Teena Marie

Mary Christine Brockert (March 5, 1956 – December 26, 2010), known professionally as Teena Marie, was an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter, and producer.

She was known by her childhood nickname Tina before taking the stage name Teena Marie and later acquired the nickname Lady T, given to her by her collaborator and friend Rick James.

She was known for her distinctive soprano vocals, which caused many listeners to believe she was black.

Her success in R&B and soul music, and loyalty to these genres earned her the title Ivory Queen of Soul.

She played rhythm guitar, keyboards, and congas.

Teena Marie was a 4 time Grammy Award nominee.

Mary Christine Brockert was born on March 5, 1956, in Santa Monica, California, the daughter of construction worker Thomas Leslie Brockert and home renovator Mary Anne.

She spent her early childhood in Mission Hills, California.

She said that her ethnic heritage was Belgian, Portuguese, Italian, Irish, and Native American.

In the early 1970s, after the family moved to Venice, California, Brockert spent her adolescent years in the historically black Venice enclave of Oakwood, nicknamed "Venice Harlem".

There, she acquired a strong spiritual influence from neighborhood matriarch Berthalynn Jackson, a black woman who became her godmother.

While attending Venice High School, Brockert joined the Summer Dance Production and was the female lead in the school's production of The Music Man.

She also fronted a local Venice rock band "Truvair" in 1974–1975; the band's members were her high school classmates.

Following graduation, Brockert juggled auditioning for various record companies with studying English literature at Santa Monica College.

In 1976, Brockert (as the lead singer of a band she had assembled, which included long-time friend Mickey Boyce) gained an introduction to Motown Records staff producer Hal Davis (best known for his work with Brenda Holloway and the Jackson 5).

It led to an audition for a film about orphans that was being developed by Motown.

The project was shelved, but label boss Berry Gordy, impressed with her singing but having no need for a musical group, decided to sign her as a solo act.

Tina recorded unreleased material with a number of different producers over the next few years, before being spotted by labelmate Rick James, who was immediately impressed with her sound.

Some of Tina's earlier, unreleased material has been made available on the compilation album First Class Love: Rare Tee.

At the time, James, already established as a successful recording artist, was on tap to produce for Diana Ross but changed his mind and decided to work with Brockert, instead.

The result was her debut album release, Wild and Peaceful.

The album was, at one point, due to be credited to "Teena Tryson", but ultimately was put out under "Teena Marie", the name by which she was known throughout her remaining career.

It scored Teena Marie her first top-ten R&B hit "I'm a Sucker for Your Love" (#8 R&B Singles Chart), a duet with James.

Neither the album nor its packaging had her picture on it, and many radio programmers assumed she was black during the earliest months of her career.

This myth was disproved when she performed her debut hit with James on Soul Train in 1979, becoming the show's first white female guest.

(She appeared on the show eight more times, more than any other white act.)

Her album Lady T (1980), featured her portrait on the cover, and it is noted for having production from Richard Rudolph (the widower of R&B singer Minnie Riperton).

Teena Marie had asked Berry Gordy to contact Rudolph and secure his input, as Rick James was unavailable, and she felt unprepared to be sole producer of her own material.

Rudolph had intended for "Now That I Have You", a song he penned, for his wife Minnie Riperton, but offered it to Teena Marie for Lady T.

Rudolph also co-composed the single "Behind the Groove", which reached number 21 on the R&B singles chart and No. 6 on the U.K. singles chart in 1980.

The song also was included on the soundtrack of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on the Fever 105 radio station.

Also in 1980, Teena Marie released her the LP Irons in the Fire, for which she handled most of the writing and production herself, an achievement considered rare at the time for a female artist.

The single "I Need Your Lovin'" (#37 Pop, No. 9 R&B Singles) brought Teena Marie her first top 40 hit; it also peaked at No. 28 in the UK chart.

The same year, Teena Marie appeared on James' album Street Songs, with the duet "Fire and Desire".

In an interview, Teena Marie said she had a fever at the time yet managed to record her vocals in one take.

In 2005, while visiting Louisiana, she discovered that her paternal ancestors once lived in New Orleans.

She took to singing naturally, performing Harry Belafonte's "Banana Boat Song" by age 2.

When she was eight years old, her parents began sending Teena on auditions which, among other things, netted her an acting role on The Beverly Hillbillies, credited as Tina Marie Brockert.

She later taught herself the guitar, bass, and congas.

She formed a semi-professional R&B band with her younger brother Anthony and their cousin.