The Truth About Tina Turner's Marriages And Other Relationships
The following article includes references to domestic abuse, sexual assault, and suicide.
Once she was done gracing the music stages across the globe, Tina Turner retired in 2009. Thereafter, she continued enjoying a quiet private life in Switzerland, a country she called home until her death of natural causes at age 83 in May 2023. Still, despite stepping away from the global limelight, she remained just as much of a force to reckon with and revere. "You can't imagine the looks, the way people dropped their knives and forks when they saw who it was entering the dining room," Rico Zandonella, a restaurant owner in Switzerland, told People of the late icon. "Because she was Tina and she had a presence, an allure like no one else."
Alongside her incredibly successful career, her enviable charisma, and that charming smile, Tina will also always be remembered as the ex-wife of Kings of Rhythm leader Ike Turner, whom she was with between 1960 and 1976. But while Ike was her most infamous partner, Tina had a few more romantic relationships in her lifetime. From a high school romance to a fairytale forever with her second husband, Erwin Bach, here's a look into the late Tina Turner's marriages and relationships.
Tina Turner's first love was a boy named Harry Taylor
Like many of us, Tina Turner had her fair share of high school love. While attending a basketball game in 1954, Turner — who was on the cheerleading squad of Lauderdale High School at the time — met Harry Taylor, a basketball player for rival team Carver High School. "When I saw him, my heart started beating so fast I almost fainted. It was love at first sight," Turner recounted in a 1996 interview with the Mirror. Though they had access to very few fun activities in their Tennessee hometown, the young lovebirds would either go to the cinema together or hang out on the porch of Turner's family home. Other times, Turner and Taylor would simply head over to the local ice cream spot.
But not only was he the future star's first boyfriend — Taylor also doubled as her first lover. "We were both virgins. Despite my lack of experience, I tried to be as gentle and loving as possible. I think we both thought it was an amazing evening," Taylor recounted of their first time. "I was scared. But Harry was a good lover, so it was beautiful," Turner added.
Sadly, Turner discovered that her popular basketball player boyfriend was the stereotypical playboy. Eventually, the two called it quits. "Harry and I broke up because he started playing around. He started dating a girl named Theresa, and by the time he and I got back together, she had become pregnant," Turner told Rolling Stone in a 1986 interview.
Her romance with Raymond Hill made her a single parent
Before breaking up with Harry Taylor, Tina Turner moved to St. Louis to live with her mother. There, she met Raymond Hill, a saxophonist with Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm band. "We didn't fool around right away, because I was so unsophisticated," Tina told Rolling Stone of her relationship with Hill. When they did start fooling around, the "River Deep — Mountain High" hitmaker ended up getting knocked up. Still a high school senior at the time, Tina recounted, "I didn't know about abortion, and I wanted the baby. After my mother found out, I went to stay with Raymond."
But while her feelings for Hill were admittedly not nearly as strong as what she felt for Taylor, Tina took solace in knowing her baby would inherit his appearance. "He was good-looking. I thought, 'My baby's going to be beautiful,'" she added in her interview with Rolling Stone. Tina's relationship with the saxophonist soon fell apart, however, after Hill suffered a foot injury, forcing him to travel to his hometown before their child was born. He never returned.
Left to cater for her pregnancy alone, Tina also returned home. "I did feel ashamed and afraid because I didn't think my mother would help me. But she did. ... She said I could come home. So then I took care of her house, did all the cleaning, washing, and cooking for the family."
Tina and Ike Turner's relationship started out professional
Tina Turner first met Ike Turner in 1957 after watching his band's performance at East St. Louis' Club Manhattan. While she was impressed by his music and stage presence, the guitarist's looks admittedly struck her as unremarkable. "I thought he was terribly ugly," she told Rolling Stone decades later. "There had been such a buildup about him because he had the hottest band around. When I first saw him, I remember thinking that I had never seen anyone that skinny."
