Behind the global stadiums, electrifying rock anthems of the iconic Tina Turner lie a part where Evelyn Juanita Currie holds a grip on her family history rooted in the rural American South. Long before she became a legendary star, her family was truly shaped by family separation, unexpected tragedy and lots of hard work.
Many of the people in that tale are little-known about Evelyn Juanita Currie, Tina Turner’s older maternal half-sister. Tina’s amazing career has been hailed the world over, but Evelyn’s life has been taken for granted. But her early demise in her teens had a disastrous impact on the Turner-Bullock family and was one of the first tragedies to taint Tina’s childhood.
Early Life and Background Information
If you aim to know about her family history, then consider reading the information listed below:
Parents and Siblings
Evelyn Juanita Currie grew up in a dedicated and industrious black family in Haywood County, Tennessee. She was the older sister of the other daughters of Zelma Priscilla Currie, who married Floyd Richard Bullock, a sharecropper overseer of Poindexter Farm.
Evelyn became the older half-sister of two future music history legends, two girls who would go on to influence music in many ways.
- Ruby Alline Bullock (1936) is a talented songwriter, author of the story for the song Funkier Than a Mosquita’s Tweeter (1966) for the Ike & Tina Turner Revue.
- Later to become a world-famous opera star under her new name, Anna Mae Bullock (1939).
Childhood: Nutbush and Brownsville
The sisters grew up in the countryside in several communities of Tennessee: Nutbush and Brownsville during World War II. Wartime jobs provided for their parents brought them to Knoxville, Tenn., for a short time to work at a defense facility. At that time, Evelyn and her sisters were separated from their parents and lived mostly with Georgeanna Currie, Evelyn’s maternal grandmother, in Brownsville.
At the end of the War, the family reunited for a short time before they once again moved back to Haywood County. However, it wasn’t to be a long-lasting stability. Their mother, Zelma was thrown out of the family in about 1950, to run away from an abusive marriage, to St. Louis, Missouri. Shortly after Floyd Bullock left for Detroit, so did the girls and they were once again in the care of their grandmother. Having to separate from their family repeatedly at so young an age led to a special bond between Evelyn, Alline and Anna Mae.
A Tragic Accident Which Changed Everything
Evelyn Juanita Currie’s life came to its tragic conclusion too early in her teenage years as a victim of a terrible car accident.
This devastating news came as a shock to young Anna Mae Bullock during the 1950s, who was working for the Henderson family in Ripley, Tennessee, at the time it happened. Evelyn was traveling within a family car when the car was involved in a serious accident.
Evelyn Juanita Currie and her cousin, Margaret Currie, were both killed in the crash. Additional cousin Vela Evans survived, but was injured. This tragic death had a devastating impact on the whole family. Later on in her autobiography, Tina Turner wrote about how deeply sad she was at this time. After suffering from another tragedy as a child, that of parental abandonment, her older sister’s loss left her with another tragedy to deal with.
Evelyn Juanita Currie’s Legacy
Evelyn’s death ushered in even more changes in the family life in the years after her death. Their grandmother, Georgeanna Currie, died in 1956, leaving the sisters with no one to provide for them as they had been in their youth.
Alline and Anna Mae were left with no need to spend their life in Tennessee, so they moved to St. Louis where they were taken in by their mother. There, Alline introduced her younger sister to local musician Ike Turner, who would go on to impact the course of music history and kick off Tina Turner’s amazing career.
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Evelyn never got to see her sister’s astounding achievements, but her legacy was an integral part of the family. The difficulties and hardships that the Currie-Bullock family experienced, such as poverty, death and the separation of a sibling, contributed to Tina Turner’s legendary personality, which she was famous for on and off the stage.
FAQ
Ques 1) Who was part of Tina Turner family tree?
Ans) She is the older maternal half-sister of Evelyn Juanita Currie.
Ques 2) What is the reason for Evelyn Juanita Currie’s death?
Ans) Evelyn passed away in an unacceptably bad car accident in her teen years, in Ripley, Tennessee. Her cousin, Margaret Currie, also died in the same crash.
Ques 3) Where is the native place of Evelyn Juanita Currie?
Ans) She grew up in the rural area of Tennessee in the communities of Nutbush and Brownsville.