Reps for the singer have confirmed that R&B legend Teena Marie passed away in her sleep in the early morning hours of December 26. Few details have been released regarding the circumstances of Marie’s death.
Marie was born Mary Christine Brockert in Santa Monica, California and grew up in the historically African-American enclave of Oakwood in Westside Los Angeles.
As a child, she had an acting role on The Beverly Hillbillies. She also sang at the wedding of actor Jerry Lewis’s son when she was 10 years old.
Marie signed with Motown Records in 1976. She recorded unreleased material with a number of different producers, including Kerner and Wise, but was then spotted by Rick James, and guitarist Paul C Saenz, who became her mentors. Her debut album release, Wild and Peaceful, was originally conceived as a project to be produced by James for Diana Ross, but James preferred to work with Marie. The album gave Marie her first top-ten R&B hit, “I’m Just a Sucker for Your Love” (#8 Black Singles Chart), which was a duet with James.
Neither the album sleeve nor other packaging showed a picture of Marie, apparently on the theory that black audiences might be reluctant to buy an album by a white artist. In fact, many radio programmers wrongly assumed Marie was African American during the earliest months of her career.
Marie continued her success with Motown in 1981 with the release of It Must Be Magic (#2 Black Albums Chart), her first gold record, which included her then biggest hit on R&B, “Square Biz” (#3 Black Singles). Other notable tracks include “Portuguese Love”
In 1982, Marie got into a heated legal battle with Motown records over her contract and disagreements on releasing her new material. The shuffle resulted in “The Brockert Initiative”, which makes it illegal for a record company to keep an artist under contract without releasing new material for that artist. The artist would then be able to sign and release with another label instead of being held back by an unsupportive one.
She would ultimately sign with Epic Records in 1983. While on Epic, Marie released five albums – including her best-selling album Starchild. Naked to the World – Marie’s final album with Epic – would spawn the singer’s only number one single “Ooo La La La” in 1988.
After a nearly 15 year hiatus, Marie made an unlikely musical partnership that would put her back on the map. She signed with the classics sub-label of Cash Money Records. And with the release of La Dona she received her highest charting album of her career and Grammy nominations for the album’s hit single “Still in Love” and the Gerald LeVert duet “A Rose By Any Other Name.”
She joined Stax Records in 2009 and released Congo Square, what would ultimately be her final album.
Information from Wikipedia and TMZ.com contributed to this report.