That same year, Ike discovered Tina's musical talent after she sang B.B. King's blues ballad "You Know I Love You" during one of his band's gigs. "When Ike heard me, he said, 'My God!'" Tina told People in 1981. "He couldn't believe that voice coming out of this frail little body." By the end of the night, he asked her to join Kings of Rhythm as a backup vocalist. Tina, however, soon went from a backup vocalist to getting credited on a major record. In 1958, Ike attempted selling a demo to a record company that suggested he bring Tina on the project.
"As a result, I became, officially, a professional performer. I was twenty, and my kid was about two," she recalled to Rolling Stone. Realizing how much of an asset Tina was, Ike teamed up with her to form Ike & Tina Turner Revue. "He wanted his name there because he'd always produced people, only to have them get record deals and leave," Tina explained.
The Turners' 16-year marriage was abusive
Though platonic for the first few years, Tina and Ike Turner's relationship soon took a different turn. In 1960 — around the time their single "A Fool in Love" became a hit — Tina sought protection in Ike's room after receiving a threat from another musician in the band. That night, the pair hooked up for the first time. "It happened then, but I thought, 'Well, okay, I'll just do it once.' I didn't really know what to do because I wasn't turned on to him, even though it was good," she recounted in her interview with Rolling Stone.
Not long after that, the alleged abuse started. "He needed to control me, economically and psychologically, so I could never leave him," Tina recalled in her 2018 memoir "My Love Story" (via People), noting that when she'd told Ike she didn't want to go on tour, he responded with verbal and physical abuse and sexual assault. Ultimately, Tina noted, "Our life together was a mockery of a 'normal' relationship: defined by abuse and fear, not love, or even affection."
While the two would get married two years later, the abuse and Ike's alleged infidelity persisted — so much so that Tina once attempted suicide. "I was unhappy when I woke up," she recounted (via ET). "But I came out of the darkness believing I was meant to survive."
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Tina Turner shared four sons with her first husband
While her marriage to Ike Turner was tumultuous, Tina Turner found solace in her role as a mother to four kids. In 1960, the same year they started their romantic relationship, Ike and Tina welcomed their first child together, Ronald "Ronnie" Turner. Tina would also adopt Ike's sons, Ike Jr. and Michael Turner, from a previous relationship; Ike, in turn, then adopted her first son, Craig Turner, whom she'd welcomed with Raymond Hill.
Despite the seemingly unlikely blending of their families, Tina enjoyed being a mom to her sons. "I've gotta say, they were good kids," she gushed on "Larry King Live" in 1997. In footage included in the 2021 HBO documentary "Tina," Craig opened up about his childhood and what it was like having the music icon as their mom, saying, "She really took to raising us personally because basically, that was her happiness to a certain extent."
However, Tina sadly suffered great tragedy with her children. In July 2018, oldest son Craig died by suicide at the age of 59. "My saddest moment as a mother. On Thursday, July 19, 2018, 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," the "Proud Mary" singer wrote on Instagram. Four years later, Tina's youngest son, Ronnie, died of colon cancer complications. "Ronnie, you left the world far too early. In sorrow I close my eyes and think of you, my beloved son," Tina shared on Instagram in December 2022.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Tina Turner's ugly divorce from Ike Turner
In July 1976, Tina Turner walked out on Ike Turner and their 16-year marriage following a fight that occurred ahead of a gig in Dallas. She fled to Los Angeles with just a Mobil credit card and 36 cents to her name.
"I felt proud," Tina told People of her decision to leave. "I felt strong. I felt like Martin Luther King." Ike, however, wasn't one to give up without a fight. A few weeks later, he reportedly found Tina and attempted to scare her back into getting back together with him. The "What's Love Got to Do with It" singer knew there was no going back, so she hired a lawyer and officially filed for divorce. In lieu of alimony and child support, Tina left everything to Ike in exchange for ending the marriage and keeping her stage name. "My peace of mind was more important," she explained. "Whatever was involved in our lives — property, masters, royalty rights — he got."
