Though P.P. Arnold‘s music foundation is rooted in “powerhouse church gospel,” the soul singer’s career started when she became a part of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue at the age of seventeen—a moment that changed the trajectory of both her personal and professional lives.
In her new memoir, Soul Survivor, Arnold alleges that during her time as an Ikette from 1965 until 1966, Ike Turner “trapped her in a room and raped her.” The claim was shared in an interview with The Telegraph, ahead of the book’s release.
Arnold revealed, “It was awful. I despised Ike on that level, but I didn’t know how to express myself. I was told Tina [Turner] wanted to get rid of me because Ike was after me. If I had run to Tina or called my parents, it would have meant I would have [had] to come home.” Not only was she dealing with Ike, but she also experienced dealing with an abusive husband and father.
Her time as an Ikette ceased due to Mick Jagger’s pursuit of her, sparking her solo career. Arnold and Jagger worked together while she also became romantically involved with the Rolling Stones frontman and his then-girlfriend, Marianne Faithfull. On their romantic relationship, Arnold shared, “There was a plantation feel about it, like I was a plaything.”
Soul Survivor has been in the works since 1994 and is described as an eye-opening revelation about Arnold’s time working with some of rock’s biggest stars including the aforementioned Jagger and Rod Stewart.
Arnold’s time as an Ikette was immortalized in the concert below.