Kiesha Wright, formerly with Legends in Concerts in Las Vegas, takes her Tina Turner impersonantion to the Empress Theatre in a show that also pays tributre to he Blues Brothers and B.B. King. (Courtesy photo)

By RICHARD FREEDMAN | rfreedman@timesheraldonline.com | Vallejo Times Herald

November 22, 2018 at 6:00 am

Keisha Wright can’t help but remember sitting in front of the TV set with her parents when Tina Turner would come on the screen.

“I would laugh at her. I thought she was having a fit because of the way she was dancing,” Wright said. “My mom said, ‘You can laugh all you want, but you’ll never be able to dance like that lady.'”

Ah, karma, Or whatever one calls it. All these years later, and Wright has gained a stellar reputation for — you got it — her tribute to Tina Turner.

It’s not as if Wright is surprised. She was told early on that while she may not have looked like the iconic soul star, she sounded like her to the point of Turner herself asking a 15-year-old Wright to be a back-up singer.

Encouraged by one of the other “Ikettes” — the singers behind Ike and Tina Turner — Wright got an audition. As she played piano and did an Aretha Franklin tune, a willowy figure emerged from the hallway wearing cowboy boots.

Wright would need to learn 15 songs quickly and backed off, saying she couldn’t do it. She said she ignored a phone message from Tina.

“I didn’t call her back for a whole month,” Wright said. “My grandma said, ‘Someone on the phone named Tina Turner wants to talk to you.'”

Wright surrendered, but found her talents lacking in the dance department.

“At the time I was in love with a boy and didn’t care about learning that song,” Wright said, attempting the dance until Turner agreed it wasn’t happening. https://www.timesheraldonline.com