"She doesn't want to have anything to do with the past," Ike Jr. said after Tina Turner split from his Ike Turner.
Trigger Warning: This article contains mentions of suicide and drug overdose that some readers may find distressing.
Legendary singer Tina Turner, well known for hits like The Best and What's Love Got to Do With It, combined soul with pop. She passed away at the age of 83 on May 24, 2023, per BBC. She suffered a lot of health problems, such as cancer, a stroke, and renal failure. Turner, who was earlier married to her abusive ex Ike Turner, had adopted Ike Sr.'s two sons, Ike Jr. and Michael, from his previous relationship with Lorraine Taylor. Ike Jr. continued the family's musical tradition and developed a successful music career going on to win the Grammy Award with his father, per PEOPLE. The music producer, however, also shared a special relationship with Tina.
After his biological parents separated from each other, Ike Jr. rediscovered the experience of having a mother following his father's wedding to R&B icon, Tina Turner. "Tina raised me from the age of 2. She's the only mother I've ever known," he said. When the toxic relationship between Tina and Ike Turner Sr. ended, Ike Jr. briefly worked as his adoptive mother's sound engineer, something that was resented by his father. It was later reported that Ike Jr. lost contact with her after she moved to Europe.
He revealed in 2018 that he had not talked to Tina in more than a decade. "I haven't talked to my mother since God knows when, probably around 2000," 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," he added.
Ike Jr.'s stepmother's account of the Turner family's existence was revealed in the HBO documentary Tina. When Tina married Ike's father in 1962, she adopted Ike Jr. and cared for him as his own. One year after the birth of Ronnie Turner, her sole biological child with Ike, Tina adopted Michael, Ike Jr.'s brother as per Closer Weekly.
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Tina Turner had a son with her ex-boyfriend Raymond Hill, named Raymond Craig. Raymond Craig died by suicide at the age of 59 in 2018. This incident along with Ike Turner's passing away due to a drug overdose in 2007 had a profound impact on Ike Turner Jr. and the Turner family.
The River Deep-Mountain High singer found love again after Ike Turner in the form of Erwin Bach, a German producer. She wed Erwin Bach in 2013 and the two settled in Kusnacht, a Swiss town close to Zurich.
References:
https://www.bbc.com/news/65669653
https://people.com/tina-turner-children-everything-to-know-7502342
https://www.closerweekly.com/posts/tina-turners-kids-meet-her-4-children-including-late-son-craig/
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto
