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What Is Ike Turner’s Net Worth?
At the time of his death in December 2007, Ike Turner’s net worth was estimated to be $500,000. This figure represents his accumulated assets and earnings throughout his career as a musician, songwriter, and producer. While specific details regarding the composition of his net worth are not explicitly detailed, it would likely include royalties from his extensive musical catalog, earnings from live performances, and potentially investments in property or other assets.
Ike Turner’s Career and Musical Achievements
Ike Turner’s career began in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He learned how to play piano from blues musician Pinetop Perkins, and he learned guitar by playing along to blues records. His first recording, “Rocket 88,” released in 1951 under the name Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats, is often cited as one of the earliest examples of rock and roll. The song topped the “Billboard” R&B charts, marking a significant milestone in Turner’s early career.
In 1960, Ike formed the Ike & Tina Turner Revue with Ann Bullock, who he renamed “Tina Turner.” They gained tremendous success, and signed Ike and Tina to his record label after getting them released from Loma Records. The single was very successful in Europe, and Ike and Tina served as the opening act on the Rolling Stones’ 1966 British Tour. In 1969, Turner released an album, “A Black Man’s Soul,” with the Kings of Rhythm, earning a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Instrumental Performance. Ike and Tina had their biggest hit in 1971 with “Proud Mary,” selling over a million copies, peaking at #4 on the “Billboard” Hot 100, and earning the couple a Grammy.
Turner opened the Bolic Sound recording studio in 1972, and several notable artists recorded there, including Paul McCartney, Little Richard, and George Harrison. Ike released the solo albums “Blues Roots” (1972) and “Bad Dreams” (1973), and Ike and Tina’s single “Nutbush City Limits” received the first-ever Golden European Record Award after selling 1 million+ copies in Europe. Throughout his career, Ike released ten studio albums.
After the Ike & Tina Turner Revue ended in 1976, Ike faced challenges in maintaining his solo career, in part due to his struggles with drug addiction and legal issues. In 1993, he earned approximately $500,000 in royalties after Salt-N-Pepa sampled his song “I’m Blue (The Gong Gong Song)” in their hit “Shoop.” In 2006, he released the solo album “Risin’ With the Blues,” which earned a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album.
Personal Life and Financial Matters
Information regarding Ike Turner’s personal finances and assets is limited. It is known that during his divorce from Tina Turner in 1976, Ike retained the publishing royalties for their compositions, as well as Tina’s share of the Bolic Sound recording studio, real estate, and publishing companies. Specific details about the value of these assets at the time are not available.
After his death in December 2007, it was revealed that Ike Turner did not leave a valid will. A judge ruled that his adult children were the rightful heirs to Ike’s estate under state law. The exact value of his estate at the time of his death is not publicly disclosed, but the $500,000 net worth figure provides an estimate of his overall financial standing.
Ike Turner’s life was marked by both musical achievements and personal struggles. His net worth at the time of his death reflects the financial realities of a career that spanned several decades and was impacted by various factors, including his artistic successes, legal battles, and personal challenges.
Ike Turner’s early life began on November 5, 1931, in Clarksdale, Mississippi. His mother, Beatrice, was a seamstress, and his father, Izear, was a Baptist minister. Ike grew up thinking he was named after his father, but when he applied for a passport in the 1960s, he found out that he was registered as Ike Wister Turner. He had an older sister, Lee, and his father died when Ike was a child. Turner stated that he saw a white mob beat his father and leave him for dead, and Izear lived in a tent in the yard for a few years before dying from his injuries. Beatrice later married a painter named Philip Reese, who Ike described as a “violent alcoholic.” Ike revealed that he first experienced sex at age 6 with a middle-aged woman known as Miss Boozie and that he was involved with a different middle-aged woman, Miss Reeny, by age 12. Turner dropped out of school in eighth grade and got a job as an elevator operator at Clarksdale’s Alcazar Hotel. There was a radio station, WROX, in the building, and Ike would spend his breaks watching DJ John Friskillo, who eventually showed him how to work the control room. Ike began playing records on the station whenever Friskillo took coffee breaks, and he was offered a job as a DJ; Turner’s show, “Jive Till Five,” aired during the late afternoon shift.
Ike joined the Tophatters, a rhythm ensemble, as a teenager, and the group eventually split into two, with Turner becoming the leader of the soul and R&B band the Kings of Rhythm. In 1951, the band released the single “Rocket 88” under the name Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats, and it topped the “Billboard” R&B charts. The song’s success led to tension in the group, and the Kings of Rhythm temporarily disbanded. Ike began working as a session musician, freelance talent scout, and production assistant at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, and around this time, he played piano on some of B.B. King’s early albums. He later reformed the Kings of Rhythm, and they recorded tracks for Federal Records and Cobra/Artistic.
Legal Issues and Personal Relationships
Getty Images Ike was arrested numerous times, including a 1980 arrest for cocaine possession, a 1981 arrest for shooting a newspaper delivery man, and a 1990 arrest for driving under the influence of cocaine (which earned him 18 months in prison). Turner’s cocaine addiction eventually caused a hole in his nasal septum. He was diagnosed with emphysema in the early 2000s and had to use an oxygen tank, and after his death, his autopsy showed Seroquel in his system, which can be used as a treatment for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and Alzheimer’s disease. Both his ex-wife, Audrey Madison, and his personal assistant/caretaker, Falina Rasool, have said that Ike was bipolar.
Ike claimed that he was married a whopping 14 times, and he sometimes remarried before he was legally divorced from his previous wife. At age 16, he married Edna Dean Stewart on April 10, 1948, and they split up when Edna decided that she no longer wanted to live in Clarksdale. Turner wed Velma Davis on September 19, 1950, and though she claimed that Ike fathered her daughter, Linda, Turner denied it. Ike then wed Rosa Lee Sane, but after her family had her committed to an insane asylum, he never saw his wife again despite his efforts to get her out. He married Kings of Rhythm pianist and vocalist Marion Louis Lee (aka Bonnie Turner) on September 24, 1952, but she left him for another man in 1953, and they divorced two years later. Ike wed Annie Mae Wilson, who played piano in his band, in the mid-1950s, and she left him for a police officer after they moved to Illinois. He then began a relationship with Lorraine Taylor, and they had two sons, Ike Jr. (born October 1958) and Michael (born February 1960). Turner met Ann Bullock (better known as Tina Turner) in 1957, and when she became pregnant by Ike’s saxophonist, Raymond Hill, the couple lived with Ike and Lorraine. Hill left her before the birth of their son, Craig, and she later became involved with Turner, giving birth to their son, Ronnie, in October 1960. They formed the band the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, then married in 1962. Tina has said that Ike was abusive and unfaithful during their marriage, which led her to attempt suicide in 1968. Tina filed for divorce in July 1976, and Ike got to keep publishing royalties for their compositions as well as Tina’s share of the Bolic Sound recording studio, real estate, and publishing companies. In his autobiography, Ike wrote, “Sure, I’ve slapped Tina. We had fights, and there have been times when I punched her to the ground without thinking. But I never beat her.” After Tina, Turner was married to Margaret Ann Thomas (1981-1989), Jeanette Bazzell (1995-2000), and Audrey Madison (2006-2007); Ike and Margaret met in the 1960s and had a daughter, Mia, in January 1969. In 1988, he found out that he had a daughter named Twanna, whose mother was Pat Richard.
Ike Turner’s career and personal life are intertwined, reflecting both his artistic achievements and the challenges he faced. While precise figures for every aspect of his financial history are not available, the $500,000 net worth figure offers a glimpse into his financial standing at the end of his life.
