Tina Turner’s son Craig Raymond Turner has died from apparent suicide, according to TMZ. On Tuesday, July 3, Craig shot himself at his home in Studio City, CA. He was pronounced dead at the scene after authorities arrived, and he was only 59-years-old. Craig was Tina’s oldest son, as she is also the mother to Ronnie Turner, 57. Craig was born when Tina was 18-years-old before she married Ike Turner. However after their wedding in 1962, Ike adopted Craig as his own.
His biological father was a musician name Raymond Hill, who interestingly, performed with Ike’s band. Back in May 2005, Tina revealed during an interview with Oprah that, Craig was “a very emotional kid,” after seeing his mom get abused by Ike. “One day when Ike was fighting me, Craig knocked on the door and said, ‘Mother, are you all right?'” Tina explained. “I thought, ‘Oh, please don’t beat me at home. I don’t want my children to hear.’ I tried to have meals with the children, talk to them about life. But Ike had no sense of that. He’d always come home late from the studio it was awful,” Tina continued. Tina is also the adopted mother to two of Ike’s children– Ike Jr. and Michael, from a previous relationship.
After 16 years, Tina finally left Ike and has live in Switzerland since 1994 with German music producer Erwin Bach, who she married in 2013. At the time of Craig’s death, Tina was reportedly in Paris for Fashion Week events. Nevertheless, we can’t imagine how difficult this is, and our thoughts go out to Tina during this time.
If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or considering suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).