Ike Turner

Ike Turner ranks among rock history's most vilified personalities. The label most people attach to his name is "abusive husband" rather than "soul star" or "rock & roll pioneer." Popular accounts portray him as a domineering brute who wielded physical force and mental coercion to dominate his far more gifted spouse Tina while freely pursuing cocaine and extramarital affairs. Although this characterization contains exaggerations, Turner himself bore considerable responsibility for its persistence; drug-related convictions led to prison time, and his responses to Tina's abuse accusations shifted inconsistently across decades. Nevertheless, reducing him to a villain overlooks his tangible achievements as an instrumentalist and bandleader. During the early 1950s his piano playing helped shape rock & roll's foundations, while his guitar style featured a sharp, aggressive edge that made the whammy bar a central element of his approach. His vocal abilities clearly fell short of Tina's, and her presence likely propelled the act to fame; his songwriting occasionally sparkled yet frequently remained conventional enough to hinder steady chart success. As a bandleader, however, his exacting standards—apart from their more troubling expressions—produced exceptionally cohesive groups and some of the most dynamic live performances ever witnessed on the R&B circuit, with Tina at the center yet still delivering full spectacles. Even if Turner's personal conduct invites little defense, his musical contributions merit the same impartial evaluation granted to others.

Izear Luster Turner, Jr. entered the world on November 5, 1931, in Clarksdale, MS, deep within the segregated South. A white mob beat his father to death, and the hostile surroundings of his upbringing left a lasting mark. Music drew his attention early; he absorbed boogie-woogie piano directly from Pinetop Perkins, and as a teenager he secured a DJ position at the local station, spinning everything from Louis Jordan's jump blues to country & western. While still in high school he assembled his first group, and by the late 1940s he had formed the Kings of Rhythm. In 1951 the band traveled to Memphis to record at Sam Phillips' Sun studio. Their original number "Rocket 88"—whose authorship remains contested—was sung by saxophonist Jackie Brenston, resulting in its release as Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats rather than under Turner's name. The track reached the summit of the R&B charts and is now widely regarded by critics as possibly the first authentic rock & roll recording. Brenston soon left for a short-lived solo career, after which Turner and his musicians became regular session players in Memphis; they backed blues figures including Howlin' Wolf on "How Many More Years," Elmore James, Otis Rush on "Double Trouble" and "All Your Love," Robert Nighthawk, Buddy Guy, and Sonny Boy Williamson II, along with various Sun roster artists. In the early 1950s Turner moved from piano to guitar and simultaneously served as a talent scout for the Bihari Brothers' Los Angeles-based Modern Records, securing early opportunities for Howlin' Wolf and B.B. King.

By the mid-1950s Turner relocated the Kings of Rhythm to East St. Louis, where the group dominated the local R&B scene; Brenston returned in 1955, and session work continued. Turner occasionally released material under his own name on Flair, RPM, and Federal, sometimes using the pseudonyms Icky Renrut and Lover Boy. The band adopted a revue format that featured a rotating cast of singers. One of them was Anna Mae Bullock, a teenager from Tennessee who encountered Turner in 1956. She joined the show, became pregnant by the sax player, moved into Turner's home, began a relationship with him, bore his child, and married him in 1958.

Renamed Tina, Turner's newest wife received her initial lead vocal opportunity in late 1959 when she recorded "A Fool in Love" for the Sue label. Issued the next year, the song climbed to number two on the R&B charts. Recognizing her star potential, Turner reconfigured the ensemble as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue with Tina as its focal point. Early adjustments proved necessary, yet further hits followed: "I Idolize You," "It's Gonna Work Out Fine," "Poor Fool," and "Tra La La La La" all reached the R&B Top Ten through 1962, with Turner writing all but "It's Gonna Work Out Fine." That same year Dance With Ike & Tina Turner & Their Kings of Rhythm Band appeared, an instrumental set that highlighted his distinctive guitar playing. While Ike & Tina established themselves as one of the busiest and most popular attractions on the chitlin circuit, they recorded for multiple independent labels in subsequent years; Turner's increasingly routine material contributed to a gradual decline in chart performance.

Meanwhile, the pressures of success exposed Turner's weaknesses; a serious cocaine habit, combined with his controlling nature and short fuse, produced dangerous results. Tina's autobiography describes escalating violence that included frequent beatings and incidents of burning her with cigarettes and coffee for perceived infractions. Turner disputes the extent of these claims, yet his reputation for volatility remained widespread. When producer Phil Spector sought a commercial resurgence centered on Tina in 1966, he negotiated an arrangement allowing Ike full credit on the recordings while barring him from the studio and any interference with the final tracks. The resulting collaboration yielded "River Deep - Mountain High," still considered by many one of rock's greatest singles, with Ike contributing nothing—an outcome he naturally resented.

In 1969 Ike & Tina opened for the Rolling Stones, prompting Turner to recognize that evolving tastes had rendered the Revue's raw, intense soul sound more acceptable to white rock listeners. He therefore added contemporary rock & roll covers, extending the act's viability. Interpretations of "Come Together," "I Want to Take You Higher," and "Proud Mary" restored their commercial standing; "Proud Mary" became their first Top Five pop single in 1971 and earned a Grammy. Off-stage difficulties nevertheless undermined the group; Tina's composition "Nutbush City Limits" in 1973 proved their final major success, and she departed during a 1975 tour.

The couple's divorce was completed the following year, after which Ike struggled to rebound. He briefly ceased touring to manage Bolic, the Los Angeles studio he had opened in 1970, but soon returned to the road with a new ensemble that never matched earlier achievements; he also issued a pair of solo albums on Red Lightnin'. Cocaine dependency depleted his resources, and the studio burned down in 1982. Legal troubles mounted, resulting in repeated arrests, mostly drug-related. When he and Tina were inducted together into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, he could not attend because he was incarcerated. When Tina's autobiography became the 1993 film What's Love Got to Do With It, Turner relinquished his rights, permitting the filmmakers dramatic liberties. After his release he attempted a comeback, remarried, and overcame his addictions to live soberly. Initial efforts to update his sound gave way, after touring as pianist and guitarist with Joe Louis Walker, to renewed demand for his classic style, leading him to reassemble the Kings of Rhythm. His autobiography Takin' Back My Name appeared through a U.K. publisher in 1999, and in 2001 he released the Grammy-nominated Here and Now in the Best Traditional Blues Album category; the album also received several W.C. Handy Award nominations and won Comeback Album of the Year. Five years later Risin' with the Blues earned another Grammy nomination in the same category.