Ike Turner

.|alt= Izear Luster Turner Jr. was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, on November 5, 1931, to Beatrice Cushenberry, a seamstress, and Izear Luster Turner, a Baptist minister. according to Turner, he witnessed his father beaten and left for dead by a white man (another account given by Turner alleged that "a couple of pickup-truck loads of whites in khaki pants and khaki shirts" dragged his father away, returning him after having "kicked holes in his stomach"). He claimed he was later told this assault was an act of retaliation over a woman with whom his father was having an affair, and that his father lived for two or three years as an invalid in a tent erected by the Health Department in the family's yard before succumbing to his injuries when Turner was about five years old. Donald Brackett, author of Tumult! The Incredible Life of Tina Turner, observed Turner "often related" this story, but that "like most Ike stories, it might need to be taken with a pound of salt". His mother remarried an artist named Philip Reese, who Turner described as a violent alcoholic. One day after Reese gave him a whipping, Turner knocked him out with a length of lumber and ran away to Memphis for a few days before returning home. Despite their troubled relationship, Turner moved his stepfather into one of his homes in St. Louis after his mother died in 1959 and took care of him until his death in 1961. Reflecting on these experiences, he stated: "That's probably why every relationship I was in was surrounded by sex. Sex was power to me." WROX is noted for being the first radio station in Mississippi to employ a black DJ, Early Wright. One day, Friskillo spotted Turner watching and put him to work, teaching him the ins and outs of the control room. Soon, he was left to play records while Friskillo took coffee breaks. This led to Turner being offered a job by the station manager as the DJ on the late-afternoon shift. On his show, "Jive Till Five", he played a diverse range of music such as Roy Milton and Louis Jordan alongside early rockabilly records. Turner persuaded his mother to pay for piano lessons, but he did not take to the formal style of playing. Instead, he spent the money in a pool hall and learned boogie-woogie from Perkins. At some point in the 1940s, Turner moved into Clarksdale's Riverside Hotel. The Riverside played host to touring musicians, including Sonny Boy Williamson II and Duke Ellington. Turner associated with many of these musicians, and at 13 years old he backed Sonny Boy Williamson II on piano. == Career ==

1946–1950: Formation of the Kings of Rhythm As a teenager, Turner joined a local rhythm ensemble called the Tophatters, who played around Clarksdale, Mississippi. Members of the band were Clarksdale musicians and included Turner's school friends Raymond Hill, Eugene Fox and Clayton Love. The Tophatters played big band arrangements from sheet music. Turner, who was trained by ear and could not sight read, would learn the pieces by listening to a version on record at home, pretending to be reading the music during rehearsals. In the 1950s, Turner's group got regular airplay from live sessions on the radio stations WROX in Clarksdale and KFFA in Helena, Arkansas. Around the time he was starting out with the Kings of Rhythm, Turner and Lane became unofficial roadies for blues musician Robert Nighthawk, who often played live on WROX. He played juke joints alongside other local blues artists such as Elmore James, Muddy Waters, and Little Walter. Phillips licensed the recording to Chess Records in Chicago. Chess released it under the name "Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats" instead of "Ike Turner and His Kings of Rhythm Featuring Jackie Brenston". Turner blamed Phillips for this misrepresentation. Soon after its release, the single caused a sensation and Turner performed with his band at the W.C. Handy Theatre in Memphis. The record sold approximately half a million copies. Turner and the band were paid $20 each for the record. The exception was Brenston, who sold the rights to Phillips for $910. Phillips used profits from the success of the record to launch Sun Records in February 1952. The song is often cited as the first rock n' roll record, but in a later interview, Turner offered this assessment: "I don't think that 'Rocket 88' is rock 'n' roll. I think that 'Rocket 88' is R&B, but I think 'Rocket 88' is the cause of rock and roll existing". The success of "Rocket 88" generated tension and ego