Tina Turner considers her marriage to Erwin Bach to be her only union because she was forced to tie the knot with her abusive first husband Ike Turner.
The 79-year-old music legend was married to Ike from 1962 to 1978 and they had numerous hits together as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, tracks such as ‘River Deep – Mountain High’ and ‘Proud Mary’.
Behind closed doors though Ike was controlling and violent towards Tina and even their marriage was something she went through with to avoid another fight with the musician, so Tina considers her 2013 wedding to German music executive Erwin to be the only vows she has ever truly made.
In an interview with CBS News anchor Gayle King, she said: "It was the first time that I got married, as far as I was concerned. When Ike asked me to marry him, I knew it was for a reason. But I had to say yes … or it was gonna be a fight. And so then, when we drove to marry, that wasn’t my idea of my wedding.
"I get emotional with certain conversations. I get emotional because in the beginning, Ike was very good to me."
Tina believes Ike – who passed away in 2007 at the age of 76 – "was cruel because he depended" on her and he hated that he relied on her for his own success.
She added: "He didn’t like that he had had to depend on me. And I didn’t want to start a fight because it was always a black eye, a broken nose, a busted lip, a rib."
In July 1976, Tina eventually found the courage to leave Ike following a fight on their way to the Dallas Statler Hilton in Dallas and she walked out on her husband and bandmate with just 36 cents in her pocket and a credit card.
Recalling the moment, she said: "I felt that I’ve had enough, just enough, enough. Now it’s time to go out the door. I had nothing. I had absolutely nothing. 36 cents, that was all.
"I didn’t think about the singing at all. First of all, I was thinking about where I was gonna lay my head, so to speak. And then I was just enjoying the freedom of not being in that environment."
The abuse that Tina suffered at the hands of Ike were documented in the 1993 movie of her life ‘What’s Love Got to Do with It’.
Tina knew that Erwin was the man for her the first time she ever met him in 1986, when she was 46 and he was 30.
The ‘Simply The Best’ singer was so instantly attracted to her future spouse that she uttered the words "when you get to California, I want you to make love to me" to Erwin.
Explaining why she made such a bold statement, she said: "Well, you say it if you feel it! Now, you’re not gonna get it otherwise. But that’s what I wanted!"
Tina Turner dismisses marriage to Ike Turner
