The daughter-in-law of iconic singer Tina Turner has come forward to speak on the singer’s struggles before her passing.
Afida Turner, a French musician, said her mother-in-law feared her son, Ronnie, would “turn out like” his father, Ike.
Ike Turner and Tina were married for 16 years. He put the singer through years of abuse.
“[Tina] sometimes told me, ‘You don’t want to stay with him. He is going to be like his father,’” Afida told the Daily Mail. “It is pretty rare for a mother to say that.”
The “What’s Love Got to Do With It” creator disclosed in the 1986 memoir “I, Tina” that Ike gave her third-degree burns on her face, used her nose “as a punching bag” and even broke her jaw. She also exposed her “abusive life” in interviews and in the 2021 documentary “Tina.”
Afida said Tina’s fears of Ronnie inheriting his father’s violent traits nearly came true, admitting that he initially exhibited similar characteristics, the New York Post reported.
Afida and Ronnie tied the knot in 2007. Ronnie died of colon cancer last year. He was 62.
“At first, he was kind of like his father, but after that, he was going very well,” Afida said, recalling when she warned him that she would leave if the behavior continued.
“He made a very big effort to keep me. In the beginning it was very hard because I was not willing to stay with him,” she continued, adding that the family was still suffering from his loss when Tina died Wednesday of natural causes.
“She was ill for a long time, but she was extraordinarily strong too,” Afida said of Tina. “She was fighting for her life from 2017 until now. We knew how sick she was, but she was doing so well that this was not expected.”
She said she hopes Tina is reunited with her two children. She lost her oldest son, Craig, from a self-inflicted wound in 2018.
“They never had time to spend together, and now all three of them are together,” Afida said.
