WE REMEMBER IKE TURNER

Musician Ike Turner, the legendary rock-n-roll pioneer whose contributions to the genre were overshadowed by his abuse of ex-wife Tina Turner, has died at age 76, a statement from his management company confirms.


"Ike Turner passed away this morning. He was at his home," in San Marcos, California, outside San Diego, said Scott Hanover of Thrill Entertainment, said on Wednesday. No further information was given as of press time. However, TMZ.com reported Wednesday that Turner may have died in his sleep. On the other hand, that news is countered by a source close to Turner's camp who told EUR that he was surrounded by members of his band and his sons when he died. We were told Turner suffered from emphysema and may have died of a heart attack.


Born November 5, 1931 in Clarksdale, Miss., Turner was on the ground level of rock-n-roll with the launch of his band The Kings of Rhythm in 1951 and their single "Rocket 88." The Chess Records release is considered by many rock historians as one of the genre's first songs.


While contemporaries such as Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Bo Diddley crossed over to white audiences, Ike Turner never was never able to make the jump and was confined to the less-lucrative R&B category.


As a guitarist and pianist, Turner played behind B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon in the 1950s. He married Annie Mae Bullock in 1958, she changed her name to Tina, and they enjoyed such hits as "River Deep, Mountain High," "Proud Mary" and "Nutbush City Limits."

The pair won a Grammy in 1972 for "Proud Mary," and earlier this year Ike Turner was awarded again with the record industry's top honor for his traditional blues album, "Risin' with the Blues."

After the couple divorced in 1976, Ike Turner's career spiraled downward due to a cocaine addiction, while Tina Turner would enjoy a huge comeback in the 1980s. At the time, she wrote an autobiography that chronicled the years of brutal abuse suffered at the hands of Ike Turner during their marriage.

Her ordeal was documented in the 1993 film "What's Love Got to Do With It," which was based on Tina Turner's autobiography "I Tina" and starred Lawrence Fishburne as Ike Turner.


In a 2001 interview with The Associated Press, Turner denied his ex-wife's claims of abuse and expressed frustration that he had been demonized in the media while his historic role in rock's beginnings had been ignored.

"You can go ask Snoop Dogg or Eminem, you can ask the Rolling Stones or (Eric) Clapton, or you can ask anybody — anybody, they all know my contribution to music, but it hasn't been in print about what I've done or what I've contributed until now," he said.


Music promoter Paulette DeSuzia, who worked his 2001 comeback album "Here and Now," called the project "one of the best musical compositions I have ever heard …. All instrumental … It went without notice. How unfortunate for (urban) radio who could not get past the Tina stories and deal with the genius of his music. I will miss him.”