Struggling at first, the singer eventually found a home for herself and was reunited with all four of her children and used food stamps, and got help from her family to keep food on the table. Then in 1976, after 16 years in an abusive marriage, taking no money with her and having no plan, Turner finally found the courage to leave. And I was afraid to leave." Tina Turner (1984) Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images That was a mental problem I had at the time. As horrible as he treated me, I still felt responsible for letting him down. "If I left him, what was he going to do? Go back to St. I was trapped into really caring about Ike," Turner explained. "It was a thoroughly unhappy situation I was in, but I was too far gone. But while the couple had enjoyed great success with their music, their relationship took a dark turn at home, as Ike Turner began abusing his wife physically, and Turner became trapped. Tina Turner (1978) (Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)Īfter A Fool in Love's success, the Ike and Tina act would become the hottest Rhythm and Blues ensemble, releasing numerous records and singles and effortlessly topping the charts. Then at age 20, a record company became enthralled with Turner's voice after the label owner heard a tape of Turner's song, A Fool In Love, sent in by Ike Turner, and together the two began performing as 'Ike and Tina.' In the meantime, they also started a romantic relationship, with Turner taking in and raising his two sons from a previous relationship. Hill had not been around to raise Turner's son, however, so the young singer raised him with her mother and sister's help for the first two years while working at a hospital to support herself. Michael Turner, Ike Turner, Jr., Ike Turner, Craig Hill, Ronnie Turner (1972), (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)Īround that same time, she began dating another band member, saxophonist Raymond Hill, with whom she fell pregnant at 18 years old. But that took an entire year." But when that time finally came, Turner blew Ike and his band away with her voice and eventually started performing with them. I wanted to get up there and sing sooooo bad. ".boy, could he play that music," she recalled. Now in the big city, the two teens would frequent the clubs and mingle with the local music scene, where Turner eventually met her first husband, Ike Turner. With nowhere to go, the singer and her sister moved to St. Then, at age 16, Turner's life was once again turned upside down when her grandmother died.
That fling would only be brief, however, as Harry ended up impregnating another girl in the school and marrying her, with Turner only finding out through her classmate's gossip.
"It was love at first sight," she recounted. She had even fallen in love for the first time with a boy named Harry, whom she saw one day in her high school gym and knew instantly that she wanted him. As a teenager, she would attend school and work as a babysitter in the afternoon for the Henderson family, whose matriarch, Turner says, became something of a role model for her. Three years later, her father left the family as well, and Turner and her sister would move in with their grandmother. Tina Turner (1966) (David Redfern/Redferns/GettyImages) What I simply missed was that she didn't love me." "It mattered that she'd left – but it also didn't matter. "I was different, because I've always been a loner," she explained. That experience left her feeling hurt, although, as she explains, moreso because she felt unloved rather than because her mother had left. Turner was just ten years old at the time. However, one day, her mother left – this time leaving her girls behind – and never came back. "My mother and father didn't love each other, so they were always fighting," Turner told the Rolling Stone in a 1986 interview. Her mother would up and leave and take Turner and her sister, Alline, along, but would eventually return when her husband came around and convinced her to make it work. But at home, they were struggling with a tumultuous marriage. According to Turner, her mother and father were both 'church people,' well-spoken, and neat.
How old is tina turner full#
Be sure to reach the end of this article to see the full video :-) Tina Turner (1964) (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)īorn Anna Mae Bullock in 1939, Turner had lived a somewhat comfortable life as a child, with her parents, Floyd and Zelma Bullock, both sharecroppers, able to provide a substantial home for the family and always had food on the table.