Her publicist Bernard Doherty blazoned the death in a
statement but didn't give the cause. She had a stroke in
recent times and was known to be floundering with an order
complaint and other ails. Ms. Turner embarked on her half
century career in the late 1950s, while still attending high
academy, when she began singing with Ike Turner and his
band, the Lords of Rhythm. At first, she was only an
occasional pantomime, but she soon came the group’s star
magnet and Mr. Turner’s woman. With her potent, bluesy
voice and her wild dancing style, she made an instant print.
Their ensemble was soon renamed the Ike and Tina Turner
Revue came one of the premier traveling soul acts in Black
venues on the so-called chitlin ’ circuit. After the Rolling
Monuments invited the group to open for them, first on a
British stint in 1966 and also an American stint in 1969,
white listeners in both countries began paying attention.