What happened to Craig Raymond? Tina Turner lost two biological sons before her death

Late American singer, songwriter, actress, and author Tina Turner’s stepson, Ike Turner Jr., died from kidney failure at a Los Angeles hospital on Saturday, October 4, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He was 67. Meanwhile, Yahoo! reported he also battled with intestinal cancer.

Tina Turner’s niece, Jacqueline Bullock, shared the news with TMZ over the weekend, adding, Ike Turner Jr. suffered a stroke last month and battled with years-long cardiac issues.

Notably, Tina Turner’s two biological sons preceded her in death. While Craig Raymond died of suicide in 2018, Ronnie Turner succumbed to colon cancer, five months before Tina’s demise in 2023.

Speaking with The New York Post, Jacqueline Bullock said on Sunday:

“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of my cousin, Ike Turner Jr. ‘Junior’ was more than a cousin to me, but rather a brother, as we grew up in the same famed household together.”

Bullock continued, “As the son of Tina and Ike Turner, from an early age, his talents were evident as there wasn’t an instrument he did not want to play. While he favored the drums early on, my aunt and his mother, Tina Turner, insisted that he break down his drum kit after each practice. This led him to favor the keys.”

Ike Turner Jr. was the son of the late Ike Turner Sr. and his former wife, Lorraine Taylor. He was born in 1958.

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All you need to know about Tina Turner’s four children

Tina Turner’s eldest son, Craig Raymond, was born in August 1958, when she was only 18. Craig’s father was the Kings of Rhythm saxophonist and Tina’s ex-boyfriend, Raymond Hill.

Later, she married Ike Turner Sr. in 1962, two years after welcoming their son Ronald “Ronnie” Turner in October 1960. Tina Turner also adopted two of Ike Sr.’s sons, Ike Jr. and Michael. The Turners divorced in 1978.

Likewise, Ike Sr. adopted Craig Raymond, who died by apparent suicide in July 2018 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his Los Angeles home. He was 59. Later that year, Tina Turner told BBC News that Craig was doing well both professionally and personally and had found himself a new woman.

"I still don't know what took him to the edge, because at that stage he had said to me that he had never met a woman that he felt that way about. He was bringing her to meet me [for] his birthday in August. He had decorated his apartment, which I bought him years ago," she stated at the time.

Tina Turner continued that Craig Raymond had got a job in a California-based real estate company and was “very happy.”

“I have no idea what pulled him down, except something that followed him with loneliness. I think it was something with being alone… He was an introverted person, he was very shy, so I didn't know either, except now, when I listen back to our last conversations, I notice a change,” she added.

The Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll shared that the last few times she spoke with Craig, “the conversations were different.” However, she didn’t realize it until he was gone.

Meanwhile, Ronnie was a bass guitarist and played for the band Manufactured Funk, alongside Patrick Moten. He was married to French singer and media personality Afida Turner and had two children.

Ronnie passed away in December 2022 from complications arising from colon cancer. He was 62. His mother paid him tribute via Instagram by writing:

"Ronnie, you left the world far too early. In sorrow, I close my eyes and think of you, my beloved son."

As for Ike Jr., he was a sound engineer and won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album in 2007 for his father’s project, Risin’ With the Blues. He also ran a recording studio founded by his father called Bolic Sound Studios.

Ike Jr. was arrested and charged with drug possession in 2023, three weeks before Tina Turner’s death. He died on October 4, 2025.

Afida Turner posted a tribute for Ike Jr. on Instagram over the weekend. She wrote:

“REST IN PEACE, IKE JR.: U WAS AMAZING BROTHER-IN-LAW. I’M GLAD I SPEAK WITH U ON A PHONE BEFORE U GONE. LOVE U RIP”

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Tina Turner died in May 2023 after years of illness at her home in Kusnacht, Switzerland, aged 83. At the time, she had been married to her second husband, Erwin Bach, for over a decade. Ike Sr. died in 2007. Now, their only surviving child is Michael Turner, 66.