Volatile Facts About Ike Turner, Music’s Complicated Legend

Volatile Facts About Ike Turner, Music’s Complicated Legend

A.V. Land

He Turned His Timeline Into A Dumpster Fire

If rock and roll were a movie franchise, Ike Turner would have starred in the prequel. In fact, he had some of the best IP in the business. Too bad the man BB King called a founding father of rock and roll also had a talent for self-destruction. As outrageous as his temper, substance use, spending, and womanizing ways were, it was his vicious treatment of his wife, Tina Turner, that got him canceled long before that was even a thing.

By the time the credits rolled, Ike Turner was famous for all the wrong reasons…

Ike & Tina Turner arriving at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in 1971Rob Mieremet, Adam Cuerden, Wikimedia Commons

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1. His Hometown Had A Dark Side

Ike Turner’s hometown of Clarksdale, Mississippi, is famous for the blues, but it also has a dark side. The town sits at the legendary crossroads where bluesman Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul to the devil. It was also the setting for the 2025 supernatural horror film Sinners, which was set in 1932, just one year after Turner was born there on November 5, 1931.

Too bad that while Clarksdale’s music scene was thriving, something much darker was lurking.

Screenshot from Sinners (2025)Screenshot from Sinners, Warner Bros. Pictures (2025)

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2. His Father Messed Up

The darkness surrounding Clarksdale in the 1930s was about to hit the Turner family hard. When Ike was a toddler, his father, Izear, a local Baptist preacher, was reportedly having a secret affair with a woman who was also seeing a local white man. One day, in retaliation, an angry gang of men kicked down the door at the Turner home.

A 1965 promotional portrait of Ike Turner holding an acoustic guitar. Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images

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3. His Family Was Blindsided

In what must have been terrifying for the Turner family, the men stormed into the house, blindfolded Ike’s father, and drove off with him. Hours later, they dumped him on the front lawn—barely alive. The men had beaten him so savagely that his insides were spilling out of his body. To make matters worse, Clarksdale was segregated. There was no Black hospital, and the white hospital refused to treat Izear. 

What happened next was just the beginning of the nightmare.

 Rock and roll musician Ike Turner poses for a portrait at a recording console in circa 1973.Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images

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4. He Couldn’t Escape The Horror

As his father’s life hung in the balance, Ike got a horrifying lesson in segregation. Eventually the health department set up a makeshift ward by pitching a tent in the Turners’ yard so Izear could recuperate. It didn’t help much. Ike later recalled, “When the wind was blowing, you could smell his intestines”. 

After about two gruelling years in the tent, Ike’s father succumbed to his injuries. Five-year-old Ike’s life only got worse from there.

Photo of Ike TURNER; Posed studio portrait of Ike TurnerGilles Petard, Getty Images

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5. He Was In Survival Mode

Growing up fatherless during the Great Depression gave young Ike Turner plenty of opportunity to perfect the art of the hustle. His revolving roster of side gigs ranged from the sweet (guiding a blind man around town) to the shady (pretending to be disabled and begging for change at the bus station). He learned to cord the edges of sofa covers, bought and sold junk, and even raised chickens, buying 100 chicks for $15 and selling off the 65 or 70 that survived.

Unfortunately, no amount of resourcefulness could protect Ike from what came next.

Photo of Ike TURNER; Posed studio portrait of Ike Turner Gilles Petard, Getty Images

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6. His Home Life Got Worse 

Losing a parent is heartbreaking, but gaining a stepfather can be even worse. Not too long after Izear’s passing, Ike’s mother remarried. Her new husband, Philip Reese, was an artist with a drinking problem—and a serious hate-on for his new stepson. When he’d had a few too many, Reese would often get violent. 

Then one fateful day, young Ike snapped.

Musician Ike Turner, of the Ike & Tina rock duo.Bettmann, Getty Images

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7. He Reached His Breaking Point

One night, after another explosive fight with his stepfather, Ike decided to take action. He snuck up behind Reese and whacked him with a piece of lumber—hard enough to knock him out. Horrified by what he’d done, the nine-year-old hopped on his bike and pedaled all the way to Memphis, clinging to the bumper of a slow-moving truck for part of the way. Once there, he talked his way into a job as a hallboy at the famous Peabody Hotel.

