“Rocket 88” by Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm is widely regarded as the very FIRST rock n’ roll ever recorded.
REUTERS: LOS ANGELES — Rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Ike Turner, who rose to fame in the 1950s and became a star performing with his ex-wife Tina Turner, has died at age 76, said an official with the performer’s management company.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE: It doesn’t matter if I invented rock ‘n’ roll, because it didn’t make me any money,” Turner told the Tribune. “I made $60 from ‘Rocket 88’: Six-oh. I don’t care about the glamour or the money. I don’t care about the nominations and Grammys, all that bull. I just care about making people happy — getting onstage and getting everybody going.”
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: “Tina is aware that Ike passed away earlier today. She has not had any contact with him in 35 years. No further comment will be made,” her spokeswoman, Michele Schweitzer, said Wednesday.