clashes in the band which culminated with Brenston leaving to pursue a solo career, causing the band to fall apart. Turner, without a band and disappointed his hit record had not created more opportunities for him, disbanded the Kings of Rhythm for a few years. Turner played piano on King's early records "You Know I Love You" and "3 O'Clock Blues", which became King's first two number-ones. According to Joe Bihari, Turner had brought King to his attention years prior. He said, "Ike wasn't more than sixteen then. He would send dubs of things he cut to us, and if we'd like them we'd make a seal or sign the artist. That's how we acquired B.B. King." King also maintained that Turner introduced him to the Bihari brothers. Unaware of songwriter's royalties, Turner also wrote new material which the Biharis copyrighted under their own names. They often purchased or claimed co-writer credit of songs written by artists on their labels using pseudonyms. Turner estimated he wrote seventy-eight hit records for the Biharis. Artists Turner discovered for Modern and Sun include Bobby Bland, Howlin' Wolf, Rosco Gordon, Boyd Gilmore, Houston Boines, Charley Booker, and Little Milton. He played piano in sessions with them and lesser-known artists such as the Prisonaires, Driftin' Slim, Ben Burton, Matt Cockrell, Dennis Binder, Sunny Blair, and Baby Face Turner. In 1951, Turner recorded two Howlin' Wolf tracks for Phillips, playing piano on "How Many More Years" and "Moanin' at Midnight", which Phillips sent to Chess. Turner also attempted to poach Elmore James from Trumpet Records and record him for Modern. Trumpet found out and Modern had to cancel the record. However, James did eventually sign with Modern, and Turner played on his recordings that were released on Modern's subsidiary label Flair Records. While in Helena, Turner tried to recruit Little Walter to record for Modern in January 1952, but Little Walter was on his way to Mississippi. In 1952, Turner discovered Little Junior Parker in West Memphis, and they formed a band with Matt "Guitar" Murphy. Turner married Lee in September 1952. He recalled, "[Presley] was just a white boy that would come over to black clubs. He would come in and stand behind the piano and watch me play. I never knew he was no musician." Turner discovered his identity many years later after Presley approached him when they were both playing at the International Hotel. To accommodate his then-wife Bonnie, who also played piano, Turner taught himself how to play guitar by ear, and Willie Kizart taught him blues guitar techniques. He began playing guitar in sessions in 1953, and by 1954, with the assistance of Joe Bihari, he built a makeshift recording studio at a defunct Greyhound bus station in Clarksdale. Turner used his Kings of Rhythm as session musicians. They played on many recordings for Bihari's Modern, RPM, and Flair labels. Some of the artists Turner backed on piano and guitar during this period include Elmore James, Johnny Ace and the Flairs. Around this time Turner discovered Billy "The Kid" Emerson in Greenville. He brought Emerson to record at Sun Records and backed him on guitar in 1954. 1954–1959: St. Louis In 1954, Turner visited his sister Lee Ethel Knight in St. Louis, Missouri. During his stay, he went clubbing at Ned Love's in East St. Louis, Illinois. Love invited Turner and his band to play at his club. Eventually, Turner returned with his reformed version of the Kings of Rhythm. The band consisted of Willie Kizart on guitar, Willie "Bad Boy" Sims on drums, vocalist Johnny O'Neal, Turner's nephew Jesse Knight Jr. on bass, and Turner's wife Annie Mae Wilson on piano and vocals. Turner maintained strict discipline and the band lived at his home on Virginia Place in East St. Louis which doubled as a studio. A teetotaler at the time, he avoided drugs and insisted all band members also adopt this policy, firing anyone he even suspected of breaking the rules. In St. Louis, Turner was exposed to a white audience who were excited by R&B. He played at the Moonlight Bar, Latin Quarter, and the Club Imperial, which was popular with white teenagers. He also gained a big following at Club DeLisa and locally he was acknowledged as the "King of Rock and Roll". As his popularity grew among both whites and blacks, he demanded that the clubs should be integrated. It became a regional hit and Turner's booking fee doubled after its release. Like Brenston years prior, Gayles left Turner's band to pursue a solo career. In 1958, Turner took the