But after a few days, Ike missed home. He hoped that his mother’s relief would protect him against his stepfather’s rage—and he was right. 

American musician and songwriter, Ike Turner, November 1969Jack Robinson, Getty Images

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8. He Found His Groove

Even though Ike Turner grew up surrounded by music at his father’s church, it never really grabbed him. Neither did the ragtime his friend Ernest’s father played. Everything changed when something different came streaming out of Ernest’s house as the boys headed there after school one day. It was local musician Pinetop Perkins playing boogie-woogie.

“He was whooping the piano to death, man,” Turner recalls. “It excited me more than anything in the world”.

Pianist Pinetop Perkins in Paris, FranceLioneldecoster, Wikimedia Commons

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9. He Had Other Plans

Ike’s mother was thrilled that her son was interested in music, AKA something that would keep him out of trouble. She even bought him a piano and gave him money for lessons. There was one problem, though: Little Ike had no interest in learning to play the proper way. Instead, he pocketed the lesson money and spent it at the pool hall.

And who needs lessons when you can learn by hanging out at local cafes and imitating those musicians? It was a great system—until disaster struck.

American singer-songwriter and producer Ike Turner in an oriental outfit, 1985. Dave Hogan, Getty Images

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10. He Was A Boy Of Many Talents

Music wasn’t Ike’s only interest. By age 10, he was making and selling moonshine. But when a fire damaged his piano, he put his ingenuity to work in a whole new way. He repaired the instrument with wood, felt, rubber, and glue—and even taught himself how to re-tune it. 

Ike’s moonshine gig looked almost wholesome compared to a totally different sideline he’d started a few years earlier.

Rock and roll musician Ike Turner poses for a portrait laying on some grass with an acoustic guitar in circa 1971Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images

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11. He Had Astonishing Encounters

At six, Ike would have been deep in grief about losing his father. So when a middle-aged local lady named Miss Boozie asked him to help her feed the chickens, he was probably happy for the company. Of course, the five-cent-per-week salary didn’t hurt, either. Too bad Miss Boozie wanted him to do more than chores. 

Photo of Tina TURNER and Ike TURNER and Ike & Tina TURNER; Posed studio portrait of Ike and Tina TurnerGilles Petard, Getty Images

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12. He Enjoyed His “Chores”

Ike’s daily pit stop on the way to school involved more than making sure the chickens were fed. In what most would consider a disturbing turn of events, he later claimed that Miss Boozie would sit him on top of her and show him how to move. In a later interview, he demonstrated by raising his arms and rolling his stomach, imitating Miss Boozie yelling, “Hit it! Hit it!” Ike was emphatic about one thing: “I was enjoying myself!” 

Strangely, there was something much less grown-up that frightened Ike much more.

Ike Turner (1931-2007), American singer and guitarist, during a concert, on January 30, 1971.Christian Rose, Getty Images

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13. He Had A Weak Spot

After everything young Ike Turner had been through, you might think it would take a lot to scare him. But at 12, he discovered something that did: performing in front of people. When he had to give an impromptu piano recital at school, Ike was so terrified that he decided he wasn't meant to be a frontman. Even much later, at the height of the Ike and Tina Revue, he’d stand at the back of the stage with his back to the audience.

Soon after, in the eighth grade, Ike dropped out of school. He was about to get a very different kind of education.

Rock and roll musician Ike Turner of the husband-and-wife R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner plays piano in circa 1973. Tom Copi, Getty Images

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14. His Lousy Job Was Anything But

Pre-teen Ike may have just dropped out of school, but he was about to get quite the education. He quickly landed a gig as a janitor and elevator operator at Clarksdale hotspot, the New Alcazar Hotel. The lobby oozed Southern gentility while WROX radio blasted the blues from a studio right inside the building.

