Mary Christine Brockert known to the world as Teena Marie passed away earlier today at the age of 54.
News of her passing has been confirmed by major news outlets in the United States such as the Huffington Post, CNN and the first to report her death was RadioFacts.com. Brockert’s long time manager Mike Gardner stated that she was found at her home dead due to unknown causes.
“Well I can’t speak about Paloma Faith because I haven’t heard of her, but as far as comparisons to Amy Winehouse and Joss Stone are concerned... those artists are pop singers, not R&B singers; they don’t sing R&B like I do” says US soul legend Teena Marie, dismissing the UK’s two biggest white skinned soul exports of the last decade. Singers who like Ms. Marie have achieved record buying success with black American punters and UK authentic soul music fans, “crossing over” despite the colour of their skin (in Teena’s case pinkie white).
Had Teena (aka 'Lady T' aka 'The Queen of Ivory Soul') not blazed a trail, it’s arguable that the UK-led white soul invasion wouldn't have occurred on the scale it has. It’s a debt not lost on Winehouse in particular, who thanked Teena Marie in the sleeve notes to her debut album Frank. Teena, who is sitting comfortably on a settee, situated in a penthouse suite of a swanky St. Paul’s based London Hotel, elaborates...