Unfortunately, this decision also ended up biting Tina in the bank. With no access to funds and facing several lawsuits from promoters who were attempting to recoup their losses, Tina was forced to crash with friends, live off of food stamps, and play small club gigs to pay off her debt. Eventually, though, after launching her solo career, Tina was able to get back on her feet. As for Ike? The pair remained estranged up until his death in 2007. "Ike wasn't someone you could forgive and allow him back in," she told The Times in 2018.
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.
It was love at first sight with Erwin Bach
Following her tumultuous marriage with Ike Turner, Tina Turner went on to have a healthy long-term relationship with music executive Erwin Bach, who's 16 years her junior. Speaking to Oprah Winfrey in 2013, Tina revealed that she fell in love with Bach on their first meeting in 1985 at an airport ahead of a concert in Germany. "He was another kind of handsome. He was an unusual-looking man. Great eyes. So I got in the car with Erwin, and my heart was bu-bum already, my hands were wet, and I thought, 'Oh my God, this is love at first sight,'" she recounted.
Before her return to the United States, Tina made her interest known to Bach. "'When you come to L.A., I want you to make love to me,'" she recalled saying, noting, "He looked at me like he didn't believe what he was hearing." Honoring her invitation, Bach would later visit Tina in Nashville and then in Los Angeles. This trip, it appears, was the start of a fairytale love story for the two.
Though Tina might have made the first move, Bach ended up just as enamored with the music icon as she was with him. "It's love. It's something we both have for each other," Bach gushed in the 2021 HBO documentary "Tina." "I always refer to it as an electrical charge. I still have it. Even though when I left her two hours ago, I still have that feeling. It's in my heart. I feel very warm about this."
It took two proposals for Tina Turner to marry again
Though very much in love, it took Erwin Bach two proposals to convince Tina Turner to give marriage a second trial. Bach first popped the question in 1989, around the same time she celebrated her 50th birthday. At the time, however, Tina still nursed some fears stemming from her previous marriage to Ike Turner. "I said, 'I don't have an answer.' It wasn't yes, it wasn't no," she explained on "Oprah's Next Chapter" (via ET), adding, "Marriage says ownership. I didn't want that 'my' anything, anymore. I had enough of that."
But for Bach, his proposal had nothing to do with ownership and more to do with how serious he was about their relationship. "The truth is that I was trying to show Tina my commitment. I think when a woman turns 50, she should have a commitment from her partner," he said of his intentions at the time. While Tina didn't accept his proposal in 1989, the couple continued their relationship and moved to Switzerland in 1995. During a 2000 interview with People, they shared how happy they were together, adding that getting hitched wasn't a necessity for them. "We don't need a marriage to be together. Some people need that security thing, but I think if you're internally happy with your partner, you don't need symbols," Bach explained.
In 2013, however, after 27 years together, Tina Turner tied the knot with Bach in a civil ceremony held in Switzerland.
Erwin Bach saved Tina Turner's life
Given the unjust treatment she endured in her first marriage, Tina Turner's relationship with Erwin Bach signified her second chance at love. Speaking to Today in 2021, Tina listed her longtime romance with Bach as one of her greatest joys. "Some of the happiest moments in my life were the birth of my beautiful baby boys, Craig and Ronnie, and marrying my partner and soul mate, Erwin Bach," she gushed. Not only did Bach fill the music legend with well-deserved happiness, but he also saved her life — literally.
In 1978, Tina was diagnosed with high blood pressure, a condition that persisted for the rest of her life. In 2009, she suffered a stroke, proven to be a complication of her hypertension. Sadly, her kidneys were also affected, having lost 35% of their function. "In order to survive, I had to start dialysis," Tina, who had another stroke in 2013 and an intestinal cancer diagnosis in 2016, wrote in an essay for Show Your Kidneys Love. "It was my only option, but it was depressing to be connected to a machine for hours. For the next nine months, all my life was about dialysis."
After eight years of dealing with kidney problems, Tina had a transplant in 2017, with Bach acting as her donor. "I'm happy to say that, thanks to my beloved husband, Erwin, giving me one of his kidneys, the gift of life, I'm in good health and loving life every day," she wrote in her 2020 book "Happiness Becomes You" (via People).