Things got a little weird at the Houston Astros’ Diamond Dreams gala Friday, at least according to MLB.com national correspondent Alyson Footer. The charitable event to benefit the Astros’ Foundation and New Hope Housing was billed as featuring singer/songwriter James Taylor, along with numerous Astros’ players and manager A.J. Hinch, but Footer tweeted that things got very different for a while:
Astros are telling me that is actually Tina Turner singing on stage at the Astros gala. Surprise guest. This is a little mind blowing.
— Alyson Footer (@alysonfooter) January 23, 2016
I thought it was a Tina impersonator. A really good one.
— Alyson Footer (@alysonfooter) January 23, 2016
Sure sounds like Miss Tina https://t.co/tXZr9zZdvl
— Alyson Footer (@alysonfooter) January 23, 2016
K. She is not Tina Turner. She is an impersonator who looks and sounds just like her. Astros say oops
— Alyson Footer (@alysonfooter) January 23, 2016
Go back to what you’re doing while I channel my inner backup dancer on the camera platform during Proud Mary.
— Alyson Footer (@alysonfooter) January 23, 2016
The Tina Turner impersonator is Cookie Watkins. If you have any weddings/bar mitzvahs coming up give her a jingle.
— Alyson Footer (@alysonfooter) January 23, 2016
That sounds like someone with the team got their wires crossed (or possibly Footer misinterpreted what she heard), but in any case, it makes for quite the story. It’s easy to see why someone might get confused, too; Watkins is a famed singer who’s performed with Duke Ellington and in several hit musicals, and who has been performing a Turner tribute for Legends In Concert for quite a while. Here’s a 2011 video showing clips from her Turner tributes:
There should have been a little skepticism here from whoever with the team thought this was real, though, as Turner is 76, lives in Switzerland, and rarely appears in public these days. Still, it makes for a fun story, and it’s certainly good promotion for Watkins: “Indistinguishable from the real thing!”
