Ike Turner Jr., the son of Tina and Ike Turner, died at age 67.
Turner died Saturday at a Los Angeles hospital of kidney failure, Tina’s niece, Jacqueline Bullock, told TMZ.
Bullock revealed that Ike Jr.’s health had declined in recent years, as he had severe heart issues. He also had a stroke in early September.
Tina’s niece speaks out following Ike Jr.’s passing
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of my cousin, Ike Turner Jr.,” Bullock shared in a statement obtained by Page Six. “‘Junior’ was more than a cousin to me, but rather a brother, as we grew up in the same famed household together.”
She continued, “As the son of Tina and Ike Turner, from an early age, his talents were evident as there wasn’t an instrument he did not want to play. 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 studio founded by his father, Ike Turner.”
“While he faced the same challenges that many of us have, he would become a sought-after sound engineer, musician, and Grammy winner for best traditional blues album in 2007 for his father’s Risin’ With the Blues,” Bullock added.
She concluded her message by thanking everyone who sent the family an “outpouring of condolences” and asked for privacy at this time.
Ike Jr.’s family dynamic explained
Ike Jr. was born in 1958 to Ike Turner Sr. and Lorraine Taylor. He and his brother, Michael, shared the same mother.
The boys were later adopted by Tina, who also had a son, Raymond Craig, from a previous relationship with Raymond Hill, according to People.
Both Tina and Ike Sr. had a blended family, comprising a total of four boys from their previous relationships, as well as their biological son, Ronnie.
Like his parents, Ike Jr. was also a successful musician and worked alongside the legendary couple, per Page Six. He worked as Tina’s sound engineer after she and Ike split.
In a 2008 interview with the Daily Mail, Ike Jr. spoke out about his relationship with his parents. He said they were gone for most of the year, and “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.”
Ike Sr. died of a cocaine overdose in 2007 at age 76. At the time, he had battled a years-long cocaine addiction, Page Six reported.
The “Proud Mary” singer died in 2023 of natural causes at her home in Switzerland at age 83.