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Quick Facts
- NAME: Ike Turner
- OCCUPATION: Musician
- BIRTH DATE: November 05, 1931
- DEATH DATE: December 12, 2007
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Clarksdale, Mississippi
- PLACE OF DEATH: San Marcos, California
- Full Name: Ike Wister Turner
- AKA: Ike Turner Jr.
- AKA: Izear Luster Turner Jr.
- AKA: Isaiah Luster Turner
- AKA: Izear Luster Turner
Best Known For
Ike Turner made a string of R&B hits with singer and wife Tina Turner. He struggled with drug addiction and died of an accidental cocaine overdose.
Videos see all videos
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Tina Turner - Meeting Ike (2:52)
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Tina Turner - The Ikettes (2:55)
Tina Turner - Meeting Ike
One night in St. Louis Tina Turner, then Anna Mae Bullock, went with her sister Aillene to a nightclub called The Manhattan where Kings of Rhythm perform. It was that night that she met Ike Turner.
Tina Turner - The Ikettes
In order to better highlight Tina Turner’s voice and presence, Ike decided to add three backup singers to her act called called the Ikettes.
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Play NowIke Turner. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 04:35, May 19, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/ike-turner-259550.
Ike Turner. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/ike-turner-259550 [Accessed 19 May 2013].
"Ike Turner." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 19 2013, 04:35 http://www.biography.com/people/ike-turner-259550.
"Ike Turner," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/ike-turner-259550 [accessed May 19, 2013].
"Ike Turner," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/ike-turner-259550 (accessed May 19, 2013).
Ike Turner [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 19] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/ike-turner-259550.
Ike Turner, http://www.biography.com/people/ike-turner-259550 (last visited May 19, 2013).
Ike Turner. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/ike-turner-259550. Accessed May 19, 2013.
Synopsis
R&B legend Ike Turner was born on November 5, 1931, in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and grew up playing the blues. In 1956, he met a teenager and singer named Anna Mae Bullock. He married her and helped create her stage persona, Tina Turner. The two became the Ike & Tina Turner Revue and created several R&B hits, including "I Idolize You,
" "It's Going to Work Out Fine" and "Poor Fool." The duo's cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary" earned them their first and only Grammy Award together in 1971. Their last hit together was "Nutbush City Limits," written by Tina and released in 1973. Turner died of a cocaine overdose on December 12, 2007, in San Marcos, California.
An Early Musical Start
Musician, songwriter, bandleader and producer Ike Turner was born Ike Wister Turner on November 5, 1931, in Clarksdale, Mississippi. (While his full, legal name was Ike Wister Turner, he spent much of his early life believing his full name was Izear Luster Turner Jr., after his father.) As a child, Turner initially played a style of blues known as boogie woogie on the piano, which he learned from Pinetop Perkins. He later learned to play guitar.
In the late 1940s, Turner started a group called the Kings of Rhythm. In 1951, he and his band went to Memphis to record at the legendary Sun Studios run by recording legend Sam Phillips. Their song, "Rocket 88," is considered by many to be the first rock and rock recording. It was released under the name of Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats and became a number one hit on the R&B charts.
Brenston was the lead vocalist of Turner’s group who eventually left to go solo. Turner and his band stayed in Memphis, often working in recording sessions with such blues legends as Elmore James and Guy Buddy. In addition to working as a musician, he was a talent scout for Modern Records for a time and helped discover B.B. King and Howlin' Wolf.
Ike and Tina
Things really began to change for Turner in 1956, when he met a teenager named Anna Mae Bullock. The young singer joined the band and soon developed a personal relationship with Turner. The two married in 1958, and Ike helped transform Anna Mae into Tina Turner by changing her name and creating her stage persona. They were soon performing as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue and scoring a string of R&B hits, including "I Idolize You," "It’s Going to Work Out Fine" and "Poor Fool" in the early 1960s.
Ike and Tina were invited to open for the Rolling Stones in the late 1960s, which introduced their bold style of soul-infused rock music to a new audience. They found crossover success with a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary," which made it on the pop and R&B charts. This song also earned them their first and only Grammy Award together (for best R&B vocal performance by a group) in 1971. Their last hit together was "Nutbush City Limits," written by Tina and released in 1973.
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Ike and Tina Turner
View groupAs rock 'n' roll couples go, Ike and Tina Turner's relationship was one of the most volatile. Ike was a successful blues singer when he met Tina, who was a teenager trying to break into singing. Tina started singing for Ike's band, and in 1960 she had his baby. In 1962 the couple married. Even as Tina's career took off, and Ike produced her albums, the relationship was famously turbulent. Tina accused Ike of many instances of spousal abuse, and she even attempted suicide in 1968. In 1978, the couple finally divorced, and Tina launched a successful career comeback, on her own, in the 1980s.
Ike and Tina Turner 2 people in this group
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