Ike Turner Jr. Wasn’t Able To Speak To His Mother Tina Turner For Decades Before She Passed Away

May 25, 2023 by apost team

At 83 years old, Tina Turner passed away on May 24, 2023. She peacefully died in her home in Switzerland, according to a post on her official Instagram account. With a long, impressive list of iconic hits and international successes, the singer had undeniably left her mark with her 5-decades-long career. She didn’t always have it easy, however, having experienced many hardships and hurdles along the way.  

Tina suffered extreme domestic abuse from her late ex-husband, Ike Turner Sr., before leaving her in 1976. In that same year, the trailblazing music icon filed for divorce due to irreconcilable differences. The two had endured a very tumultuous relationship, with Tina going as far as adopting Ike Sr.’s children from his previous marriage. 

She adopted Ike Turner Jr. and Michael Turner, Ike Sr.’s sons to Lorraine Taylor, and treated them like her own sons. The two finally had a glimpse of having a real mother as they had struggled with their biological mother Taylor, as she also had a problematic relationship with their father. According to reports, Lorraine Taylor ended her life in the bathroom after suspecting that Ike Sr. and Tina were having an affair.  

However, Ike Jr. and Tina’s relationship had fallen out after the divorce, leaving the kids to grow up under the supervision of nannies and other housekeepers. Aside from the two, Tina also had Craig Raymond Turner, her son with saxophonist Raymond Hill, and Ronnie Turner, her only child with Ike Sr.

In a 2018 interview, Ike Jr. revealed that he had not spoken to his mother for more than a decade, which surprised many at the time. Keep on reading to know more about Ike Jr., his relationship with Tina, and more about his mother’s death. 

Born in 1958, Ike Jr. was adopted by Tina at the young age of 2. Unbeknownst to many, Tina has had a huge influence on Ike Jr.’s upbringing, especially on how he became a musician. 

As quoted by People Magazine in a 2017 interview with Bobby Eaton, it was Tina who had a hand in helping him select his musical instruments of choice: 

“My first instrument was drums, until my mother started making me break my drums down every day, so the piano was always there. So I started playing piano. I play guitar and bass. Everything except horn.”

Perhaps the most beneficial thing that Ike Jr. inherited from Ike Sr. was the gift of musicianship. In 2007, he won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album at the 49th Grammy Awards for “Risin’ With The Blues.” 

“I got a Grammy for Risin’ with the Blues, I produced an album of my [father’s], and my second Grammy, I started another category, an album produced and engineered by the same person,” he told Eaton in the interview. 

After the divorce, it wasn’t just Ike Jr. who was greatly impacted, it was also his younger brother, Michael. In an interview with Spin Magazine in 1985, he shared an update on how his brother is faring from the divorce. 

“Michael wanted my mother and father to get back together, and the next thing knew he was in the hospital,” he told the magazine at the time. “He was hurt by their being apart.”

In the 2017 Eaton interview, Ike Jr. revealed that Michael had been using wheelchairs and has suffered from “several strokes and seizures” from time to time. Per Ike Jr., Tina was aware of his brother’s situation, but she had not contacted him since leaving them.

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In a tell-all interview with The Daily Mail in 2018, Ike Jr. revealed to the outlet that his mother, Tina, had abandoned them in the United States as she fled to Europe for solace and peace. 

“Tina raised me from the age of two. She’s the only mother I’ve ever known. But I haven’t talked to my mother since God knows when – probably around 2000. I don’t think any of my brothers have talked to her in a long time either,” he confessed. “My mother is living her life – she has a new husband and she’s in Europe. She doesn’t want to have anything to do with the past.” 

After her marriage with Ike Sr., Tina went on to marry German music executive Erwin Bach. After 23 years of relationship, they tied the knot in 2013 and lived happily in Küsnacht, Switzerland. As for her children, Craig committed suicide in 2018 while Ronnie passed away in 2022. 

With Ike Jr. and Michael left, the former told the outlet that although their mother has not been in contact with them, she had sent his brother financial support for his medical needs. 

Aside from revealing that he hadn’t been in contact with Tina for years, Ike Jr. also believed that his mother should have forgiven his father for his wrongdoings before his death in 2007. He noted that like his mother, he also suffered domestic abuse from his father to the point that he was “pistol-whipped” by him after learning that he’d worked for his mother after his parents’ separation. 

Since his interview in 2018, Ike Jr. has not revealed to the public whether he has talked to his late mother or not. Tina passed away on May 24, 2023, after a long battle with an illness linked to her many health struggles. 

Are you a fan of Tina Turner? What can you say about his relationship with his sons? Do you think Tina should have talked to his sons before her death? Let us know, and pass this on to other Tina Turner fans!

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