Tina Turner Credit: Les Zg, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
Tampa Bay’s last dance with the queen of rock was in April 2000, but if you know anything about The Florida Orchestra tributes to rock (which have previously focused on the catalogs of Tom Petty and Fleetwood Mac), you’ll walk out feeling like you just saw the real thing, just backed up by a philharmonic.

While we wish that Tina Turner were still around to front TFO for just one night, Grammy-winning singer Tamika Lawrence—a Broadway vet who sang in the ensemble on the “Greatest Showman” soundtrack—will take on those timeless vocals, with both the orchestra and a full band behind her.

The show runs all weekend with a Friday stop at Tampa’s Straz Center, St. Pete’s Mahaffey Theater on Saturday and a Sunday night performance at Clearwater’s Ruth Eckerd Hall.

The Florida Orchestra: Simply The Best happens at multiple venues in Tampa Bay from May 16-18, and tickets start at $20.

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This article appears in May 8-14, 2025.

Josh Bradley is Creative Loafing Tampa's resident live music freak. He started freelancing with the paper in 2020 at the age of 18, and has since covered, announced, and previewed numerous live shows in...