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Band led by Ike Turner

Kings of Rhythm are an American music group formed in the late 1940s in Clarksdale, Mississippi and led by Ike Turner through to his death in 2007. Turner would retain the name of the band throughout his career, although the group has undergone considerable line up changes over time. The group was an offshoot of a large big band ensemble called the Tophatters. By the late 1940s, Turner had renamed this group the Kings of Rhythm. Their early stage performances consisted largely of covers of popular jukebox hits of the day. In the 1960s, the Kings of Rhythm became the band for the "Ike & Tina Turner Revue". For a few years in the early 1970s they were renamed the Family Vibes, and released two albums under that name. After the disbanding of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue in 1976, Turner revived the Kings of Rhythm in 2001 and released the Grammy nominated album Here And Now. The Kings of Rhythm backed Turner on his Grammy winning album Risin' with the Blues (2006). After Turner died in 2007, the band for some time was under the leadership of pianist Ernest Lane, who was a childhood friend of Turner's. The Kings of Rhythm continue to perform with vocalist Earl Thomas.

As a teenager, Ike Turner joined a large rhythm ensemble in Clarksdale, Mississippi called the Tophatters, which included musicians Raymond Hill, Eugene Fox, and Clayton Love. They performed at local dances, playing big band arrangements from sheet music. At one point the Tophatters had over 30 members, and eventually split into two, with one act who wanted to carry on playing dance band jazz calling themselves the Dukes of Swing and the other, led by Turner, becoming the Kings of Rhythm. A rivalry between the two former factions of the Tophatters lasted for some time, with the two staging an open air 'battle of the bands' where they played from atop two flatbed trucks every fortnight. In March 1951 whilst driving between gigs, the Kings of Rhythm dropped in on a B. B. King club date in Chambers, Mississippi. Turner persuaded King to let the band sit in and play a number with him. King contests this, remembering that it was only Turner who sat in with his band. They were well received and the club owner booked them for a weekend residency, whilst King recommended them to Sam Philips at Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee.

Sam Phillips invited the Kings of Rhythm down to Memphis to record at Sun Studios, and the group had to devise an original song at short notice for the session. The saxophonist, Jackie Brenston, suggested a song about the new Rocket 88 Oldsmobile. Turner worked out the arrangement and the piano introduction and the band collaborated on the rest with Brenston on vocals. with the exception of Brenston, who sold the rights to Phillips for $910. The group's regular singer, Johnny O'Neal, had left prior to the recording of "Rocket 88" to sign a contract with King Records, but Turner still refused to allow Brenston to take over as singer. Following the success of the record, Brenston was convinced he was the star of the group and left to pursue a solo career. Turner and the Kings of Rhythm last recorded for Sun in 1958 with Tommy Hodge; by then, Phillips had shifted his focus onto rockabilly music and wasn't recording many black musicians anymore.

In late 1954, Turner took the reformed version of Kings of Rhythm north to East St. Louis, which included Kizart, Sims, O'Neal, Jesse Knight Jr. and Turner's then wife Annie Mae Wilson on piano and vocals. Around this time, Turner moved over to playing guitar to accommodate Wilson, taking lessons from Willie Kizart to improve. The bands would play all nighters in St. Louis, then cross the river to the clubs of East St. Louis, and continue playing until dawn. In St. Louis for the first time Turner and the band were exposed to a developing white teenage audience who were excited by rhythm and blues. Between live dates, Turner took the band to Cincinnati to record for Federal in 1956. The session produced the regional hit "I'm Tore Up," featuring lead vocalist Billy Gayles. Turner befriended St. Louis R&B fan Bill Stevens, who in 1959 set up the short lived record label Stevens Records, which was financed by his father, Fred Stevens. Turner and the Kings of Rhythm recorded for Stevens, of which seven singles were released and later included on the Red Lightnin' compilation Hey Hey (1984).

After the addition of his future wife Little Ann (Tina Turner) as lead singer, Turner formed the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Turner fired him because his guitar solos became "so elaborate they overstepped the bounds." In 1964, the band released the single "Getting Nasty" / "Nutting Up" under the alias Nasty Minds on Turner's Sonja label. They also joined the Rolling Stones for their American Tour in 1969. They released two albums as the Family Vibes, Strange Fruit (1972) and Confined to Soul (1973), both produced by Turner. The Ike & Tina Turner Revue disbanded in 1976.

In the late 1990s Turner toured with Joe Louis Walker. The positive response to the tour encouraged him to reform the Kings of Rhythm. The Kings of Rhythm toured the U. S. in 2001 and headlined a showcase at South by Southwest, where they were hailed as one of the highlights of the conference. This led to the recording and release of the Grammy nominated album Here And Now (2001) by Turner and the Kings of Rhythm. The album won two W. C. Handy Awards, the Blues Foundation's equivalent of the Grammy Awards, for Best Traditional Blues Album and Comeback Album of the Year in 2002. They received positive reviews for their performances at various music festivals, including Montreux Jazz Festival (2002), North Sea Jazz Festival (2002), and Jazz à Vienne (2004). The Kings of Rhythm backed Turner on his Grammy winning album Risin' With The Blues (2006). The band performed Turner's classic songs at his funeral.

By some accounts, "Rocket 88" is considered the first rock and roll record. Speaking on "Rocket 88" being a contender for the first rock 'n' roll record, broadcaster Paul Gambaccini said:In musical terms [he was] very important. "Rocket 88" is one of the two records that can claim to be the first rock 'n' roll record, the other being "The Fat Man" by Fats Domino from 1949. But "Rocket 88" does have a couple of elements which "The Fat Man" did not. The wailing saxophone and that distorted electric guitar. It was number one in the rhythm and blues chart for five weeks, it's in the Grammy Hall of Fame and it was an indisputable claim to fame for Ike Turner, even though his lead singer and saxophonist, Jackie Brenston, got the label credit.