band to Chicago to record for Cobra/Artistic, as well as fulfilling his contract as a session musician back at Sun. While in Chicago, Turner backed Otis Rush, playing the signature vibrato guitar parts on "Double Trouble". He also helped Buddy Guy record his second record, resulting in the single "You Sure Can't Do" / "This Is The End", on which Turner played guitar and composed the latter. Turner befriended St. Louis R&B fan Bill Stevens, who set up the short-lived Stevens Records in 1959. Turner released two singles on the Stevens label, "Jack Rabbit" / "In Your Eyes Baby" and "Ho–Ho" / "Hey–Hey". He used the anagram "Icky Renrut" because he was still under contract with Sun for several more months, and he didn't want to cause friction with Phillips. Alline was a barmaid at the club and was dating Turner's drummer Eugene Washington. Through her sister and Washington, Ann Bullock asked Turner to sing with his band. Turner said he'd call her onstage, but he never did. One night during an intermission, she got hold of the microphone from Washington and sang "You Know I Love You" by B.B. King. Impressed by her voice, Turner invited her to sing with the band. She made her recording debut on Turner's song "Boxtop", released on Tune Town Records in 1958. In March 1960, Turner allowed her to record a demo of his self-penned song "A Fool in Love". He intended to use the demo as guide track for Art Lassiter, who did not attend the scheduled recording session at Technisonic Studios. Turner then renamed her "Tina" because it rhymed with Sheena; however, family and friends still called her Ann. He had the name "Tina Turner" trademarked, so that in case she left, another singer could perform under the same name. The single "A Fool In Love" was released in July 1960, and it became a national hit, selling a million copies. It peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard R&B chart and No. 27 on the Hot 100. In 1961, Turner played piano on Albert King's first hit record, "Don't Throw Your Love on Me So Strong". The single, released on King Records, peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard R&B chart. The Revue performed rigorously on the Chitlin' Circuit and built a reputation as "one of the hottest, most durable, and potentially most explosive of all R&B ensembles". To assure he always had a record out while on tour, Turner formed multiple labels such as Sputnik, Teena, Prann, Innis, Sony and Sonja. He produced singles by the Ikettes, Jimmy Thomas, Fontella Bass, George Jackson, and other artists on his labels. The duo switched to Turner's Sonja label in 1963. Between 1964 and 1965, they scored fourteen top 40 R&B hits with "You Can't Miss Nothing That You Never Had", "Tell Her I'm Not Home", "Good Bye, So Long", and "Two Is a Couple". In 1965, Phil Spector saw them perform at a club on the Sunset Strip and invited them to film The Big T.N.T. Show. Impressed by their performance, Spector negotiated a deal with their manager Bob Krasnow, head of Loma Records, offering $20,000 to produce Tina and have them released from their Loma contract. After Tina and Spector recorded "River Deep – Mountain High", the duo signed to Spector's Philles label in 1966. The failure of the single in America triggered Spector's retreat from the music industry. However, it was a hit in Europe, reaching No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 1 on Los 40 Principales in Spain. Following the song's success in the UK, they were invited to open for the Rolling Stones on their 1966 British Tour. This exposure introduced them to a wider audience outside of R&B. Soon they were booking bigger venues, and by 1969 they were headlining in Las Vegas. in 1971 In April 1969, Turner and the Kings of Rhythm released an album, ''A Black Man's Soul, on Pompeii Records. The album earned Turner his first solo Grammy nomination for Best R&B Instrumental Performance at the 12th Annual Grammy Awards. Later that year, the duo released the blues-oriented albums Outta Season and The Hunter'' on Blue Thumb Records. Turner and Bob Krasnow, founder of Blue Thumb, co-produced Earl Hooker's 1969 album Sweet Black Angel. In November, the Ike & Tina Turner Revue opened for the Rolling Stones on their 1969 American Tour. The release of "Proud Mary" in 1971 became Ike & Tina Turner's biggest hit, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 5 on the R&B chart. It sold more than a million copies, and won the duo a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Group at the 