For as long as there’s been pop culture, people have struggled to separate the artists from their art. We’ve seen it with Bill Cosby, we’ve seen it with R. Kelly and we’ve most recently seen it with Da Baby. Our opinions on people’s art is usually tied up in our opinion of them as a person, which becomes impossible to distinguish once horrible things are revealed about them. It’s a touchy topic for sure, one few people try to avoid for that exact reason. Nick Cannon recently tried however, discussing how Ike Turner’s legacy has been vasty overshadowed by his marriage to Tina Turner.
In the context of his music, Ike Turner is considered an icon and innovator. He was a pioneer of 1950’s Rock & Roll thanks to his song “Rocket 88” which was a #1 hit. He would go on to become a superstar along side wife Tina Turner in the 60’s and 70’s thanks to their band The Ike and Tina Turner Revue.
Amongst those who site him as inspiration are Little Richard, who credits “Rocket 88” as the inspiration behind his biggest hit “Good Golly, Miss Molly”. Speaking at Ike’s funeral in 2007 he said “Rocket 88 shook my soul. I took that same introduction and made `Good Golly, Miss Molly.” I took that same thing and made a huge hit.”
Also singing Ike’s praises at the funeral ironically was Phil Spector. Spector, like Turner, has a legacy as one of the most innovative producers of all times which was quickly overshadowed once he was found guilty of taking the life of a woman. While Ike’s issues were never that extreme, it was revealed in the 80’s that he had been incredibly abusive to Tina Turner throughout their marriage. She told her story first in her biography “I, Tina” and later in her 1993 biopic “What’s Love Got to Do With It”. Since then, Ike has been seen mostly as a villain and bad person right up till the day he died.
Nick Cannon feels like Ike got a bad rep. The Comedian and sometimes rapper previously named a mixtape “The Gospel of Ike Turn-Up: My Side of the Story”. Cannon said he sympathized with Ike because he never got to tell his side of the story. He also was well aware of Ike’s contributions to music and felt it was unfair that he died and villain with no one remember how he helped mold pop music for over two decades. “All we do is think he’s this womanizing villain that was portrayed in the movie” he told MadamNoire.
Ike’s daughter Twanna Turner felt the same and has been fighting to defend her fathers legacy for years. Recently she took to her Facebook account to endorse a play made to pay hommage to the late music icon titled ”Taking Back My Name, The Ike Turner Story”. She said in the post, “You’ve heard her side of the story…now hear his.”
While some tried to make her feel bad for defending her father, she doubled down letting them know she did not feel that he was only the things displayed in Tina’s movie. “No…I am not saying he was a perfect man, but he was not that “Demon” that he was portrayed to be either. I am sure that if we looked into the closets of all of you who projected your hate on my father, I wonder what we would find?” she questioned her followers. “What if YOU had aspects of your life exaggerated and put out for the world to see and YOUR life was destroyed based on that portrayal?”
Can you still celebrate someone’s art even when they’ve done something bad?
