Ike Turner, Jr., the son of seminal R&B-soul husband-and-wife duo Ike & Tina Turner and a Grammy-winning producer, has died at the age of 67.
His death was confirmed on social media by sister-in-law Afida Turner, who wrote on Instagram, “REST IN PEACE IKE JR : U WAS AMAZING BROTHER IN LAW I M GLAD I SPEAK WITH U ON A PHONE BEFORE U GONE LOVE U RIP 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻.”
Cousin Jacqueline Bullock told TMZ that Turner, Jr. died yesterday at a Los Angeles hospital from kidney failure, after having battled heart issues for years. He had also suffered a stroke last month.
In a statement shared with the New York Post, Bullock said, “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of my cousin, Ike Turner, Jr. ‘Junior’ was more than a cousin to me, but rather a brother, as we grew up in the same famed household together.”
Born in 1958 to Ike Turner and ex-wife Lorraine Taylor, Turner, Jr. was adopted by Tina Turner alongside brother Michael Turner. He quickly followed after his musician parents’ footsteps, with Bullock relaying that “from an early age, his talents were evident as there wasn’t an instrument he did not want to play.”
She continued, “While he favored the drums early on, my aunt and his mother, Tina Turner, insisted that he break down his drum kit after each practice. This led him to favor the keys. Eventually, Junior would end up helping to run Bolic Sound Studios, the recording studios founded by his father, Ike Turner.”
As such, he became a sought-after sound engineer and producer, sharing a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album in 2007 for his work on Ike Turner’s final album, Risin’ with the Blues.
In a 2018 interview with the Daily Mail, Turner, Jr. noted he was raised mostly by housekeepers, as his parents were “gone 11 months out of a year.” He recalled, “My father took me out of school at 13. I ended up running his recording studio, plus going on the road with them. They made a lot of money on tour and my father used to make me count it until my hands were gray.”
Though he acknowledged being largely estranged from his mother prior to her death in 2023 and the violence he faced at the hands of his father growing up, the musician said he was trying to “do the right thing with the [family] name” via his tribute band The Love Thang.
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