14th Annual Grammy Awards. Turner had two sixteen track studios built, a large one to rent out and a smaller one for his personal recordings. He fitted them out with state-of-the-art equipment. Artists who recorded there included Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Duane Allman, Little Richard, Gayle McCormick, and Frank Zappa. During this period, Turner produced singer Judy Cheeks' debut album Judy Cheeks (1973), and the last album by the Ikettes, (G)Old & New (1974). In 1974, Ike and Tina released the album The Gospel According to Ike & Tina Turner. The album was nominated for Best Soul Gospel Performance. Turner had plans to leave United Artists Records for a five-year $150,000 per year deal with Cream Records, which was to be signed on July 6. On July 1, the Turners got into a violent altercation en route to their gig at the Dallas Statler Hilton. Turner later claimed that Tina initiated the conflict by purposely irritating him so that she would have a reason to break up with him before they signed the new contract. United Artists responded to the Turners' separation by releasing albums of compiled recordings from their last sessions together, ''Delilah's Power (1977) and Airwaves (1978). Two years after their divorce was finalized, Turner released the single "Party Vibes" / "Shame, Shame, Shame" from the album The Edge (1980) which peaked at No. 27 on the Billboard'' Disco Top 100 chart. 1977–2007: Later career After Turner's breakup with Tina, singer Holly Maxwell sang with him on occasion from 1977 to 1985 and again for eight months in 1992. Maxwell reported a positive working relationship with Turner and later released the memoir ''Freebase Ain't Free about their close friendship. In 1979, Turner spent time in the studio with Chaka Khan following her separation from her manager-husband. She told Jet'': "He's been real inspiration and a catalyst emotionally and in other ways as well. We plan to record together." Turner struggled to find success due to his cocaine addiction and run-ins with the law. In 1988, Turner attempted an ill-fated return to the stage with Marcy Thomas, Bonnie Johnson, and Jeanette Bazzell as his Ikettes. While Turner was in prison following a drug conviction, Ike & Tina Turner were inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. Tina did not attend because she took the year off from making public appearances, so Phil Spector delivered a speech at the ceremony on their behalf. After his release from prison, Turner told the press that he was nervous about returning to performing live, but had plans to return to the studio. In 1992, Turner performed as a special guest at Oliver Sain's Soul Reunion concert at Mississippi Nights in St. Louis. Hip-hop group Salt-N-Pepa sampled the Sweet Inspirations rendition of Turner's composition "I'm Blue (The Gong Gong Song)" for their 1993 single "Shoop". The song reached No. 4 in the Billboard Hot 100 and Turner earned around half a million dollars in royalties. Turner later appeared on the song "Love Gravy" with Rick James for the soundtrack album Chef Aid: The South Park Album. Turner reformed the Ikettes in the mid-1990s, which included his then-wife Jeanette Bazzell Turner, Nina Hill, and Michelle Love (Randi Love). Vera Clyburn, who was an Ikette in the 1970s, was the lead singer. They performed to positive reviews as the Ike Turner Revue. Turner credited Joe Louis Walker with encouraging him to return to his roots in blues music. Turner played guitar and assisted in the production on Walker's 1997 album Great Guitars; Walker paid him $5,000 a night for six songs. Walker invited Turner to perform with him at the San Francisco Blues Festival and to tour in Europe. Turner's work on the tour led to the recording and release of his Grammy-nominated album Here & Now (2001). He is featured in the documentaries The Road to Memphis and Godfathers and Sons, as part of the series. Turner appeared on the Gorillaz's album Demon Days (2005), playing piano on "Every Planet We Reach Is Dead". He performed the song with Gorillaz at the Manchester Opera House in November 2005. His performance is featured in the live concert DVD Demon Days: Live at the Manchester Opera House. In 2006, Turner released his last album, ''Risin' With the Blues'', on the independent label Zoho Roots. The album received positive critical reception, and was nominated for best Blues Album at the 7th Annual Independent Music Awards. Turner won his first solo Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards in 2007. The Black Keys sent demos to Turner, but the project was temporarily shelved. After Turner's death, the songs were used for their 2008 album Attack & Release. == Artistry and legacy ==

