Tina Turner Worried Her Son Ronnie Would Become Abusive “Like His Father” Ike Turner, Reveals Her Daughter-in-law

Trigger Warning: The following content contains mentions of suicide, intimate partner violence, substance abuse, and physical violence, which may be distressing to some readers.

Tina Turner's daughter-in-law, Alfida Turner, opened up about the late singer being concerned that her son Ronnie would carry on his abusive father Ike Turner's behavior. Afida, who got married to Ronnie in 2007 and was with him until his death in 2022, revealed in an interview that the Private Dancer singer would caution her daughter-in-law about her son, per Page Six. “She sometimes told me, ‘You don’t want to stay with him. He is going to be like his father',” she revealed.

Throughout their 14-year marriage, Ike, who passed away from a heroin overdose in 2007 at the age of 76, physically and verbally abused Tina. The eight-time Grammy winner said in her autobiography, I, Tina, that Ike was abusive and unfaithful during their marriage, which even drove her to suicide at one point, by Valium overdose in 1968, per PEOPLE. 

Afida, a singer who was born in France, admitted that Ronnie did show signals of unsettling behaviors at the start of their relationship. “At first, he was kind of like his father, but after that, he was going very well,” she revealed. When Afida initially met Ronnie, a “heavy drinker” with a history of drug-related arrests, she “made him stop drinking and go to the gym.” She continued, “he was doing very well.”

“He made a very big effort to keep me,” Afida continued. “In the beginning, it was very hard because I was not willing to stay with him.” Regrettably, Ronnie passed away from complications related to colon cancer months before his mother. He was 62. The What's Love Got to Do With It singer had a son named Craig, from a prior relationship with musician Raymond Hill, whom she had when she was only 18 years old.

Craig died by suicide at 59 in 2018. Tina referred to Craig's tragic demise as her “saddest moment as a mother.” She shared in her documentary Tina, “He was 59 when he died so tragically, but he will always be my baby.” She also proposed that Craig was "lonely" when he died in his Studio City, California, home from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Tina being reunited with her sons after her passing on May 24 brings consolation for the grieving Afida. “Tina Turner will be with us forever,” she said. “Rest in peace with your two sons, Ron and Craig. I love you all very much.”

References:

https://pagesix.com/2023/05/27/tina-turner-feared-son-ronnie-would-be-abusive-like-dad-ike/

https://people.com/music/tina-turner-tried-to-kill-herself-ike-turner-abuse/

Cover Image Source: (L) Getty Images | Pascal Le Segretain ; (R) Getty Images | Hulton Archive