Ike may have even shuttled Tennessee Williams between floors—the legendary playwright was a regular visitor at that time. Not bad for a kid who had just dropped out, but Ike would soon go much farther than the elevator could take him.

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tennessee Williams photographed in 1966.Jack Mitchell, Getty Images

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15. He Had A New Obsession

Every chance he got, Ike would press his face against the glass at the WROX radio studio to watch DJ John Friskillo spin records. Eventually, Friskillo noticed the kid and taught him the ins and outs of the control room. It didn’t take long before Friskillo trusted Ike to play the records while he went to grab coffee.

Then the station manager offered Ike his own late-afternoon show, “Jive Till Five”. Many folks would have been happy to settle in, but Ike was just warming up.

WROX BuildingChris Crookston, Wikimedia Commons

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16. He Faked It

Ike Turner may have been 13, but he was already backing some pretty big names on piano when they played the Riverside Hotel. He’d also joined a local ensemble called the Tophatters, who played big-band tunes from sheet music. There was just one problem: Ike couldn’t read a note. So (of course) he found a workaround. The night before a performance, he’d listen to the record, memorize his part by ear, and then pretend to read the music.

When the Tophatters split, half of them stuck with Ike to become the Kings of Rhythm—and they were about to get loud.

Photo of Ike TURNER; Ike TURNER's Kings Of Rhythm, back row l to r Jackie Brenston, Raymond Hill, Eddie jones, Fred Sample, Billy Gayles. front row l to r Jesse Knight Jr., Ike Turner, Eugene Wahsington.,Gilles Petard, Getty Images

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17. He Blasted Off (Kinda)

The Kings of Rhythm had a fan in BB King. He liked them enough to help them land a weekly gig—and even recommended them to Sam Phillips at Memphis Recording Service. With Ike at the helm as bandleader, arranger, and on piano, the band recorded “Rocket 88”. But on the record, Phillips changed the band's name to Jackie Brenston and the Delta Cats. 

The song became a sensation, selling half a million copies. Ike and his band? Not so much.

Photo of Sam PhillipsColin Escott, Getty Images

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18. His Song Changed History

Sure, “Rocket 88” was a 1951 chart topper that helped launch rock and roll and gave Sam Phillips the money to launch Sun Records. But for Ike Turner, it launched a lot of hard feelings. Even though he had masterminded the song, Phillips told him he couldn’t sing and put the band’s sax player, Jackie Brenston, on vocals.

With a new singer and a new band name, Brenston sold the rights to Phillips for $910 while Ike and the rest of the band got $20 apiece. Ouch.

Photo of Jackie BrenstonMichael Ochs Archives, Getty Images

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19. He Loved Love

For the record, Ike wasn’t too busy with his music career to have a romantic life. Quite the contrary. “I started getting married when I was 14,” he said. “First there was Edna Dean Stewart. A few months later it was Velma Dishman, then Dolores Ward. I don’t remember her last name, but then it was Alice”. 

As it turned out, Ike had a talent for collecting more than wives.

American singer and guitarist, in his dressing during a concert at the Olympia. Paris (9th arrondissement), on November 30, 1975Christian Rose, Getty Images

20. He Pivoted

After getting burned by “Rocket 88,” Ike found himself on the other side of the music business—as a talent scout. The Bihari brothers paid him $100 a week to scour the South for musicians to record. It was more than anyone else was making. They also had him writing songs. Too bad Ike didn’t know how royalties worked. The Biharis would copyright his material under their own names and pseudonyms. He later estimated that he’d written 78 hit records for them.  

Soon, a visit to his sister would change everything.

 (L-R) Founder of Modern Records Joe Bihari, blues musician B.B. King, disc jockey Hunter Hancock and an unidentified man pose for a portrait as King shakes Hancock's hand in return for receiving an award in 1964. Side note: Joe Bihari and his brothers stole 1/2 the publishing from many of the artists they recorded including the BB King song Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images

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21. He Was The Main Attraction

A visit to his sister in St Louis opened Ike’s eyes to a red-hot music scene. He brought the Kings of Rhythm there in 1954, and they quickly became the buzziest band in town. As Ike put it, “You couldn’t get in no place we were playing at”. As his reputation grew, Ike even began to demand that the clubs booking him integrate their audiences.

