''Foreign Affair'' is the seventh solo studio album by

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...

, released on September 13, 1989, through Capitol Records. It was Turner's third album release after her massively successful comeback five years earlier with ''

Private Dancer ''Private Dancer'' is the fifth solo studio album by Tina Turner. It was released on May 29, 1984, through Capitol Records and was her first album released through the label. After several challenging years of going solo after divorcing Ike T ...

'' and her third and last album with the label. Although the album was not a major success in Turner's native United States, it was a huge international hit, especially in Europe. The album reached number one on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

, her first number one album there.

Dan Hartman Daniel Earl Hartman (December 8, 1950 – March 22, 1994) was an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Among songs he wrote and recorded were " Free Ride" as a member of the Edgar Winter Group, and the solo hits ...

produced most of the tracks on the album, including the hit single "

The Best Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

", which has gone on to become one of Turner's signature songs.

Commercial success

While ''Foreign Affair'' didn't perform as well as Turner's previous albums ''

'' and '' Break Every Rule'' in the US, where it failed to crack the Top 30 in the ''Billboard'' 200, it was a worldwide hit, selling over six million copies. In the UK alone the album sold over 1.5 million copies entering the UK Albums Chart at number one (Turner's first album to do so there) and staying in Top 100 for a year and a half. The album also reached number one in numerous other countries including

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and Sweden and topped the overall European Chart for four weeks. In 2021, ''Foreign Affair'' was released as a box set, which includes a previously unreleased demo of "The Best".

Single releases

Six tracks from the album were released as singles, most of which became hits in various parts of Europe and, to a lesser extent, the US. "

" (US No. 15; UK No. 5) was released as the first single propelling the sales of the album. This was followed by "

I Don't Wanna Lose You "I Don't Wanna Lose You" is a song by American-Swiss singer Tina Turner. It was written by Albert Hammond and Graham Lyle and produced along with Roger Davies for Turner's seventh solo studio album, '' Foreign Affair'' (1989). It was released as ...

" (UK No. 8), which was released in Europe only. The album's third single (second in the US) was the opening track, "

Steamy Windows "Steamy Windows" is a song by American-Swiss singer Tina Turner. It was included on Turner's seventh studio album, '' Foreign Affair'' (1989), and released as the album's second single in November 1989. In the United Kingdom, it was instead issue ...

" (US. No. 39; UK No. 13), which earned Turner a Grammy nomination. Three additional singles released in various territories were the title track "

Foreign Affair ''Foreign Affair'' is the seventh solo studio album by Tina Turner, released on September 13, 1989, through Capitol Records. It was Turner's third album release after her massively successful comeback five years earlier with ''Private Dancer'' ...

" (Continental Europe only), the ballad " Look Me in the Heart" (No. 8 on the US Adult Contemporary chart; UK No. 31) and the rock ballad " Be Tender with Me Baby" (UK No. 28).

Track listing

Notes * signifies additional producer * signifies remix * signifies post-production and remix

Personnel

– lead vocals (all tracks), backing vocals (3, 7, 8, 10), arrangements (2, 8) *

– electric piano (1, 3, 4), organ (1, 4), keyboards (2, 3, 11), acoustic guitar (2, 6, 8, 11), backing vocals (2, 5), percussion programming (5),

Moog bass The Moog Taurus is a foot-operated analog synthesizer designed and manufactured by Moog Music, originally conceived as a part of the Constellation series of synthesizers. The initial Taurus I was manufactured from 1975 to 1981; a less popular re ...

(11), drum programming (11) *

Jeff Bova Jeff Bova (born Jeffrey Bova in 1953) is an American musician. He has been active in the music industry since the mid-1970s, contributing to recordings by significant mainstream artists like Celine Dion, Michael Jackson, Blondie, Eric Clapton, ...

– horn section (1, 4, 5), synth bass (3), organ (4), strings (5) * Phil Ashley – keyboards (2, 7), bass pulse (2), organ (6), synthesizers (6), strings (6, 7, 8), acoustic piano (8), flute (8) * Elliot Lewis – additional keyboards (2, 8), strings (2, 8), flute (11) *

Philippe Saisse Philippe Saisse is a French jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, record producer, and arranger. Career He was born in Marseille and raised in Paris. After studying at the Conservatoire de Paris he won a scholarship to the Berklee College of Mu ...

