Coroner: Rock Pioneer Died From Cocaine Overdose
Posted January 17, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
We now know what killed rock and roll pioneer Ike Turner and it’s a sadly familiar cause for those in the music industry – drugs.
A coroner has ruled that the soul legend who became both famous and infamous as the husband of Tina Turner, succumbed to an overdose of cocaine late last year. The 76-year-old was found dead December 12th in his California home, but the cause wasn’t immediately apparent. The medical findings showed Turner had a history of cardiovascular disease and emphysema and that the drugs were simply too much for his already overtaxed system.
It was his spouse who generally received most of the limelight, especially in the latter years of his career. But Turner is considered by many to be a pioneer in the field of rock and roll, with some experts calling his recording of “Rocket 88” with the Rhythm Kings in 1951 the first true rock record. He would later become known for something far more ominous – a descent into drugs and abuse of his wife, dramatized in the 1993 biopic “What’s Love Got To With It.”
The couple divorced in 1976 and Turner was unable to attend his own induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland because he was serving a jail term for a drug conviction.