As the Kings of Rhythm entered their golden era, Ike decided to set down roots. He bought a place in East St Louis that was large enough for him, his wife, and the band. It was about to become a very busy place.

Photo of Ike TURNER; Ike TURNER's Kings Of Rhythm, l to r Billy Gayles (holding bar), Raymond Hill, Eugene Washington (d),Eddie Jones, Ike Turner, Jessie Knight jr., Annie Mae Wilson, 1955, Collection Gilles PTtardGilles Petard, Getty Images

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22. He Didn’t Need to Drink To Have Fun

With Ike’s strict no-booze rule for his musicians—and himself—one would think the band’s living quarters would be calm. They were anything but. Ike had bought a 10-bedroom house in East St Louis that the band dubbed “the house of many thrills”. After the musicians finished their gigs, they would invite women, some of them married, back to the house to party all night. 

The husbands weren’t exactly thrilled.

Photo of Tina TURNER and Ike TURNER and Ike & Tina TURNER; Posed portrait of Ike and Tina Turner, full lengthGilles Petard, Getty Images

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23. He Was Playing With Fire

In St Louis in the mid-50s, if your woman wasn’t with you, chances were she was at Ike Turner’s house of thrills. Unfortunately, the titular thrills weren’t always pleasurable. Ike recalled jealous men driving past and firing into the side of the house. Sometimes Ike and the guys fired back—or beat up the men who came looking for trouble.

One night, it turned tragic.

ke Turner at the studio Bolic Sound March 5, 1972 in Los Angeles, Califonia.Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images

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24. His House Was Under Siege

Despite the house being frequently descended upon by betrayed men, the band had each other’s backs—until one night they didn’t. A roadie named Bebe was caught alone at the house when a group of guys came pounding on the door. They dragged Bebe to a park, castrated him, and left him to perish. Ike’s explanation? “East St Louis used to be really rough, man”.

Ike Turner performing 1972Edge4life42, Wikimedia Commons

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25. His Future Was In The Balance

Meanwhile, a 16-year-old country girl named Anna Mae Bullock had just arrived in St Louis, and her older sister Alline was determined to introduce her to the city’s nightlife. Her solution? Dress underage Anna Mae in her own clothes and makeup so she could get into the Manhattan Club to see Ike Turner and the Kings of Rhythm. They were the hottest band in town, but they had a rough reputation.

Anna Mae had no idea that one night at the club was about to change her life.

Photo of Tina Turner.Jay Bernstein Public Relations, Los Angeles., Wikimedia Commons

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26. He Wasn’t Exactly Her Type

The Manhattan Club was a lot for young Anna Mae to take in. One wall held a huge painting of the Kings of Rhythm. The room’s capacity was around 250, and she noted that most of the audience were women, both Black and white. Then the band got onstage, and as soon as Ike hit one note, Anna Mae thought, “Jesus, listen to this guy play”.

As the place exploded with music and dancing, Anna Mae looked around and thought, “God, I wonder why so many women like him? He sure is ugly”. But by the end of the night, Anna Mae had decided she wanted in.

Photo of Tina Turner by Harry Langdon in 1977. Date info from auction listing of other photo from same photoshoot here.HarryLangdon, Wikimedia Commons

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27. He Was Caught Off Guard

For weeks, Anna Mae had been following Ike Turner around, trying to get him to let her sing. Even her sister Alline would pester Ike about it. Then, during a break between sets, Ike was noodling around on the piano when Anna Mae saw her chance. She grabbed a microphone and started singing. Ike remembered hearing her voice and thinking, “That girl can sing”.

The country girl from Nutbush had finally found her way onto Ike Turner’s stage.

