To Cindy, with love

Tina Turner was one of the most popular rock stars in the music world. Can we all agree?

The late legendary trailblazer is set to be honoured in a blockbuster lineup of performances in Tāmaki Makaurau tonight.

Organisers say it's going to be an explosive night of entertainment at Sky City as fans pay tribute to the Queen of Rock 'n Roll, who died in May last year aged 83.

Turner, born Anna Mae Bullock, was also a songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence as the lead singer of the husband-wife duo Ike & Tina Turner in 1956 before launching a successful career as a solo performer in the 1980s.

But tonight is not all about Tina Turner, organisers say. The two-hour show is also in honour of Sāmoan singing sensation Cindy Filo.

Cindy of Sāmoa is a professional entertainer and a proud member of Sāmoa's LGBTQI, fa'afafine, community. She is famous for her Tina Turner acts.

Proceeds of the show will go towards helping Cindy recover from an unexpected health complication which has left her unable to work.

It's a night to celebrate and honour Cindy and pay tribute to Turner, the show's co-producers Tutasi Lam and Saylene Ulberg told Pacific Days’ Ma’a Brian Sagala and Nemai Tagicakibau.

Watch the full interview of Tutasi Lam and Saylene Ulberg below.

“So 7pm at Sky City Theatre, we have a concert that we've curated to pay tribute to Tina Turner, but mostly to honour our Cindy of Sāmoa,” Lam says.

“So for us, to raise some funds to help her with her recent health complications, what better way to do it than doing a Tina Turner tribute.”

“We've pimped all of our friends out, Brian,” Ulberg says. “On the bill this Sunday, we have Betty-Anne from Ardijah, our very own Annie Crummer and favourites Leon Wharekura, Lisa Corbin, Tommy Stowers and Victor Hawkins-Sulfa.

“They've all given their time to honour our friend Cindy. People are going to get a phenomenal show by Tina Turner. And we put put this show together, in honour of Cindy, because we know the level of excellence that our sister has.

“We were half expecting her to go, why are they not, why am I not singing my song? Because we know that our Cindy is like that.

“She's got so much love for what we're doing. So you're going to get an amazing show for two hours. And you'll have your socks knocked off of you.

“We also have amazing bands, which includes Dixon Macy. He is the MD for Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park. We've got a lot of friends who have put their hands up to help us along the way.

“We've got people like Ernie Semu on keyboards, Micky Ututaonga on drums, and Thabani Gapara, who's an amazing artist at the moment out there.”

Lam says the idea for the show came about when Cindy suffered a stroke.

“As an entertainer, if you can't entertain, you're not earning anything. And we love our Sāmoa, but we know the complications with healthcare in Sāmoa.

Leon Wharekura, right, Annie Crummer, Betty-Anne and Thomas Stowers are among the starstudded lineup in tonight's show. Photos/supplied

“She's not getting the level of rehabilitation that she should be getting. And the complication as well is she's not earning, she's not getting any money to be able to pay for that herself.

“So, a friend reached out to all our artists, our friends here, our music community to see if they would do a fundraiser. And the response was overwhelming for us that we had to do this. And because of the calibre of talents that Cindy has.

"So, we reached out to Sky City because, you know, Cindy was the face of Sky City for a while before Covid. And they were really kind enough to sponsor the theatre for us to be able to do this.

"It’s a project of love for us as well. We just want to acknowledge Sky City Theatre and the sponsorship team for coming through for us. As soon as we reached out to them, they recognised the gem that Cindy is to us and Sky City.

"This show really is to, well, it has to be Cindy-worthy and it has to be Sky City Theatre-worthy.

“So, Tassie, myself and Cathy Laban, alongside Dixon Macy put this show together. Who knows what happens from here? We're excited about this. It's a one show only so don't miss out.”

Ulberg says Cindy is recovering in Samoa and in “high spirits”.

“She's slowly getting back into entertainment and recovering her voice, recovering the use of her body so that she can start to perform again. And I know she just can't wait to get back on stage. So we're sending her so much love.

“Which is why we kind of called the show To Cindy with Love, a Tina Turner Tribute.

“She's done so much for the community by entertaining throughout the Pacific. Please come along and support her. The tickets are on Ticketek.” Visit Ticketek.co.nz

Watch Cindy of Sāmoa's interview below.