Musical style in 1997 In his career, Turner originally worked in the style of 1950s R&B, or post-jump blues. His early influences included Amos Milburn and Louis Jordan, as well as country music artists such as Hank Williams Sr. and Merle Travis. Turner grew up playing boogie woogie piano, which he learned from blues pianist Pinetop Perkins. He decided he was not meant to be a frontman when at twelve he was coerced into giving an impromptu piano recital in school. He found the experience terrifying and from then on preferred not to be the focus of attention, but rather to be in the background controlling the show. He considered himself an organizer rather than a performer. Musician Donald Fagen noted: "[T]alented as he was, there wasn't anything really supernatural about Ike's skills as a musician... What Ike excelled at was leadership: conceptualization, organization, and execution." Turner's guitar style is distinguished by heavy use of the whammy bar to achieve a strong reverb-soaked vibrato, string bending, hammer-ons and triplets in his blues phrasing. Turner was an early adopter of the Fender Stratocaster electric guitar, buying one from O.K. Houk's Piano Co. store in Memphis the year of its release in 1954. Unaware that the guitar's tremolo arm could be used to subtle effect, Turner used it to play screaming, swooping and diving solos that predated artists such as Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck by a decade. In The Stratocaster Chronicles, Tom Wheeler wrote that Turner's "inventive style is a classic example of an artist discovering the Stratocaster, adapting to its features and fashioning something remarkable". Turner himself said of his tremolo technique: "I thought it was to make the guitar scream—people got so excited when I used that thing." Influence Turner was praised by his contemporaries for his influence. Johnny Otis said, "Ike Turner is a very important man in American music. The texture and flavor of R&B owe a lot to him. He defined how to put the Fender bass into that music. He was a great innovator." King also said, "When they talk about rock 'n roll, I see Ike as one of the founding fathers." Turner was a big influence on Little Richard, who wrote the introduction to Turner's autobiography. Prince also said Turner was his first musical influence. Phil Alexander, editor-in-chief of Mojo magazine, referred to Turner as the "cornerstone of modern day rock 'n' roll" and credited his arrangements of blues standards as being an influence on 1960s British Invasion groups: "He proceeded to influence British rockers from the mid-1960s onwards. Without Ike you wouldn't have had the Stones and Zeppelin. People like that wouldn't have had the source material on which they drew." In 2009, a Nashville-based band, Mr. Groove Band, recorded a tribute album titled Rocket 88: Tribute to Ike Turner. Vocalists on the album include Turner's last wife Audrey Madison Turner and former Ikette Bonnie Bramlett. Accolades Turner won two competitive Grammy Awards. In 2007, Turner won Best Traditional Blues Album for ''Risin' with the Blues''. Turner also has three songs inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame: "Rocket 88", "River Deep – Mountain High", and "Proud Mary". He was honored with a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame in 2001. Turner won Comeback Album of The Year for Here and Now at the W.C. Handy Blues Awards in 2002. In 2004, he was awarded the Heroes Award from the Memphis branch of the Recording Academy. He was a recipient of the Legend Award at the 2007 Mojo Awards. In 2003, the album Proud Mary: The Best of Ike & Tina Turner was ranked No. 212 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time (No. 214 on 2012 revised list). In 2004, Fender Custom Shop manufactured a limited edition Ike Turner Tribute Stratocaster. The model has an alder body in Sonic Blue with an Ike Turner signature in gold ink on the body under the clear-coat, with a maple neck in a 1960s "C" shape with a rosewood fingerboard, with 21 vintage frets. It had three custom single coil 1960s Strat pickups. Only 100 specimens were made, retailing at $3,399.99. In August 2010, Turner was posthumously celebrated in his hometown of Clarksdale, Mississippi. On August 6, Clarksdale officials and music fans gathered to