– additional keyboards (2, 3, 6, 8), slap bass (3), flute solo (5), keyboard mallet and chimes (7) *

Rupert Hine Rupert Neville Hine (21 September 1947 – 4 June 2020) was an English musician, songwriter and record producer. He produced albums for artists including Rush, Kevin Ayers, Tina Turner, Howard Jones, Saga, the Fixx, Bob Geldof, Thompson Twins ...

– keyboards (9), bass (9), drum programming (9), backing vocals (9) *

Nick Glennie-Smith Nickolas Glennie-Smith is an English film score composer, conductor, and musician who is a frequent collaborator with Hans Zimmer, contributing to scores including '' The Rock'' (nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound), the 2006 histori ...

– keyboards (10, 12), strings (10, 12), synth bass (12), drum programming (12),

bell tree A bell tree, also known as tree bellsBeck, John. ''Encyclopedia of Percussion.'' Taylor and Francis, 1995. or Chinese bell tree (often confused with the mark tree), is a percussion instrument, consisting of vertically nested inverted metal bowl ...

(12) * Casey Young – keyboards (10) * Greg Mathieson – synth bass (10) * Eddie Martinez – rhythm guitar (1, 3, 4), all guitars (5) * Neil Taylor – slide guitar (1), guitar solo (1) *

Tony Joe White Tony Joe White (July 23, 1943 – October 24, 2018), nicknamed the Swamp Fox, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for his 1969 hit " Polk Salad Annie" and for " Rainy Night in Georgia", which he wrote but which was first ...

– lead guitar (1, 3, 4, 12), rhythm guitar (1, 3, 4, 12), harmonica (1, 3), synth bass (1, 4) * Gene Black – rhythm guitar (2, 7, 8), lead guitar (6, 7), guitar solo (6), guitar (10) * James Ralston – rhythm guitar (2, 6, 7, 8), guitar (10) *

Pat Thrall Patrick Thrall is an American rock guitarist. Thrall began his recording career in 1972. He played guitar, vocals, and percussion with the group Cookin' Mama, which had his brother, Preston Thrall, on percussion. They released the album ''New Day ...

– guitar solo (2), additional lead guitar fills (6), slide guitar (8), electric guitar (11) *

Phil Palmer Philip John Palmer (born 9 September 1952) is a rock sideman and session guitarist who has toured, recorded, and worked with numerous artists. He is best known for his work with Eric Clapton and Dire Straits. Biography Palmer grew up in nor ...

– guitars (9) *

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...

– guitars (12) *

Carmine Rojas Carmine Rojas (February 14, 1953) is an American bass guitarist, musical director and composer. His musical styles include rock, R&B/funk, and jazz. Music career Early years, as sideman Born in Brooklyn, Rojas toured the world with David Bowie ...

– bass guitar (1, 4, 5) *

T. M. Stevens Thomas Michael "T. M." Stevens (born July 28, 1951) is an American bass guitarist from New York City. Stevens has worked with an array of rock, R&B, and pop acts as a session musician, and also leads his own groups and works as a solo performer ...

– bass guitar (2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 11) * J. T. Lewis – drums (1, 3, 4, 5) * Art Wood – drums (2, 6, 7, 8) *

Geoff Dugmore Geoff Dugmore (born 12 April 1960) is a Scottish drummer, musical director and producer. He was a member of the bands The Europeans, and Wildlife. Career Educated at Kelvinside Academy in Glasgow, Scotland, Dugmore started his musical care ...

– drums (10) * Danny Cummings – percussion (3, 4, 7), shaker (5), congas (7) *

Albert Hammond Albert Louis Hammond OBE (born 18 May 1944) is a British-Gibraltarian singer, songwriter, and record producer. A prolific songwriter, he also collaborated with other songwriters such as Mike Hazlewood, John Bettis, Diane Warren, Holly Knight ...

