Ike Turner

A native of Clarksdale, Mississippi, Turner began playing piano in childhood and formed the Kings of Rhythm as a teenager. His first recording, "Rocket 88", credited to Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, is widely regarded as a contender for the first rock and roll song. During the 1950s, Turner taught himself to play guitar and worked as a talent scout and producer for Sun Records and Modern Records, playing a key role in the early careers of several blues musicians, including B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, and Bobby Bland. In 1954, he relocated to East St. Louis, where the Kings of Rhythm became one of the leading acts in the Greater St. Louis area. In 1960, Turner formed the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, which went on to achieve major success as a soul and rock crossover act during the decade.
Turner's cocaine addiction, along with allegations of domestic violence described by Tina Turner in her 1986 autobiography I, Tina and the 1993 film adaptation What's Love Got to Do with It, adversely affected his career. Addicted to cocaine for at least 15 years, Turner was convicted of drug offenses and served 18 months in prison. After his release in 1991, he relapsed in 2004 and died of a drug overdose in 2007. In the final decade of his life, Turner experienced a career resurgence as a frontman, returning to his blues roots with the release of the award-winning albums Here and Now (2001) and Risin' with the Blues (2006).
Hailed as a "great innovator" of rock and roll by contemporaries such as Little Richard and Johnny Otis, Turner received critical acclaim as well. Rolling Stone editor David Fricke ranked Turner No. 61 on his list of 100 Greatest Guitarists and noted, "Turner was one of the first guitarists to successfully transplant the intensity of the blues into more commercial music." Turner won five Grammy Awards, including two competitive awards and three Grammy Hall of Fame Awards. He also received the Recording Academy's Heroes Award. Turner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Tina Turner in 1991. As a solo artist, he is inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame, the Clarksdale Walk of Fame, the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame, the Blues Hall of Fame, and the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.