unveil a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail and a plaque on the Clarksdale Walk of Fame in downtown Clarksdale honoring Turner and his musical legacy. In 2017, the Mississippi Blues Trail honored "Rocket 88" for being an influential record with a marker in Lyon, Mississippi. In 2018, "Rocket 88" was chosen for the inaugural class of influential songs inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Singles. Portrayal in popular culture In 1986, Tina Turner released her autobiography, I, Tina, in which she recounted Turner's volatile behavior. He received negative publicity that was exacerbated in 1993 by the release of the film adaptation ''What's Love Got to Do with It''. After the release of the film, the fictionalized version of Turner from the movie was seized on by comedians, who reused the persona in sketches. On the 1990s sketch comedy show In Living Color, Turner was parodied by David Alan Grier. He was portrayed on Saturday Night Lives Weekend Update by Tim Meadows in a pageboy wig. On the John Boy and Billy radio show, cast member Jeff Pillars regularly performed an impersonation of Turner in a segment called "Ax/Ask Ike". These sketches were collected in a 2008 comedy album Ike at the Mike. In 2006, Vibe magazine ranked the character of Ike Turner from ''What's Love Got to Do with It'' at No. 4 in their list of the 20 best movie "bad guys". Commenting on the historical accuracy of the film, Tina told Larry King in 1997: "I would have liked them to have more truth, but according to Disney [owner of the film's production company], they said it's impossible, the people would not have believed the truth." In 2018, Tina told Oprah Winfrey that she only recently watched the film, but she could not finish it because she "didn't realize they would change the details so much." Phil Spector criticized Tina's book and called the film a "piece of trash" during his eulogy at Turner's funeral. In 2015, TV One's Unsung offered some redemption with "The Story of Ike Turner", which documented his career along with his trials and tribulations. In the musical Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Turner was portrayed by British actor Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, who won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his role in 2019. Books In 1999, Turner published his autobiography ''Takin' Back My Name: The Confessions of Ike Turner. It was written with Nigel Cawthorne and Little Richard wrote the introduction. In 2003, John Collis published Ike Turner: King of Rhythm'' about the life and musical contributions of Turner. == Personal life ==

Marriages Turner claimed to have been married fourteen times, but the legality of many of his marriages is ambiguous. Some of his marriages were never legally finalized, while others were bigamous. Speaking on his early marriages, he said: "You gave a preacher two dollars, the (marriage) papers cost three dollars, that was it. In those days, African Americans did not bother with divorces." Edna didn't want to stay in Clarksdale, so she left Turner and returned to Ruleville. Turner's second wife, Velma Davis (née Dishman), is the elder sister of former Ikette Joshie Armstead. Turner met her at the Cotton Club on Camplin Avenue in Yazoo City, Mississippi in 1948. Davis claimed that Turner was the father of her daughter Linda Turner Bullock, born in 1949. However, Turner asserted in his book that he was not the biological father. The couple married on September 19, 1950. Turner then married Rosa Lee Sane in West Memphis, Arkansas. She had a mental breakdown, so her family put her in an insane asylum in Tennessee. Turner tried to get her out, but he never saw her again. Turner married Marion Louis Lee (Bonnie Turner) in Clarksdale on September 24, 1952. Turner recalled, "Bonnie played piano. It was a job staying ahead of this chick, man, cos' she was always trying to outdo me." While they were in Sarasota, Florida for a gig, she ran off to New York with another man in 1953. Their divorce was finalized in 1955. She played piano and was the secretary for his band. Wilson left Turner for a policeman in East St. Louis, Illinois. In 1958, Turner presented a petition to the East St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners, stating that police officer Curtis Smith had harassed him and hit him in the head, causing his eardrum to burst, out of spite because of his relationship with Wilson. In East St. Louis, Turner lived with Lorraine Taylor. Her parents