In high school he formed a group called the Kings of Rhythm. B. B. King helped that band get a steady weekend gig and recommended it to Sam Phillips at Sun Studios in Memphis. The band had been performing jukebox hits, but on the drive from Mississippi to Memphis, its members decided to write something of their own.
Their saxophonist, Jackie Brenston, suggested a song about the new Rocket 88 Oldsmobile. The piano-pounding intro and the first verse were by Mr. Turner, and the band collaborated on the rest; Mr. Brenston sang.
Sun was not yet its own record label, so Mr. Phillips sent the song to Chess Records. It went on to sell a half-million copies. “I was playing rhythm and blues,” Mr. Turner wrote. “That’s all I was playing.” His book says he was paid $20 for the record.
Mr. Turner became a session guitarist, known for his flamboyant, note-bending use of his guitar’s whammy bar. He was also a producer, songwriter and talent scout for Sun and for RPM/Modern Records. He worked with Mr. King, Bobby (Blue) Bland, Howlin’ Wolf, Johnny Ace, Otis Rush, Elmore James and many other blues and R&B musicians.
In 1954 he moved up the Mississippi River to East St. Louis, Ill., where his disciplined and dynamic band became a major draw at local clubs. There, in 1958, he heard Anna Mae Bullock, who joined the group and quickly became its focal point as Tina Turner. The band was soon renamed the Ike and Tina Turner Revue. Her lead vocal on “A Fool in Love” started a streak of Top 10 R&B hits for the revue and also reached the pop Top 40. It was followed by “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine” in 1961. The duo became stars on the grueling so-called chitlin’ circuit of African-American clubs.
Ike and Tina Turner had a wedding ceremony in Tijuana, Mexico, in 1962; Mr. Turner’s book said they were never actually married. They had a son, Ronald, who survives him, along with Jeanette Bazzell Turner and four other children: Mia, Twanna, Michael and Ike Jr.
Ike Turner in 1997. 
United States musician and songwriter, Ike Turner, who was married at least 14 times, died Wednesday at his home in San Marcos, California. His wife did not give a cause of death, but mentioned that he suffered from emphysema.

Ike Turner was perhaps best known as one half of the Ike & Tina Turner duo, with his former wife, Tina Turner, whom he married in Mexico in 1962. During a career that lasted half a century, Ike's repertoire included blues, soul, rock, and funk. Alongside his former wife, he was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 and in 2001 was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.