Turner is remembered as both a musical pioneer--a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the singer is credited by many musical historians with making the first rock and roll record, 1951's "Rocket 88," recorded by Turner's band but credited officially to singer Jackie Brenston--and an abusive husband to his former wife and singing partner, Anna Mae Bullock, better known as Tina Turner.

"You can go ask Snoop Dogg or Eminem, you can ask the Rolling Stones or (Eric) Clapton, or you can ask anybody--anybody, they all know my contribution to music, but it hasn't been in print about what I've done or what I've contributed until now," he said in a 2001 interview with the Associated Press.

Turner already had enjoyed a long performing and recording career by the time he met the then 18-year-old Bullock in 1959. The pair, who later married, began producing hits right off the bat, with "A Fool In Love" rising to the top of the R&B charts in 1959, followed by a string of huge hits in the '60s, including "I Idolize You" and "It's Gonna Work Out Fine."

The duo's creative output peaked in the second half of that decade, when their cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary" soared to the top of the charts and earned them a Grammy for best R&B vocal performance by a group. Producer Phil Spector's finest moment is generally considered his collaboration with Ike and Tina Turner, resulting in the 1966 song "River Deep - Mountain High."

But Turner's darker side was revealed following the couple's breakup. Tina Turner revealed in her 1987 autobiography, "I, Tina," that she had endured years of physical and emotional abuse from her ex-husband, including a broken nose and several cases of infidelity.

Turner admitted to some of those charges in his own autobiography, 2001's "Takin' Back My Name," albeit in a somewhat circumspect way. "Sure, I've slapped Tina," he wrote in the book. "There have been times when I punched her to the ground without thinking. But I never beat her."

Turner also battled drug and alcohol problems. He was convicted in the '80s of drug-related charges in California and spent several years in prison, a sentence that found the performer still incarcerated and awaiting parole when he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. Tina Turner accepted the honor on his behalf.

In later years, Turner seemed to have turned his life around, performing internationally with his band The Kings of Rhythm and winning another Grammy in 2007 for his blues album "Risin' With the Blues."

"There is no doubt that Ike Turner was one of rock and roll's great architects with his genre-defying sound as an instrumentalist and bandleader. His innovative musicality helped lay the foundation for rock n' roll and R&B more than 50 years ago," Recording Academy President/CEO Neil Portnow said in a prepared statement issued today. "As a bandleader, his well-rehearsed ensembles were some of the most exciting live groups the world had ever heard. As a two-time Grammy Award winner and recipient of The Recording Academy's 2004 Heroes Award, Ike's legacy as a groundbreaking pioneer in the music industry will never be forgotten."