Tina Turner’s eldest son has died in an apparent suicide at the age of 59.
Craig Raymond Turner was found dead at his home in Studio City in California from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to a Los Angeles coroner.
Craig was born to Tina - when she was 18 and her name was Anna Mae Bullock - and Raymond Hill.
Hill was a saxophonist for Kings of Rhythm – a backing band for Ike Turner who became Tina’s husband after her relationship with Hill deteriorated.
Ike – whose band Tina joined - adopted Craig after they married in 1962.
Tina was subject to domestic violence which Craig was forced to witness as a young child.
“Ike’s children never reacted, but my oldest son, Craig, was a very emotional kid,” Tina told Oprah Winfrey in 2005.
“He’d always look down in sadness. One day when Ike was fighting me, Craig knocked on the door and said, ‘Mother, are you all right?’”
Frequent physical abuse perpetrated by Ike reportedly prompted Tina to try to kill herself and the pair ended up divorcing in 1978.
Craig was in secondary school when Turner - one of the world's all-time best-selling artists - finally left the abusive relationship with Ike.
She married German music producer Erwin Bach, her partner of nearly 30 years, in 2013.
Turner, who has been branded 'The Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll', and has sold more than 200 million albums and singles, has yet to comment publicly on the death of her son.
Just hours before it happened, she and Bach attended a party for Giorgio Armani Prive Haute Couture in Paris on Tuesday night
Craig’s biological father died in 1996. Craig, who worked for Rodeo Realty as a real estate agent in Beverly Hills, is survived by his mother and half-brother Ronald.
A post-mortem into his death is set to be carried out.
For confidential support call Samaritans on 116 123 or visit their website here. If you have been affected by this story, you can contact the following organisations for support: https://www.mind.org.uk/,http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/mentalhealth, orhttps://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/.
