars align or something like that. It was pretty good.”
What song did Johnson sing for that fateful audition, you ask? Tina Turner’s “Nutbush City Limits.”
Photo by Ross Marino/Getty Images
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