– shaker (10), backing vocals (10) *

Gary Barnacle Gary Barnacle (born 1959 in Dover, England) is an English saxophonist, flautist, brass instrument arranger, composer, and producer. Barnacle is primarily noted for his session work and live work, including various Prince's Trust concerts a ...

– all saxophones (1, 12), saxophone solo (10) *

Edgar Winter Edgar Holland Winter (born December 28, 1946) is an American musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist, playing keyboards, guitar, saxophone, and percussion, as well as singing. His success peaked in the 1970s with his band the Edgar Winter Group ...

– saxophone solo (2) * Tim Cappello – saxophone solo (5, 8) * Roger Davies – arrangements (5) *

Lance Ellington Lance Ellington (born 22 June 1957) is an English singer, songwriter and actor. Ellington, the only son of the band leader Ray Ellington, specialises in swing and big ballads. He has worked with many artists including Sting, George Michael, Glo ...

– backing vocals (2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11) *

Tessa Niles Tessa Margaret Niles ( ''née'' Webb; born 27 January 1961 in Ilford, Essex) is an English singer, best known as a backing singer for a wide variety of contemporary artists. She began her professional singing career in 1979. Early life and ca ...

– backing vocals (2, 3, 5–8, 11) * David Munday – backing vocals (9) * Sandy Stewart – backing vocals (9) *

Holly Knight ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

– backing vocals (10) *

Graham Lyle Graham Hamilton Lyle (born 11 March 1944, in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, Scotland) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. Between 1970 and 1997, he co-wrote 18 British Top 40 hits, 9 ''Billboard'' Hot 100 entries, 4 US Country No ...

– backing vocals (10)

Production

* Dan Hartman – producer (1–8, 11) * Tina Turner – executive producer, producer (2, 8) * Rupert Hine – producer (9) * Roger Davies – executive producer, producer (10, 12) * Albert Hammond – producer (10) * Graham Lyle – producer (10) * Tony Joe White – producer (12) Technical *

Chris Lord-Alge Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic compression for molding mixes that play wel ...

– recording engineer (1–8, 11), mixing (all tracks) * Andrew Scarth – recording engineer (9) * Mike Ging – recording engineer (10, 12) * Tommy Vicari – recording engineer (10) * Nick Froome – recording engineer (12) * Vincent Frerebeau – additional engineer * John Lee – additional engineer * Dave O'Donnell – additional engineer * James Allen-Jones – assistant engineer *

Darren Allison Darren Allison (born May 1968, Ashington, Northumberland, England) is an English record producer, musician, and audio engineer, best known for his production work with artists such as Spiritualized,Kempster, Chris "Studio secrets of the stars ...

– assistant engineer * Lee Curle – assistant engineer * Tim Leitner – assistant engineer * Paul Logus – assistant engineer * Ray Pyle – assistant engineer * David Scott – assistant engineer * Elliot Singerman – assistant engineer * Bob Ludwig – mastering Studios * Overdubs recorded at Multi-Level (Westport, CT); The Power Station (New York, NY); Lion Share Recording (Los Angeles, CA); E-Zee Studios (London, UK);

Mayfair Studios Mayfair Recording Studios, earlier called Spot Studios or Ryemuse Studios, was a recording studio in London, England, located in Mayfair from the 1960s to 1981, then in Primrose Hill from 1981 until it closed in 2008. In the early years the studio ...

(Primrose Hill, London, UK); Swanyard Studios (Islington, London, UK). * Mixed at The Grey Room (Hollywood, CA). * Mastered at Masterdisk (New York, NY). Other Credits * Bill Burks – art direction * Tommy Steele – art direction * Glenn Sakamoto – design *

Herb Ritts Herbert Ritts Jr. (August 13, 1952December 26, 2002) was an American fashion photographer and director known for his photographs of celebrities, models, and other cultural figures throughout the 1980s and 1990s. His work concentrated on black ...

– center photography * Peter Lindbergh – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

{{Authority control Tina Turner albums 1989 albums Albums produced by Rupert Hine Albums produced by Dan Hartman Albums produced by Tony Joe White Capitol Records albums