Tina Turner has died at the age of 83, after a long battle with an unspecified long illness.
The legendary singer died at her home in Kusnacht near Zurich, Switzerland.
Her reps announced the news, saying, “With her, the world loses a music legend and a role model.”
Did Tina Turner have children? Was the singer married before her death? Read below for everything you need to know about the legendary singer’s family.
Tina Turner died at home at the age of 83 after a long illness. She is shown here in 2019 at the opening night of the musical Tina Turner in New York.
A musical legend: Turner in 1997. In a recent interview, she said she wanted to be remembered as “the queen of rock ‘n’ roll.”
Did Tina Turner have children?
The “queen of rock ‘n’ roll” had two biological children. She had her first son, named Raymond Craig, with Kings of Rhythm saxophonist Raymond Hill.
She had a second son with Ike Turner, named Ronnie, who played bass guitar in a band called Manufactured Funk with songwriter and musician Patrick Moten.
She also adopted two of Ike Turner’s sons and would raise her children as her own. Here’s what you need to know about each of the singer’s four sons.
Craig Turner
Tina Turner gave birth to her first child, a boy, at just 18 years old. As the father of the child was Raymond Hill, the saxophonist of the blues band Kings of Rhythm, his name was Raymond Craig Turner.
Craig, who attended Santa Monica College, worked in real estate at Rodeo Realty in the San Fernando Valley.
Tragically, Craig Turner was found dead by suicide at the age of 59 at his home in Studio City, California in 2018.
Ronnie Turner
Turner gave birth to her second son, Ronald ‘Ronnie’ Renelle, in October 1960 and shared Ronnie with her ex-husband, Ike.
Ronnie would continue to follow in his parents’ footsteps by getting into showbiz, starring alongside his mother in the 1993 film “What’s Love Got to Do with It”, which charted Tina’s rise to stardom.
Throughout his life, Ronnie faced a history of drug-related arrests and was arrested in August 1999 for possession of cocaine – with authorities alleging he was dealing drugs.
He had to register as a narcotics offender afterwards, but he reportedly failed to kick his addiction – even going so far as to evict his common-law wife and their two children from his apartment when they tried to push him to stop taking drugs.
Tina and Ike with their sons, two of whom Tina were also raised as his own, in 1972, six years before their divorce
Turner with her first husband, Ike. The couple rose to fame together in the Ike and Tina Turner magazine
Turner rose to fame as one half of a duo with Ike Turner. The couple married and had children but separated in 1978 after what she described as years of abuse
Ronnie married French musician Afida Turner in 2007, who previously dated Coolio and Mike Tyson.
Ronnie Turner died in December 2022 following a battle with cancer that ravaged his health in just three weeks.
Ike Turner Jr.
Ike Turner Jr is one of Tina’s two adopted sons from her relationship with Ike Turner.
He also enjoyed success in the music industry, winning a Grammy Award in 2006 after performing on “Risin’ with the Blues”, the last album recorded by his father before his father died of a drug overdose. cocaine in 2007.
Speaking in an interview with the Mail on Sunday in 2018, Ike said Tina had “turned her back on him”, abandoning her family in the US after moving to Switzerland in 1994.
‘Tina raised me from the age of two. She’s the only mother I’ve ever known,” Ike said.
“But I haven’t spoken to my mum since God knows when – probably around 2000. I don’t think any of my brothers have spoken to her in a long time either.
Ike and Tina were still absent parents, he claimed.
“We were brought up by housekeepers because my mum and dad were away 11 months out of the year.
‘My father took me out of school at 13. I ended up running his recording studio, in addition to going on the road with them. They made a lot of money touring and my dad made me count until my hands were gray.
Michael Turner
Of the four sons Tina Turner cared for in her lifetime, the least well-known is Michael Turner, the youngest of the quartet.
Ike Jr said of his brother: “Michael is in a convalescent home in Southern California and needs medical support. I went to see him quite a few times. He is doing very well.
When asked if Tina ever visits Michael, Ike Jr replied, “No. All she does is send him money.
In December last year, Turner’s son Ronnie died aged 62 from colon cancer.
Ronnie’s death came just four years after his older brother Craig killed himself at his Studio City home aged 59. Craig is pictured here with their mother
Turner is survived by her husband, Erwin Bach, 68, and two adult sons
Was Tina Turner married?
Tina married Ike Turner in 1962. Their 16-year marriage was a troubled and turbulent relationship.
The drug addict son of a Mississippi preacher, Ike regularly beat Tina until after 16 years she ran away in the middle of the night in a bloodstained white suit with only 36 cents in her pocket.
Following her difficult relationship with Ike Turner, Tina moved to Switzerland in 1994.
Having first met German music producer Erwin Bach – who is 16 years younger than her – when he was sent to meet her at Düsseldorf airport in 1986, the pair began a relationship.
The couple married in 2013, in a civil ceremony held on the shores of Lake Zurich in Kusnacht, Switzerland.