Ike & Tina Turner featured on the cover of Cash Box magazine, 30 June 1962.Sue Records, Wikimedia Commons

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28. He Had Baby Momma Drama

It didn’t take long for Anna Mae to become part of Ike’s inner circle—and not just musically. She started dating the band’s sax player, Raymond Hill, and eventually moved into Ike’s house with Hill and Ike’s live-in girlfriend Lorraine Taylor. Then Anna Mae, who was still in high school, got pregnant. Hill left her before the child was born, but the bigger problem was Lorraine. 

She thought Anna Mae was pregnant by Ike and confronted her with a .38.

Tina Turner, American pop and soul singer, pictured prior to her first appearance as a solo artist in London.Keystone, Getty Images

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29. His Love Life Was A Hot Mess

Anna Mae shook Ike awake, screaming that Lorraine had the pistol. As Ike rushed down the hallway, Lorraine locked herself in the bathroom. He pounded on the door. Then he heard the lock click again—and a loud blast. Lorraine had turned the pistol on herself. In his panic, Ike picked up the .38, leaving his fingerprints on it. 

Somehow Lorraine survived—and gave birth to Ike Jr that October. Ike talked his way out of the electric chair, and then resumed sleeping with Anna Mae. 

American pop and soul singer Tina Turner, 1988.Dave Hogan, Getty Images

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30. His Muse Entered Through The Back Door

It’s kinda funny that Ike’s cheapness may have inadvertently sent his career into the stratosphere. He had booked studio time to record a new song, but the vocalist didn’t show up. Ike didn’t want to waste money, so he had Anna Mae record a vocal track as a temporary guide. He planned to remove her voice and replace it with the missing singer’s later.  

When a local DJ heard the track, he suggested they send it to Sue Records in New York. Ike was in for a very big surprise.

Tina Turner of the husband-and-wife R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner sings during a recording session in circa 1969.Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images

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31. He (Was Told He) Had A Star

How could Ike Turner, a former talent scout, fail to recognize a star when she was standing right in front of him? After hearing the demo with Anna Mae’s vocals, Sue Records label owner Juggy Murray clocked her immediately. He wanted to release the track with Anna Mae’s vocals and even offered a $20,000 advance (roughly a quarter of a million dollars today). Then Murray made an even bigger suggestion: Make Anna Mae the star of his show.

The single, “A Fool in Love,” was released in July 1960 and became a million-selling hit. Ike followed Murray’s advice. Anna Mae became “Tina”. 

CIRCA 1961: Texas 1961Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images

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32. He Put The Show On The Road

Somehow this teenage girl from the country had supercharged the Kings of Rhythm. “Her voice was different for the type of music we were doing,” said the band’s drummer, Eugene Washington. “Things just exploded right from there”. Now dubbed the Ike and Tina Turner Revue and accompanied by the Ikettes, the group set off on a four-month nationwide tour as “A Fool in Love” climbed the charts. 

Ike was determined not to let that momentum go to waste—even if Tina wasn’t trained for touring and was very pregnant. Ike had a plan.

Tina Turner and Ike Turner, portrait, London, October 1975.Michael Putland, Getty Images

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33. He Had A Backup Plan

No mat leave? No HR? No problem when you’ve got Ike Turner on the case. With a pregnant Tina and a tour underway, Ike came up with a solution: train a replacement. Of course, he wasn’t about to announce it to the woman whose job was being replaced (Fun fact: He had already trademarked the name “Tina Turner” so that he could replace her if she ever left). But the backup Tina came with a few complications. 

For starters, she was a woman of the evening. Then she started telling her clients that she was the real Tina Turner. Let’s just say, it didn’t take long for Ike’s little scheme to start falling apart.

American pop singer Tina Turner, formerly part of the duo Ike And Tina Turner.Evening Standard, Getty Images

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34. His Plan Went Sideways

When Tina went into labour early, Ike’s plan started to unravel. As if that wasn’t enough, Ike had to fly back to St Louis for a retrial on charges related to writing bad checks. Then one of the Ikettes visited Tina in the hospital and casually mentioned that Ike had been training a replacement Tina. That was all it took. Tina discharged herself, tracked down the imposter, and beat her up.

