Tina and Ike Turner were married for 16 years. The star was only 22 years old when she fell in love with Ike, who was five years her junior.
The pair met at a nightclub in Manhattan and sparked up a romance after singing together. After dating for some time, Tina and Ike traveled to Tijuana, Mexico, to marry in 1962.
Turner’s relationship with Ike and his band was a turbulent one. Ike was extremely abusive. Turner reflects that he never showed an ounce of affection to her; rather, he was obsessed with her strictly because he wanted to use her talents for his own personal gain.
He withheld money from Turner so that he could manipulate her. His abuse was not only psychological: at one point, another band member saw him shove a lit cigarette up Turner’s nose. He beat her frequently with instruments from their set and whatever other objects he could get his hands on.
Once, before a show, he punched her in the face, shattering her jaw. She resorted to the use of prescription medications to escape the torment. Once, after overdosing, she woke up in the hospital. Ike was there before her, accusing her of trying to compromise his chances of success.
At one point, Turner formed her own band, Tina Turner Revue. Eventually, having split from Ike entirely, Turner made a full comeback and was adored throughout the 1980s Rock ‘n’ Roll scene.
Only after she broke up with Ike did he exhibit signs of remorse; Turner writes that he probably lamented the loss of his chance at stardom.
The music she created in this decade was the first uninhibited and truly personal music of her life. She also states that it was, by all accounts, better than the music that Ike co-wrote. Turner expresses her compassion for other women whose lives and talents are constrained by abusive and obsessive men.
Turner, lamenting that it undermined her artistry for so long, encourages women with similar experiences to escape the grips of their abusers. Yet, the memoir is ultimately optimistic: Turner’s closing chapter celebrates the joy she found in music and as a solo artist, and the knowledge that her ability was always within her. Rip Legend.
Courtesy Femi Ajibode – Golden Oldies