Craig Raymond Turner, eldest son of Tina Turner, dies from gunshot wound - Son of superstar singer, who was a real estate agent in Los Angeles, dies in an apparent suicide

Craig Raymond Turner, standing right, with the rest of the Turner family. Clockwise from bottom left: Michael, Ike Jr. (both sons of Ike and Lorraine Taylor), Ike, Craig Raymond, Ronnie and Tina. Photograph: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Story by The Guardian

Tina Turner’s eldest son, Craig Raymond Turner, has died in an apparent suicide aged 59.

A Los Angeles coroner confirmed to Variety that Turner was found dead at his home in Studio City, California, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His mother hasn’t commented on the news.

Craig was born to Tina Turner – then Anna Mae Bullock – when she was 18 and Raymond Hill, a saxophonist for the Kings of Rhythm, the backing band for Ike Turner. Tina and Raymond’s relationship soon fell apart, and Tina began a relationship with Ike as well as joining his band and later marrying him.

Their relationship was fractious and Tina was subjected to domestic violence, something that Craig witnessed. “Ike’s children never reacted, but my oldest son, Craig, was a very emotional kid,” Turner told Oprah Winfrey in 2005. “He’d always look down in sadness. One day when Ike was fighting me, Craig knocked on the door and said, ‘Mother, are you all right?’”

Craig went on to become a real estate agent, working for Rodeo Realty in Beverly Hills. His biological father died in 1996, but he is survived by his mother and half-brother Ronald.