Then, just two days after giving birth to her son Ronald, she was back onstage.

Tina Turner 1985Paul Bergen, Getty Images

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35. He Had The Hottest Show In The Country

The Ike and Tina Turner Revue was a wild spectacle that vibrated with energy: Tina tearing across the stage, the Ikettes dancing in formation, horns blasting. Too bad the energy was darker behind the scenes. The band was on the road for a relentless 51 weeks a year, and Ike ran the Revue with an iron fist, fining the Ikettes for everything from runs in stockings to laughing too loudly. 

“You can get fined for breathing if Ike decides he doesn’t like you or if he happens to be on a downer,” said Ikette Ester Jones. Tina knew this all too well. 

Husband-and-wife R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner pose for a portrait with their back up dancers Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images

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36. He Crossed All The Lines

As flashy and joyous as the Revue’s shows seemed to audiences, Tina was singing through deep pain. Ike had booked them into an endless string of dive bars. “It was constant hard work,” Tina recalled. Behind the scenes, life had become terrifying. Ike “used my nose as a punching bag so many times, I could taste blood running down my throat when I sang,” Tina recalled. “He broke my jaw. And I couldn’t remember what it was like to not have a black eye”.

That was only the beginning.

American singer Tina Turner performing during her Private Dancer Tour, on one of four nights at Wembley Arena, London, 14th-17th March 1985.Michael Putland, Getty Images

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37. He Seemed To Have It All

The wedding of Ike and Tina Turner wasn’t exactly ripped from the pages of a fairy tale. In 1962, he and his bride-to-be hopped in a car and drove to Tijuana, where a shady backstreet lawyer served as their witness. No ceremony. Like an ersatz version of the Brady Bunch, they brought their kids under one roof at their new LA home. Tina and Ike had their son Ronnie, and the household also included Tina’s son Craig and Ike’s sons from Lorraine, Ike Jr and Michael. 

And of course, marriage didn’t stop Ike from constantly sleeping around.

Ike & Tina Turner pose for a portrait with their son and step-sons in circa 1972. Clockwise from bottom left: Michael Turner (Son of Ike & Lorraine Taylor), Ike Turner, Jr. (Son of Ike & Lorraine Taylor), Ike Turner, Craig Hill (Son of Tina & Raymond Hill), Ronnie Turner (Son of Ike & Tina) (1960 - 2022). Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images

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38. His Star Kept Rising

Musically, life for Ike Turner kept getting better. “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine” became the Revue’s second million-selling hit and earned them their first Grammy nomination. Between 1964 and 1965, they racked up 14 Top 40 R&B hits. Then, in 1965, Wall of Sound mastermind Phil Spector caught the Revue at a club on the Sunset Strip and was blown away. He immediately wanted to work with them. 

Even though Spector had heard the whispers about Ike’s domineering ways, he had no idea what he was getting into—and neither did Ike.

Screenshot from It's Gonna Work Out Fine (1961)Screenshot from It's Gonna Work Out Fine, Sue Records (1961), Enhanced

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39. He Let The Money Talk

Spector knew how to get what he wanted. He offered Ike the equivalent of $250,000 in today’s money up front. In exchange, Ike had to stay far away from the recording sessions, but would still get “Ike and Tina” billing, and the mouthwatering “absolute guarantee of hits forever”. Spector then spent an entire album’s recording budget perfecting this one song: “River Deep, Mountain High”. 

Spector thought of it as his masterpiece. Tina loved it—and even Ike was impressed. Too bad what happened next was not what the Revue was promised. 

UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1970: Photo of Phil Spector Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesMichael Ochs Archives, Getty Images

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40. His Hit Came With A Twist

Spector’s “River Deep, Mountain High” flopped so spectacularly that the producer retreated from the music business for two years. For the Revue, the song wasn’t a total loss. It reached number two in the UK charts, and it caught the attention of the Rolling Stones. The Stones were impressed enough to book the Revue as the opening act for their 1966 fall tour. 

