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- Tina Turner, one of the biggest names in rock and pop music, passed away on May 24, 2023.
- She had with her exes Raymond Hill and Ike Turner and adopted two of Ike’s sons from prior relationships.
- Her youngest son, Ronnie, died on Dec. 8, 2022. It was later revealed he passed due to colon cancer.
Long live Tina Turner. The woman — whose voice soared on songs like “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” “Private Dancer,” “Simply The Best,” “We Don’t Need Another Hero,” and what many will say is the definitive version of “Proud Mary” – passed away on May 24, 2023. “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Tina Turner,” her official social media channels posted at the time. “With her music and her boundless passion for life, she enchanted millions of fans around the world and inspired the stars of tomorrow. Today we say goodbye to a dear friend who leaves us all her greatest work: her music. All our heartfelt compassion goes out to her family. Tina, we will miss you dearly.”
Deadline noted that Tina, age 83, passed away after a long illness at her home in Küsnacht near Zurich, Switzerland. Sadly, Tina’s death came six months after she lost her youngest son, Ronnie Turner. Ronnie, 62, passed away in December due to complications relating to colon cancer. After his death, Tina stated that her baby “left the world far too early. In sorrow, I close my eyes and think of you, my beloved son.”
Tina’s impact as a musical force will forever be felt. Her career lasted over 60 years, first working alongside her then-husband Ike Turner in the late 1950s, then as an iconic solo artist in the 1980s. Her professional career will be studied and marveled over for decades after her death.
Her personal life also made headlines, for better or for worse. She had her first child at age 18. She had a second with Ike Turner, a relationship fraught with tales of domestic abuse. Tina would find love with German music executive Ermin Bach in the 1980s. They would marry in 2013 after nearly three decades together. While they had no children together, Tina’s heart and house were always full. Learn about her children here.
Craig Raymond Turner
Tina had her first son, Craig Raymond, in 1958 when she was only eighteen. Craig’s father was Raymond Hill, who played saxophone in Ike’s band, Kings of Rhythm. Craig mostly avoided the spotlight during his life, and he worked as a real estate professional. Sadly, Craig died by suicide in July 2018 in his Studio City, California, home at age 59.
Tina opened up about her son’s death in a June 2019 interview with CBS This Morning. She expressed that she felt like her son was at peace. “I think Craig was lonely, that’s what I think really got him more than anything else,” she said at the time.” I have pictures all around of him smiling, and I think I’m sensing that he’s in a good place. I really do.” The singer held a ceremony to scatter her late son’s ashes on Jul. 19, 2018, as she revealed in a tweet. “My saddest moment as a mother,” she wrote. “I said my final goodbye to my son, Craig Raymond Turner when I gathered with family and friends to scatter his ashes off the coast of California. He was fifty-nine when he died so tragically, but he will always be my baby.”
Ronnie Renelle Turner
Tina gave birth to her younger son Ronald “Ronnie” Renelle, in October 1960. Ronnie was musical like his mom and dad. He acted alongside his mama in the 1993 movie What’s Love Got To Do With It as a member of The Revue, according to IMDb. Ronnie also performed with his parents. Ronnie’s half-brother Ike, Jr. revealed that he was married to the singer Afida Turner in an interview with DailyMail in 2018. His half-brother said he spoke to Ronnie “periodically.”
Ronnie was reported to have died on Dec. 8, 2022. His wife shared a statement mourning his passing on her Instagram. “My God, Ronnie Turner, a true angel, huge soul, highly spiritual, my husband, my best friend, my baby,” she wrote.
Ike Turner Jr.
Ike Turner had six children, but Tina only adopted two of his sons. The two sons she adopted were from his long-term relationship with Lorraine Taylor. His oldest son, Ike Turner, Jr. was born in 1958. Ike Jr. followed in his dad’s and adopted mom’s footsteps and began a career in the music industry. He won a Grammy in 2006 for producing his father’s album Risin’ With The Blues in the Traditional Blues Album category. Ike, Jr. also reunited with one of his father’s old bandmates Randi Love in 2017 and toured with her, according to the Oklahoma Eagle. Randi was a member of the Ike Turner Revue as an “Ikette.” Randi released a single with Ike, Jr. in 2018 called “Freaky” under the name Sweet Randi Love & Love Thang Band.
Ike claimed that he’d been estranged from his mother for nearly two decades in a 2018 interview with DailyMail. “Tina raised me from the age of two. She’s the only mother I’ve ever known,” he said. “I haven’t talked to my mother since God knows when – probably around 2000. I don’t think any of my brothers have talked to her in a long time either.”
In May 2023, just weeks before Tina’s death, Ike Jr. was arrested on charges of cocaine possession. He remained in jail at the time of her passing.
Michael Turner
Ike’s younger son from his relationship with Lorraine was Michael, born in 1959. Of Tina’s four children, the least is known about Michael. While Michael has kept out of the spotlight, it was revealed that he, as well as his brothers Ike and Ronnie, were “devastated” that they were mostly left out of the 2021 HBOMax documentary Tina, according to a source who spoke to Fox News.
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