Inside Ike and Tina Turner’s abusive marriage
It was one of the most famous musical marriages in history, selling millions of records, breaking down racial barriers and winning fans all over the world.
Yet Tina Turner and her first husband Ike Turner’s union was one marred by violence and abuse.
Their nearly 20-year relationship left Tina — who died on Wednesday at age 83 — physically battered, emotionally broken and financially ruined.
Not only did she suffer third-degree burns from hot coffee being thrown in her face, she was also punched in the nose so many times that blood seeped into her throat when she sang.
The abuse caused her to attempt suicide and filled her with “nightmares” that stayed with her for much of her life.
Husband and wife R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner pose for a portrait in circa 1961. Ike Turner holds a Fender Stratocaster electric guitar
Yet it wasn’t until five years after her divorce from Ike in 1978 that the star revealed the extent of her suffering.
In a 1981 interview with People magazine, she said she was insanely afraid of him, adding, “I lived a life of death.
‘I wasn’t afraid of him [Ike] kill me when I left because I was already dead. When I walked out, I didn’t look back.’
Born Anna Mae Bullock in 1939 in Tennessee, Tina first saw Ike in 1957 when he was performing at a nightclub in St. Louis, Missouri.
Considered “one of the greatest guitarists of all time” by Rolling Stone editor David Fricke, Ike was hugely successful in turning the blues into more commercial music.
An early pioneer of 1950s rock and roll, he was also instrumental in the early careers of several blues musicians such as BB King and Howlin’ Wolf.
In Tina’s 1986 first autobiography, I, Tina, she revealed how she “almost went into a trance’ when she saw him play.
Now immersed in the St. Louis rhythm-and-blues scene, she soon joined his band – the Kings of Rhythm – as a singer.
Ike and Tina Turner posed circa 1964. They were a commercial hit, but their union was violent and controlling.
Ike & Tina Turner pose for a portrait with their son and stepsons 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).
The American pop star arrives at London Airport in 1976 with her husband, the singer and songwriter Ike Turner
Ike then gave her the stage name Tina Turner, reportedly so that another singer could perform under that name if she left the band.
But this was only the first instance of control.
The pair soon became romantically involved, with Tina get pregnant quickly.
When Tina told Ike that she didn’t want to continue their relationship, he reportedly backfired “hitting her on the head with a clog stretcher,” despite her carrying his baby at the time.
Tina – whose own mother was also a victim of violent abuse from her father – said the incident “instilled fear in her,” so much so that she decided to stay.
A few months later their son Ronnie was born.
And the pair’s commercial success grew, with their first album released in 1961, and the pair breaking barriers by performing to racially integrated audiences in the South.
But Ike – who died of a drug overdose in 2007 – developed an addiction to cocaine, fueling his anger.
The couple married in 1962, but Ike’s violent outbursts and emotional manipulation continued through the years.
Tina and Ike pictured in a music studio in 1966. Tina often had blue eyes and broken bones
Ike and Tina Turner performing with the Ike And Tina Turner Revue on the American TV music show “Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert”, recorded in Los Angeles, California and aired March 12, 1976
Ike and Tina perform on stage during the taping of the pop music television show Ready Steady Go! at Wembley Television Studios in London in September 1966
Again, in her first memoir, Tina claimed that on the night of their wedding, Ike took her to a brothel in Tijuana, Mexico and let her watch her live sex show.
And she also revealed that he regularly cheated on her and enjoyed sex that was more like a form of rape.
She said: ‘Sex with Ike had become an expression of animosity – a kind of rape – especially if it started or ended with a beating.
“What had been ugly and hateful between us before got worse with every sniff of cocaine.”
Despite the abuse, the pair continued to tour and record together.
Big hits included Proud Mary and River Deep – Mountain High, with the pair releasing a total of 21 studio albums and winning a Grammy Award.
But the abuse got so bad that in 1968 Tina tried to take her own life by taking 50 sleeping pills before a show.
In her 2018 second autobiography, My Love Story, she wrote, “I was unhappy when I woke up. But I emerged from the darkness believing I was meant to survive.”
Ike’s control also extended to the couples’ finances, with Ike “micro-managing Tina’s career.”
While on tour in Dallas in 1976, Tina finally mustered up the courage to leave Ike, she was completely financially dependent on him.
She told People magazine that Ike felt “irritable” the day she decided to leave him.
She said, “He beat me all the way from the airport to the hotel… By the time we got to the hotel, the left side of my face was swollen like a monster’s.”
After Ike fell asleep that night, Tina fled with only “36 cents in her pocket and a Mobil credit card” in her wallet.
“I felt proud,” she told People. ‘I felt strong. I felt like Martin Luther King.’
The couple’s divorce was finalized in 1978, with the former lovers not speaking to each other for several decades.
However, Tina then overcame all her obstacles and became one of the greatest musicians in the world.
Despite her success, the trauma of the violence has had a major impact on her life.
It wasn’t until five years after her divorce that she plucked up the courage to speak out about the abuse – at a time when most women suffered in silence.
However, Tina stated in the 2021 documentary that she found it within herself to forgive her ex-husband.
She said, “I’ve had a violent life, there’s no other way to tell the story,” she stated.
“It hurts to think about those times, but at some point forgiveness takes over — forgiveness means you don’t have to hold on.
“It was letting go because it only hurts you. By not forgiving, you suffer, because you think about it again and again. And for what?’
In a 1990 interview with People, Ike also admitted to molesting Tina.
“All the fights Tina and I had were about her being sad about something,” he recalls. “I get very emotional when you worry and don’t tell me what it is. Then I can’t do anything else. So I’d hit her or something.’
And in his 1999 memoir, “Takin’ Back My Name: The Confessions of Ike Turner,” Turner wrote, “Of course I hit Tina. We had a fight and there have been times when I knocked her to the ground without thinking. But I never hit her.’
Prior to his death in 2007, Ike—who later served time in prison for drug offenses—revealed that he wrote Tina an apology letter but never sent it.
Despite this abusive first marriage, Tina continued to find love.
She met her second husband Erwin Bach – an executive at the EMI record label – in 1985, and the couple married in 2013 after 27 years together.
Tina died in Zurich on Wednesday with Erwin by her side after a long illness.