As the Revue kept leveling up, Tina started to think seriously about her own future.

Rolling Stones at Royal Albert Hall, London. 23 September 1966 during their tour with Ike & Tina TurnerMirrorpix, Getty Images

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41. He Wasn’t Exactly Discreet

Ike Turner didn’t exactly go out of his way to keep his affairs secret. He’d even gotten one of the Ikettes, Ann Thomas, pregnant. On one occasion, he went into the next hotel room and slept with Ann, while leaving the adjoining door open before returning to bed with Tina. Then, on one economy flight, the famously cheap bandleader had all three of them sitting in one row. Ike rested his head on Ann’s lap while his feet were on Tina’s.

Ike’s excuse? “Tina even got girls for me…She’d get Ikettes for me. I was with them, she knew that”.

The American pop singer Tina Turner arrives at London Airport with her husband, the singer and songwriter Ike Turner. They performed together as a duo until their marriage ended in 1976.Hulton Deutsch, Getty Images

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42. He Could No Longer Resist

Ah, the monkey’s paw of success. As the Revue’s popularity grew, so did Ike’s problems. In 1969, they were headlining the brand new International Hotel in Las Vegas when Ike made a decision that would change everything. He had always enforced a strict no-substances rule, but while he was at the International, Elvis Presley and Redd Foxx introduced him to the white powder. 

Ike liked what it did for his creativity but later realized the massive cost. By his own estimate, he ended up with an $11-million habit that made a hole in his nasal septum—and had him in and out of the court system for at least the next 15 years. 

Elvis Presley publicity photo for The Trouble with Girls, 1968MGM, Wikimedia Commons

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43. He Was King Of The Fortress

You know you have a problem when rock stars are shocked by your substance habit. One night in 1974, Ian McLagan of The Faces got an inside look at Ike’s Bolic Sound studio. By then, Ike’s paranoia had the place covered in cameras, gates, and armed guards, but Mick Jagger’s presence was enough to get them through the door. Inside, Ike lifted off the shell of a large silver crab filled with Peruvian flake. Then he took off his snake necklace with heads that turned into spoons, and used them to snort and pass it around.

Jagger mentioned “Rocket 88,” and Ike tore into a “stunning” version that morphed into a jam session. Jagger slipped out while the rest of the band were stuck playing until 8 am. 

Photograph of Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones during the band’s visit to Finland.Olavi Kaskisuo / Lehtikuva, Wikimedia Commons

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44. He Pushed Her Too Far

After years of Ike’s mistreatment, Tina reached her breaking point. “You just get fed up, and you say, ‘Life is not worth living if I’m going to stay in this situation’”. On July 1, 1976, during a tour stop in Dallas, she finally made her move. Ike had beaten her the “entire way from the airport to the hotel”. By the time they arrived, the side of Tina’s face was “swollen like a monster’s”. She acted like nothing was wrong until Ike fell asleep.

With 36 cents and a gas card in her wallet, Tina sprinted across the freeway to a neighboring hotel, nearly getting hit along the way. A friend eventually bought her a plane ticket out of Ike’s life for good. “I felt proud,” Tina said. “I felt strong”. From here on in, Ike would be anything but.

Collectie / Archief: Fotocollectie Anefo
Reportage / Serie: Amerikaans duo Ike en Tina Turner arriveren op Schiphol
Beschrijving: Ike & Tina Turner
Locatie: Noord-Holland, Schiphol
Trefwoorden: popmuzikanten, portretten
Persoonsnaam: Ike Turner, Tina TurnRob Mieremet / Adam Cuerden, Wikimedia Commons

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45. He Went Into Freefall

Without Tina, Ike went off the rails. Over the years, he was busted 11 times. Then, in 1988, there was what seemed like a glimmer of hope. Disney offered Ike $45,000 for the right to portray him in a Tina Turner biopic. Ike, who was broke, later admitted that the amount sounded like a million. He was so eager to get his hands on it that he signed the contract without reading it properly. 

