My Life According to Me: Ike Turner, dead at age 76, a life of fame and infamy

Ike Turner, member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, rock pioneer, drug addict, womanizer and wife abuser, died today at the age of 76. He was a brilliant musician, whose career achievements have been overshadowed (and rightfully so) by his private life, one that became very public. But before all of that was public, Ike and Tina Turner were magnificent on stage. The energy overwhelming! Over the years as Tina's career was on the rise, it appeared that Ike's was going in the opposite direction. He had two failed albums, and then had to spend time in prison on drug-related charges. In fact, he was in prison when he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with his former wife, Tina. She accepted the award for both of them.

After he got out of prison, he no longer used drugs or alcohol and it appears that his career was doing much better. In fact, this year, he won a Grammy for his Risin' With the Blues album, a more traditional blues album.

On a personal side, he was married 4 times and had 4 known children. However, he always denied abusing Tina, but in his autobiography, (and get this name: Sure, I've slapped Tina... There have been times when I punched her to the ground without thinking. But I never beat her he did admit to some abuse. He also denied being legally married to her (but didn't he get a legal divorce and claim ALL of their assets???) My guess is that after all of the abuse became public knowledge and his prison time, he was embarassed by the mistakes he made (especially the movie What's Love Got To Do With It and tried to justify himself. It did not work.