Though he was linked to many women in his lifetime, Ike Turner’s marriage to Tina Turner turned out to be his most famous union. Ike first met Tina in 1957 at Manhattan Club, a popular Illinois nightclub where Ike regularly performed with his band, Kings of Rythm. According to Insider, the pair started dating in 1959 and welcomed their son Ronnie the following year. Two years later, in 1962, Ike and Tina became husband and wife in a simple ceremony in Mexico. Sadly, what started out as a steamy love affair soon turned into a nightmare.
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During their 16-year marriage, Ike physically, sexually, and financially abused Tina. “(Ike Turner) threw hot coffee in my face, giving me third-degree burns,” Tina detailed in her 2018 memoir “Tina Turner: My Love Story,” per Today. “He used my nose as a punching bag so many times that I could taste blood running down my throat when I sang. He broke my jaw. And I couldn’t remember what it was like not to have a black eye.” In 1976, Tina fled the marriage, eventually filing for divorce later that year. Two years later, their divorce was finalized, with Tina receiving only the rights to her name. “The divorce, I got nothing. No money, no house. So I said: I’ll just take my name,” she recalled in 1986 (via Insider).