owned the Taylor Sausage Factory in St. Louis. Sources often incorrectly refer to Taylor as one of Turner's wives, but she was his live-in girlfriend. Lorraine already had two children of her own before she had two sons, Ike Jr. and Michael, with Turner. Tina Turner In 1956, Turner met Ann Bullock (whom he later renamed Tina Turner) at the Club Manhattan in East St. Louis. In 2007, Turner told Jet that he had written Tina an apology letter, but had never sent it. In 2018, Tina told The Sunday Times that "as an old person, I have forgiven him, but I would not work with him. He asked for one more tour with me, and I said, 'No, absolutely not.' Ike wasn't someone you could forgive and allow him back in." Later marriages Turner married Margaret Ann Thomas in Las Vegas on April 11, 1981; they divorced in 1990. They had met in the mid-1960s at a concert in Bakersfield, California. According to Turner, Tina suggested Ann fill in as an Ikette; she could not sing, but she was attractive. Eventually, she moved into their View Park home. Turner stated, "I loved Tina, but I was in love with Ann Thomas." Their daughter Mia was born in January 1969. They rekindled their friendship years after their divorce, and she found Turner unconscious at his home the day he died. She became his lead vocalist and they married in a private ceremony at Circus Circus Hotel & Resort in Las Vegas on July 4, 1995. They divorced in 2000, but later rekindled their friendship. According to Jeanette, Turner called her his "backbone". Turner met San Francisco native singer Audrey Madison through a mutual friend in 1993. She started as an Ikette before becoming his lead singer. Turner filed for divorce two months later on December 22, but after the divorce was granted, they reconciled in 2007. In 2016, she released her memoir Love Had Everything to Do with It, which details her volatile relationship with Turner due to his bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. She told The Afro: "I decided to write it because it was like a cleansing and it released all of the trauma. Also, I wanted the general public to have a better outlook and perspective on where Ike was mentally and emotionally, because so often, as a nation, we turn on people who have mental health issues and define them by their behaviors rather than their condition." Children Turner had six children. He had two sons, Ike Turner III (1958–2025; aka Ike Turner Jr.) and Michael Turner (b. 1960), with Lorraine Taylor. He had a son, Ronald "Ronnie" Turner (1960–2022), with Tina Turner. Tina's son Craig Turner (1958–2018) with Raymond Hill was adopted by Turner and carried his surname. Craig died in an apparent suicide. Turner had a daughter, Mia, with Ann Thomas. he was paroled into Twanna Melby's custody. Ike Turner Jr. released an album, Hard Labor, in 1987. He won a Grammy Award for his involvement with Turner's 2006 album ''Risin' with the Blues''. He toured with former Ikette Randi Love as Sweet Randi Love and The Love Thang Band. Ronnie Turner was in a band called Manufactured Funk with songwriter and musician Patrick Moten. He played bass guitar in his mother's band after his parents divorced and he later played in his father's band. He married French singer Afida Turner in 2007. After his father's death, he told Jet magazine: "I loved my father very much... You can talk 5 or 10 minutes about the bad he's done. You can talk all night about the achievements he's had. He was successful with my mom and after my mom. He won a Grammy before he died. That's a lifetime achievement." Ronnie died from complications of colon cancer in 2022. In 2018, Ike Jr. revealed that Michael was now "in a convalescent home in Southern California and needs medical support". Legal problems and drug addiction In 1960, Turner and two others were charged for "interstate transportation of forged checks and conspiracy". Turner plead not guilty and was forced to stand trial in St. Louis. The jury failed to reach a verdict at the first trial, but he was found not guilty at the retrial in 1961. In 1974, Turner and three others were arrested for using illegal blue boxes at Bolic Sound studio to make long-distance phone calls. He was cleared of the charges. His addiction caused a hole through his nasal septum, the pain of which he relieved by using more cocaine. He eventually began freebasing crack cocaine. The police took $1,000 worth of rock cocaine from his North Hollywood apartment. Record producer Eddie Coleman Jr. and music company writer Richard