Izear Luster Turner Jr., also known as Ike Turner, was born on November 5, 1931, in Clarksdale, Mississippi. His father, Izear Luster Turner Sr., was a Baptist minister, and his mother, Beatrice Cushenberry, was a seamstress. When Ike was just 5 years old, his father was beaten by a white mob and succumbed to his injuries.
Ike was sexually abused by multiple older women starting at the age of 6. He quit school in the eighth grade and became an elevator operator at the Alcazar Hotel in downtown Clarksdale, eventually becoming a DJ at the radio station WROX located inside the hotel.
Turner was taught how to play piano by Delta blues pianist Pinetop Perkins. He performed locally as a roadie for Robert Nighthawk and Sonny Boy Williams. As a teenager, he formed his own band called the Kings of Rhythm. In 1951, Turner and his band recorded "Rocket 88" at Sam Phillips' Memphis Recording Studio, later known as Sun Studio.
Turner made the transition from playing piano to playing guitar in the mid-1950s and moved to East St. Louis, Illinois, where he became a sensation by introducing Rhythm & Blues to the predominantly Jazz town and neighboring cities. One of his fans, a teen-aged Anna Mae Bullock, joined his band as his lead vocalist in 1957. He renamed her Tina Turner, and they released their first record as the duo Ike & Tina Turner in 1960 with the "A Fool In Love".
Throughout the 1960s, they toured relentlessly and put on high-energy performances with their revue, which included the Ikettes, a backing group known for the Turner-penned single "I'm Blue (The Gong-Gong Song)". Their dynamic act is showcased in the concert film The Big T.N.T. Show (1965),which led to Tina Turner recording "River Deep - Mountain High" with producer Phil Spector.
Following their tour with the Rolling Stones in 1969, the duo crossed over to mainstream success. They appeared in the concert films Gimme Shelter (1970),It's Your Thing (1970),Soul to Soul (1971),and they made a cameo performance in Taking Off (1971). The duo had their biggest success with their rendition of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary", which won them a Grammy Award in 1972.
However, Turner's drug use and volatile behavior was taking a toll on their personal relationship, and they separated in 1976. After the duo broke up, Turner went on a downward spiral with run-ins with the law, which resulted in an 18-month prison term for a drug conviction in the early 1990s.
Following the release of his ex-wife's book, which recounted incidents of domestic violence, and the subsequent movie, What's Love Got to Do with It (1993),dramatizing their tumultuous relationship, Turner received media scrutiny, which further hindered his career. He eventually revived his band the Kings of Rhythm in the late 1990s and resurrected his career by returning to his blues roots.
In 2003, Turner was featured in the PBS documentary series The Blues (2003). He released two critically acclaimed albums, Here and Now (2001) and Risin' with the Blues (2006). The latter album won him a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues album the year he died in 2007.
Turner had been drug-free for over a decade, but he relapsed and died from a cocaine overdose on December 12, 2007. His hypertensive cardiovascular disease and pulmonary emphysema were also contributing factors.
