Anna Mae Bullock was born in Nutbush, an unincorporated area in Haywood County, Tennessee, on November 26, 1939, the daughter of Zelma Bullock (née Currie), a factory worker, and Floyd Richard Bullock, a Baptist deacon, farm overseer and factory worker. She is of African American, European and a small fraction Native American descent. Bullock long believed her mother had significant Native American ancestry, specifically Navajo and Cherokee. Bullock attended Flag Grove School in Haywood County, Tennessee. (The land for the school was sold below market value to the school trustees by Bullock's great great-uncle in 1889.) Anna Mae's older sister is named (Ruby) Alline. Their parents took Alline with them when they moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and left younger Anna behind with the grandmother. When Anna was a teenager, she would join her mother and sister in St. Louis following her grandmother's death.
In St. Louis, Bullock attended Sumner High School. Around this time, Bullock's sister was taking her to several nightclubs in the city. At Club Imperial one night, Bullock met Mississippi-born rhythm and blues musician Ike Turner and later asked him if she could sing for him. Ike was initially skeptical, but after much persistence on Bullock's part, he decided to let her perform for him. Thus, Bullock became an occasional vocalist in Ike's shows at the age of 18. Going by the name "Little Ann", Bullock was also the spotlight of a soul revue led by Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm band.
In 1960, when a singer scheduled to record the song, "A Fool in Love", did not appear, Bullock stepped in and recorded the vocals instead. "A Fool in Love" was a huge R&B hit reaching No. 2, crossing over to the top 30 of the US pop chart. Ike changed Bullock's name to Tina Turner and that of his band to The Ike & Tina Turner Revue. In 1962, the two married in Tijuana, Mexico. (According to Tina's bio on web site, the couple married in 1958.)
Turner raised four sons — Ike Jr. and Michael (from Ike's previous relationship), Craig (born 1958, from her earlier relationship with Raymond Hill, a saxophone player in Ike's band) and Ronald (fathered by Ike; born 1961).
(extract from Wikipedia 2011)
