Ike Turner dies at 76

The ex-husband and abuser of Tina Turner died at home in suburban San Marcos in the San Diego area. Ike and Tina were a pretty successful act in the 1960s, and played at big and small venues around Los Angeles, including the really small Valley Skateland in Northridge. Ike is often credited by rock historians with making the first rock 'n' roll record, ''Rocket 88,'' with Sam Phillips in 1951. But it is credited to singer Jackie Brenston. Ike met Tina, then an 18-year-old Anna Mae Bullock, in 1959. From Spinner.com:

Ike Turner, the R&B musician and songwriter who was one of the primary movers in shaping the development of rock 'n' roll and soul music, and was most famously half of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame duo Ike and Tina Turner, has died at age 76 in his home near San Diego.

Born in Mississippi, Turner got his start as the bandleader of Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm. He and his combo recorded, at the legendary Sun Studios in Memphis, what many consider the first rock 'n' roll song, 'Rocket 88,' released under the name Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats in 1951. The record's key feature was Turner's distorted guitar sound, serendipitously brought about by a faulty speaker.

Relocating his band to St. Louis, Turner met up with a big-voiced teenage vocalist from Nutbush, Tenn., named Anna Mae Bullock, whom he renamed Tina Turner. The musical and domestic partners quickly won a reputation as one of the most dynamic acts in rock and soul throughout the '60s and early '70s, with memorable songs such as 'A Fool in Love,' 'It's Gonna Work Out Fine,' 'River Deep, Mountain High," 'Proud Mary' and 'Nutbush City Limits.'

Ike Turner's personal life, however, was steeped in trouble and controversy, with well-documented reports of domestic abuse against Tina, as well as a drug conviction in the late '80s. Ike and Tina Turner was inducted into the Rock Hall in 1991.

From AP: Turner managed to rehabilitate his image somewhat in his later years, touring around the globe with his band the Kings of Rhythm and drawing critical acclaim for his work. He won a Grammy in 2007 in the traditional blues album category for "Risin' With the Blues." But his image is forever identified as the drug-addicted, wife-abusing husband of Tina Turner. He was hauntingly portrayed by Laurence Fishburne in the movie What's Love Got To Do With It, based on Tina Turner's autobiography.

Updated with details