Inside the abusive marriage of Ike and Tina Turner

It was one of the most famous musical marriages in history, spawning the sales of millions of records, breaking down racial barriers and winning fans across the world.

Yet the union of Tina Turner and her first husband Ike Turner was one marred in violence and abuse.

In fact, their almost 20-year relationship left Tina – who died on Wednesday at the age of 83 – physically battered, emotionally broken and financially ruined. 

Not only did she suffer third-degree burns from having hot coffee thrown in her face, her nose was punched so often, it caused blood to seep 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 is holding a Fender Stratocaster electric guitar

Yet the star only revealed the extent of her suffering five years after her divorce from Ike in 1978. 

Speaking to People magazine in a bombshell interview in 1981, she said she was insanely afraid of him, adding: ‘I was living a life of death.

‘I didn’t fear him [Ike] killing me when I left, because I was already dead. When I walked out, I didn’t look back.’

Tina — born Anna Mae Bullock in 1939 in Tennessee — first laid eyes on Ike in 1957 as he performed at a nightclub in St. Louis, Missouri.

Considered by Rolling Stone editor David Fricke as ‘one of the greatest guitarists of all time’, Ike was hugely successful in transplanting blues into more commercial music. 

An early pioneer of 1950s rock and roll, he was also instrumental in the early careers of various blues musicians such as B.B. King and Howlin’ Wolf. 

In Tina’s first 1986 autobiography, I, Tina, she revealed how she ‘almost went into a trance’ when she saw him play.

By then herself immersed in the St. Louis rhythm-and-blues scene, she soon joined his band – the Kings of Rhythm – as a vocalist.

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 step-sons 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 arriving at London Airport with her husband, the singer and songwriter Ike Turner in 1976 

Recognising her star quality, she was promoted to lead singer.

Ike then gave her the stage moniker Tina Turner, reportedly so another singer could perform under that name should she leave the band. 

But this was just the first instance of control. 

The pair soon became romantically involved, with Ike lavishing her with clothes and jewellery and Tina quickly becoming pregnant.

When Tina told Ike she did not wish to continue their relationship, he reportedly responded by ‘striking her in the head with a wooden shoe stretcher,’ – despite her carrying his baby at the time. 

Tina – whose own mother also suffered violent abuse from her father – said the incident ‘instilled fear’ in her, so much so that she decided to stay.

Their son, Ronnie, was born several months later.

And the pair’s commercial success grew, with their first album released in 1961, and the pair breaking down barriers by performing for racially integrated audiences in the South.

But Ike – who died in 2007 from a drug overdose – developed an addiction to cocaine, which fuelled his rages. 

The couple married in 1962, but Ike’s violent outbursts and emotional manipulation continued over the years. 

Tina and Ike pictured in a music studio in 1966. Tina often suffered black 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 on 12th March 1976

Ike and Tina performing on stage during recording of the Associated Rediffusion Television pop music television show Ready Steady Go! at Wembley Television Studios in London in September 1966

Again, in her first memoir, Tina she claimed that Ike took her to a brothel in Tijuana, Mexico, on the night of their wedding and made her watch her live sex show. 

And she also revealed 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 hostility — a kind of rape — especially when it began or ended with a beating. 

‘What had been ugly and hateful between us before became worse with every snort of cocaine.’

In her first autobiography, she also recounted how Ike threw hot coffee in her face, giving her third-degree burns, and also spoke of being whipped with a wire coat hanger.

She added: ‘He used my nose as a punching bag so many times that I could taste blood running down my throat when I sang. 

‘He broke my jaw. And I couldn’t remember what it was like not to have a black eye.’

In a BBC interview, she added that Ike was ‘crooked from day one’ and conniving.  

Despite the abuse, Tina stayed with Ike, later explaining that even after he beat her up, she would sit there feeling sorry for him. 

The pair continued to tour and record together.

Huge hits included Proud Mary and River Deep – Mountain High, with the pair in total releasing 21 studio albums and winning a Grammy Award. 

But the ‘torture’ became so much, that in 1968 Tina attempted to end her life by taking 50 sleeping pills prior to a show.

In her second 2018 autobiography My Love Story, she wrote: ‘I was unhappy when I woke up. But I came out of the darkness believing I was meant to survive.’

Ike’s control also extended to the couples’ finances, with Ike ‘micromanaging Tina’s career’.

When 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 was feeling ‘irritable’ on the day she decided to leave him. 

She said: ‘He beat me the entire 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 just ’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.’

She later spoke about how her Buddhist faith, which she found in the 70s, helped her find the courage to leave, with her chanting giving her clarity and seeing she had to make a change. 

The pair’s divorce was finalised in 1978, with the former lovers not speaking for the following decades. 

However, Tina then overcame all her obstacles and went on to become one of the biggest musicians in the world.

First she earned money by singing mainly in Los Angeles and appearing on various TV shows. 

But her career soon rocketed with hits including  Let’s Stay Together, What’s Love Got to Do With It and Private Dancer. 

Despite her success, the trauma of the violence left a strong impact on her life. 

It was only five years after her divorce that she plucked up the courage to speak of the abuse – in an era where most women suffered in silence. 

She was reportedly incredibly nervous doing the People interview, even asking a psychic beforehand if it would ruin her career.   

She later explained that prior to that, she had been too scared of Ike to speak out. 

And she was subsequently praised by domestic abuse charities for sharing her story and giving other women the courage to do so. 

Despite her tortuous marriage, however, Tina declared in the 2021 documentary that she had found it in herself to forgive her ex-husband.

She said: ‘I had an abusive life, there’s no other way to tell the story,’ she declared.

‘It hurts to have to remember those times, but at a certain stage forgiveness takes over — forgiving means not having to hold on.

‘It was letting go because it only hurts you. By not forgiving, you suffer, because you think about it over and over. And for what?’

In a 1990 interview with People, Ike also admitted abusing Tina.

‘All the fights Tina and I had were about her being sad about something,’ he recalled. ‘I get real emotional if you’re worrying and don’t tell me what it is. Then I can’t about nothing else. So I’d slap her or something like that.’

And in his 1999 memoir, ‘Takin’ Back My Name: The Confessions of Ike Turner,’ Turner wrote: ‘Sure, I’ve slapped Tina. We had fights and there have been times when I punched her to the ground without thinking. But I never beat her.’

Prior to his death in 2007, Ike – who later served time in prison for drug offences – revealed that he had written Tina an apology letter, but had never sent it.

Despite this abusive first marriage, Tina did go on to find love. 

She met her second husband Erwin Bach –  an executive with the EMI record label – in 1985, with the couple marrying in 2013 after 27 years together. 

Tina died on Wednesday in Zurich with Erwin by her side after suffering from a long illness.