When he got his first instalment of cash, he immediately spent it on coke. Not long afterward, the authorities apprehended him for using substances while driving. During that stint in the big house, he missed a lot.

Ike Turner at ArraignmentBettmann, Getty Images

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46. He Missed His Big Night

Ike Turner had finally made it to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Too bad he was behind bars and couldn’t attend his joint induction in 1991. Tina did not attend either, leaving Phil Spector to accept the award on their behalf. Spector’s bad wig almost upstaged his hilariously accurate impersonation of Ike

It was Spector’s final words that really hung in the air, though: “And Ike Turner, I can only hope that this award marks the beginning of the best part of his life”. Spoiler alert: It did not.

Phil Spector at The Rock and Roll hall of Fame Awards, in NYC, 1995Rossa W. Cole, Getty Images

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47. He Became Public Enemy Number One

When the Tina biopic What’s Love Got To Do With It? hit theaters in 1993, Ike suddenly went from troubled musician to Hollywood villain. He was particularly furious about the scene showing him forcing himself on Tina, something that was not mentioned in Tina’s autobiography, I, Tina. Ike wasn’t alone. Ebony reported that Tina was “not at all happy with some aspects of the film” and kept her distance when it was released.

Of course, it didn’t help Ike’s case that the film’s stars, Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne, were so convincing they were nominated for Oscars. 

Screenshot from What's Love Got to Do with It (1993)Screenshot from What's Love Got to Do with It, Touchstone Pictures (1993)

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48. He Started A Redemption Arc

To the public, Ike Turner had become a monster, but he was determined to rise from the ashes. He made $500,000 when Salt ’N’ Pepa sampled his song “I’m Blue,” he kicked his addiction for over a decade, wrote the autobiography Takin’ Back My Name, and returned to music. His 2001 comeback album, Here and Now, earned positive reviews and a Grammy nomination.

Despite suffering from emphysema, he played piano on a song by Gorillaz in 2005. Then his album Risin’ with the Blues won a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album in February 2007. Sadly, he wouldn’t live to see the end of the year.

 Musician Ike Turner poses with his Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album for Vince Bucci, Getty Images

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49. He Faced The Music

On December 12, 2007, Ike Turner perished at 76. His multiple health problems and substance issues had caught up with him. According to the sheriff’s report, investigators found paraphernalia in his bedroom, including a small baggie containing an off-white substance and a glass pipe. In his final year, he had privately recorded a brutally honest confessional song called “A Shamed Man”. In it, Ike sang, “I’ve lost all respect for myself / I can’t blame nobody else”. 

The poster-sized image of him beside the coffin was of him holding his Grammy. Whatever else had happened, it was clearly important to him that the music business had acknowledged him one last time.

Family and friends gather and pray during a memorial service for singer and musician Ike Turner at the City of Refuge Greater Bethany Community Church, in GardenaAxel Koester, Getty Images

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50. His Unintentional Legacy

Ike Turner’s influence on music is undeniable, but so is the damage he left behind. When Tina fled that Dallas hotel room with 36 cents in her pocket and went on to tell the world what had happened to her, she gave a voice to other victims of intimate partner violence at a time when it was swept under the rug. “Here is this icon saying: It’s okay to talk about this,” says survivor Ruth Glenn. “She broke that barrier”.  

Tina’s reasons for speaking out were clear. “I wanted to stop people from thinking that Ike and Tina was so positive,” she said in 2021. “So I thought, if nothing else, at least people know”.

They knew. And for some of them, knowing made it possible to leave. 

Singer Tina Turner poses in the courtyard of the Elysee Palace before attending a ceremony at the president's official residence for honorees of France's most prestigious Legion D'Honneur award on July 3, 2008 in Paris, France.Pascal Le Segretain, Getty Images

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You May Also Like: 

Untamed Facts About Mick Jagger, The Ultimate Rock Star

Cool Facts About Charlie Parker, The Tortured Genius

Enduring Facts About Tina Turner, The Queen Of Rock & Roll

Sources:  1, 2, 3, 4 ,5 ,6 ,7 ,8 ,9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17


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