Ike Turner Biography
Ike Turner was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, talent scout, and record producer. An early pioneer of fifties rock and roll, he is most popularly known for his work in the 1960s and 1970s with his then-wife Tina Turner in the Ike & Tina Turner Revue.
Ike Turner Age
He was born on November 5, 1931, in Clarksdale, Mississippi, US. Birth sign not known. Died December 12, 2007. He was 76 years.
Ike Turner Nationality
He was an American by birth.
Ike Turner Education
Sources haven’t provided any information regarding his educational background.
Ike Turner Family
His parents were Mrs. Beatrice Cushenberry and Mr. Izear Luster Turner. Turner had an elder sister named Ethel May. Turner said that when he was very young he witnessed his father beaten and left for dead by a white mob. His father lived for three years as an invalid in a tent in the family’s yard before succumbing to his injuries.
His mother then married a man called Philip Reeves. Turner said his stepfather was a violent alcoholic and that they often argued and fought. After one fight Turner knocked out his stepfather with a piece of wood. He then ran away to Memphis, where he lived rough for a few days before returning to his mother. He reconciled with his stepfather years later, buying a house for him in the 1950s around the time Turner’s mother died.
Ike Turner Music Career
Ike Turner and Tina Turner
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.
Ike’s musical partnership with Tina Turner ended abruptly in 1976 when Tina fled from Ike after the last in a series of violent altercations with him. According to his book, Ike had plans to leave United Artists Records for a five-year, $150,000 deal with Cream Records. The deal was to be signed on July 6, 1976. On July 1, Ike and Tina were en route from Los Angeles to Dallas where the Revue had a gig at the Dallas Statler Hilton. They got into a fight during their ride to the hotel.
Ike Turner Awards and Achievement
Turner won two competitive Grammy Awards and was honored with two Grammy Hall of Fame Awards. In 1972, “Proud Mary” won for Best Rhythm & Blues Performance Duo or Group (Vocal or Instrumental).
He was nominated for a Grammy in 2002 for the album Here and Now. In 2007, he won his first solo Grammy in the Best Traditional Blues Album category for Risin‘ With the Blues. He received two Grammy Hall of Fame Awards for “River Deep – Mountain High” and “Proud Mary”.
Ike and Tina Turner were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. Turner is inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame. He is also inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame. He was honored with a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame in 2001.
Turner was awarded a Heroes Award from the Memphis charter of NARAS in 2004. In 2007, he was awarded the Legend Award at the Mojo Awards. n August 5, 2010, Turner was posthumously recognized by his hometown of Clarksdale, Mississippi. Clarksdale officials and music fans gathered to unveil two markers on the Mississippi Blues Trail in downtown Clarksdale honoring Turner and his musical legacy.
Ike Turner Abuse Allegation
While they had been a successful stage act for years, Ike and Tina Turner had a very different life off stage. Ike reportedly had a drug problem and Tina finally left Ike in 1976 after years of abuse. She later revealed the details of the abuse in her 1986 autobiography. Tina. Her book was the basis for the 1993 film What’s Love Got To Do with It which starred Angela Bassett as Tina and Laurence Fishburne as Ike. The movie showed Ike as a wife-beating musical talent who was often under the influence of drugs. Both Bassett and Fishburne received Academy Award nominations for their performances. But Ike repeatedly denied the accusations made in the book and vehemently objected to the portrayal of him on screen. He did, however, admit to hitting her in his own 1999 autobiography, Takin’ Back My Name.
While Tina’s solo career flourished in the 1980s and 1990s, Ike struggled professionally and personally. It was his problem with drugs that led to an 18-month stint in prison for cocaine possession from 1990 to 1991. The Ike & Tina Turner Revue was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, but he was still in prison at the time and had to miss the ceremony.
Ike Turner later Success
Near the end of his life, Turner had a career renaissance. In 2001, he released his first commercial record in 23 years, entitled Here and Now. It was nominated for a Grammy Award (best traditional blues album). The following year, Turner received the 2002 Comeback Album of the Year Award at the W.C. Handy Blues Awards. He went on to win a Grammy (best traditional blues album) for his next original recording, Risin’ with the Blues, released in 2006.
A year later, on December 12, 2007, Turner died of a cocaine overdose in his San Marcos, California, home. Contributing conditions to his death included high blood pressure and emphysema. A blues legend, Turner’s impact on the musical world continues to be felt even after his death.