Lee Griffin were also arrested and charged. Turner was released on a $5,000 bond. • In 1986, Turner was arrested for cocaine possession, concealed carry of a handgun and traffic violations; he was released on bail. • In January 1987, Turner was arrested for trying to sell 10 ounces of cocaine to an undercover police officer; he pleaded not guilty. • In May 1989, Turner was arrested on drug charges in West Hollywood. He was convicted of cocaine intoxication and driving under the influence of cocaine in January 1990. He was released on parole in September 1991 after completing 18 months of his sentence at California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo. Larry Kamien, associate warden of the California Men's Colony, said Turner was a model inmate. Turner managed to break his dependency on cocaine while in prison and remained clean for more than ten years. He visited high schools during Black History Month to speak against drug use. His daughter Mia Turner said, "He was too weak from the emphysema to do anything. He'd go in the studio for a couple of minutes and play a couple of bars and say he had to go lay down." Despite his ill health, he collaborated with Gorillaz on their album Demon Days and performed the track with them at the Manchester Opera House in November 2005. Religious affiliation Turner was raised a Baptist and reportedly converted to Judaism in 1994, but never spoke about it. == Death ==

In the weeks leading up to his death, Turner became reclusive. On December 10, 2007, he told his assistant, Falina Rasool, that he believed he was dying and would not make it to Christmas. He was found by his former wife, Ann Thomas. Rasool was also in the house and administered CPR. Turner was pronounced dead at 11:38 a.m. Among those who spoke at the funeral were Little Richard, Solomon Burke and Phil Spector. The Kings of Rhythm played "Rocket 88" and "Proud Mary". Turner was cremated after the funeral service. His daughter Mia was said to be surprised at the coroner's assessment, believing his advanced stage emphysema was a larger factor. == Awards and nominations ==

Turner has received various awards in recognition for his significant role as a pioneer of rock and roll. • 2001: Inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame • 2005: Inducted into Guitar Center's RockWalk • 2007: Mojo Legend Award • 2015: Inducted into St. Louis Classic Rock Hall of Fame (with Tina Turner) Blues Foundation Awards Blues Music Awards Blues Hall of Fame Grammy Awards Grammy Hall of Fame Independent Music Awards Rock and Roll Hall of Fame == Selected discography ==

Studio albums • 1962: ''Ike & Tina Turner's Kings of Rhythm Dance'', Sue 2003 • 1963: Rocks The Blues, Crown CLP-5367/CST-367 • 1969: ''A Black Man's Soul'', Pompeii SD-6003 • 1972: Blues Roots, United Artists UAS-5576 • 1973: Bad Dreams, United Artists UA-LA087-F • 1980: The Edge (featuring Tina Turner and Home Grown Funk), Fantasy F-9597 • 2001: Here and Now, Ikon IKOCD-8850 • 2006: ''Risin' with the Blues'', Zoho Roots ZM-200611 Live albums • 2002: The Resurrection: Live Montreux Jazz Festival, Isabel IS 640202 • 2006: Ike Turner & The Kings Of Rhythm: Live In Concert, Charly Films CHF-F1014LF [DVD/2CD] Compilations • 1976: Sun: The Roots Of Rock: Volume 3: Delta Rhythm Kings, Charly CR 30103 • 1976: ''I'm Tore Up'', Red Lightnin' RL0016 • 1984: Hey Hey, Red Lightin' RL-0047 [2LP] • 1994: I Like Ike! The Best of Ike Turner, Rhino R2-71819 • 2001: The Sun Sessions, Varèse Sarabande 302 066 232 2 • 2004: His Woman, Her Man: The Ike Turner Diaries— Unreleased Funk/Rock 1970–1973 • 2004: The Bad Man: Rare & Unreissued Ike Turner Produced Recordings 1962–1965, Night Train International NTICD-7139 • 2004: King Cobra: The Chicago Sessions, Fuel 2000 302 061 390 2 • 2006: The Chronological: Ike Turner 1951–1954, Classics Blues & Rhythm Series 5176 • 2008: Classic Early Sides 1952–1957, JSP 4203 [2CD] • 2011: Rocket 88: The Original 1951–1960 R&B and Rock & Roll Sides, Soul Jam 600803 • 2011: That Kat Sure Could Play! (The Singles 1951 To 1957), Secret SECBX-025 [4CD] • 2011: Jack Rabbit Blues: The Singles of 1958–1960, Secret SECSP-041 • 2012: Ike Turner Studio Productions: New Orleans and Los Angeles 1963–1965, Ace CDCHD-1329 • 2017: She Made My Blood Run Cold, Southern Routes SR-CD-3502 Recordings as a sideman '''Howlin' Wolf''' • 1962: Wolf Sings the Blues Albert King • 1962: The Big Blues Earl Hooker • 1969: Sweet Black Angel Gorillaz • 2005: Demon Days Ike and Tina Turner == Notes ==