Ike Turner died of cocaine overdose, coroner says
Music legend Ike Turner died of a cocaine overdose, the San Diego medical examiner’s office concluded today.
Turner, the musician who gave the world what many historians consider the first rock ‘n’ roll record -- “Rocket 88†in 1951 -- died in December at his home in San Marcos, north of San Diego. He was 76.
The medical examiner listed the cause of his death as “cocaine toxicity.â€
Turner’s career spanned more than six decades and peaked in the late 1960s and early 1970s when he and his wife, Tina, were an incendiary force in R&B and live music, with hits such as “Proud Mary,†“I Want to Take You Higher,†“Nutbush City Limits†and “River Deep-Mountain High.†The pair’s dynamic revue took them well beyond the R&B scene in 1969 when they opened for the Rolling Stones on the British group’s North American tour.
Ike Turner, however, struggled with drug use since the mid-1970s.
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