A multi-instrumentalist, song writer, producer and arranger who released 13 albums and received four Grammy nominations during a turbulent three-decade recording career, she thrived on the confusion over her race.
“I’m a black artist with a white skin. At the end of the day, you have to sing what’s in your soul,” she declared in a 2009 interview. Nicknamed “Off White” as a child, she claimed to be of mixed Irish, Italian, American Indian and Portuguese heritage and eventually dubbed herself the “Ivory Queen Of Soul”. Fans knew her as “Lady T”.
Her acrimonious split with Motown in the early 1980s triggered a lawsuit that broke new ground, shifting the balance of power in favour of recording artists trapped in unproductively binding contracts. She was also a pioneer in her music, becoming the first R&B artist to rap on her own compositions, so influencing a wide array of hip hop artists who later sampled, covered or quoted her work – most notably when The Fugees referenced her 1988 hit Ooo, La La La in their 1996 hit Fu-Gee-La.
She was born Marie Christine Brockert on March 5 1956 in Santa Monica, California, and grew up in the Oakwood neighbourhood of Los Angeles, known locally as “Venice, Harlem” because of its large African-American community. Through contact with black school mates and the influence of her godmother, Marie developed an affinity with black culture, braving taunts that she was a “nigger lover”.
Having enthusiastically sung Harry Belafonte songs as a toddler, and been raised on Motown pop, she formed a soul band while still a teenager .
Her stage name had emerged in 1964, when she landed a part an episode of the television comedy series The Beverly Hillbillies, for which she was billed as “Tina Marie Brockert”.
It was through auditioning for a film in development by Motown founder Berry Gordy that she came to his attention, and in 1976 she signed to the label. Gordy paired her unsuccessfully with several producers before matching her with Rick James. The bad boy “punk funk” icon became her mentor and lover for several years, teaching her the basics of guitar, bass and keyboards as well as production and arranging.
Her debut album, Wild and Peaceful (1979), yielded the hit I’m Just A Sucker For Your Love. It was the first of several duets with James, the best known of which would be the 1981 ballad Fire and Desire. Fearful that black record buyers would not take to a white artist, Motown had elected not to feature her picture on the cover, but she was soon “outed” by her television appearances and warmly embraced by R&B fans, who made her records hits for much of the next decade.
Her second album, Lady T, included her biggest hit in Britain, Behind The Groove, which peaked at number six. By her third album, Irons In The Fire (1980), Teena Marie had taken almost complete artistic control of her career in terms of writing, production and arranging. Despite scoring the influential hit Square Biz – her rapping debut – in 1981, the following year found her in dispute with Gordy. His refusal either to release her from her contract, or publish any new material, resulted in the legal ruling known as the “Brockert Initiative”, which prohibited such restrictive practices.
Teena Marie duly signed to the Epic label, and in 1984 recorded her biggest international hit, the funk-fuelled Lovergirl, which peaked at number four in the American pop charts. Her work took her into concept album and even rock territory, but with her success waning, she left the label in 1990.
After releasing Passion Play on her own label in 1994, Teena Marie gave up recording for 10 years to concentrate on bringing up her daughter, Alia Rose. She made a well-received comeback in 2004 with La Doña followed in 2006 by Sapphire, which included two duets with Smokey Robinson, one of her primary influences. Her final album was Congo Square (2009) .
Her death, on December 26, has been linked to the epilepsy from which she suffered. She is survived by her daughter
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