Ike Turner’s widow Jeanette has asked his former wife Tina to forgive the soul star.
The 76-year-old who passed away last week had openly confessed to a violent past with Tina, admitting to hitting and slapping the singer during their drug-addled, turbulent marriage.
The pair have been out of touch for 35 years, with Tina refusing to comment on his death last week.
Now, Ike’s wife of twelve years, Jeanette, has pleaded with Tina to forgive Ike for his barbaric ways. She said: “I know that she was hurt. But there’s something called forgiveness and I know Ike really forgave himself, which is really hard to do.
“I’m not defending what he did. I’m not saying he didn’t do what he did when he was with Tina or me. But he was a human being. And being all of that, he’s still a child-like person- pure and a good person always willing to help people. He was a human being and he helped Tina… he helped a lot of people.”
Ike Turner had just finished eating breakfast last Wednesday morning at his home in San Marcos, California and decided to lay down to rest for a few minutes. His personal assistant was at the house, along with members of the Kings of Rhythm Band. One of the musicians from the band went to wake Ike up, and he was non-responsive. Paramedics were called around 11:00 AM and unsuccessfully performed CPR.
The cause of death is not yet known, but according to Turner’s manager, Ike had been suffering from emphysema for years and the disease was getting progressively worse.
