A lost Tina Turner track has been unearthed from the vaults after four decades – but critics say it is simply not The Best.

The previously unreleased record H๏τ For You, Baby was originally intended for her 1984 album Private Dancer.

Recorded at Hollywood’s Capitol Studios, the song was instead shelved in favour of her chart-topping hits such as What’s Love Got To Do With It and Better Be Good To Me.

Instead, the single made its debut on Thursday on the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show with Mark Goodier, two years after the singer’s death aged 83.

Critics have called the late Ms Turner’s track ‘banal’ and have said they ‘understand why it didn’t make the final cut of the album’.

One reviewer Alexis Petridis wrote: ‘It isn’t, by any stretch of the imagination, a lost classic’.

A lost Tina Turner track has been unearthed from the vaults after four decades – but critics say it is simply not The Best  (the singer is pictured in 2019)

The unearthed rock track was produced by John Grant, the record executive who masterminded her mid-career comeback.

Written by Australian musicians George Young and Harry Vanda, it had already been recorded once by Scottish-Australian singer John Paul Young, the voice behind disco classic Love Is In The Air.

Fan reaction to the newly discovered single has also been mixed.

While one hailed the Proud Mary singer to have ‘helped me survive’, others have been less enthusiastic.

Disappointed fans said their day was ‘ruined’ by hearing it on BBC Radio 2.

One fan shared: ‘A lot of her released stuff was very average, so stuff she didn’t want released ain’t gonna be good. And now I’ve heard the song, I was right.’

Another added: ‘Yet another Operation Oops’.

The never-before-heard dud will be included in a 40th-anniversary edition of Private Dancer, which will be released on March 21.

The previously unreleased record H๏τ For You, Baby was originally intended for her 1984 album Private Dancer (pictured 1987) 

Critics have called the late Ms Turner’s track ‘banal’ and have said they ‘understand why it didn’t make the final cut of the album’ (pictured in 2009) 

This special edition will feature a collection of unreleased tracks and live performances.

The release of Private Dancer in May 1984 marked a pivotal moment in Tina Turner’s career, launching a resurgence in her popularity.

Ex-Strictly judge Dame Arlene Phillips recalled a gruelling 19-hour shoot, as the choreographer behind Ms Turner’s Private Dancer music video.

Speaking in 2023, Dame Arlene, 81, said: ‘It bonded everyone, and Tina was extraordinary. She truly put everything into it – her heart and soul. It was a role she was taking on, and she wasn’t afraid to cry.’

Ms Turner died from natural causes at her home in Kusnacht near Zurich, Switzerland, in 2023.

During her time as an artist she won a total of 12 Grammy Awards and was the first artist to have a top 40 hit in seven consecutive decades.

Shortly after her death Rolling Stone ranked her number 55 on their list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.