The longtime singer and Rick James protégé blended commercial success with fearless experimentation.
Teena Marie, long known for her association with Rick James and triumphant recordings for classic labels such as Motown and Stax, died in her sleep Dec. 26 and was found by her children. The cause of death for the 54-year-old singer, born Mary Christine Brockert, is unknown.
Teena was a bold musical presence who sang, wrote and produced many different styles of R&B. Regularly bucking trends while introducing shades of rock and soul to her music, she hit her biggest success in the 1980s with a string of hits such as “Lovergirl,” “I Need Your Lovin’” and “Fix It.”
She was an active performer and recorded up to her death, releasing her last album, Congo Square, in 2009.
Chuck Anziulewicz
Posted at 12:38 PM on December 27, 2010
It’s really sad to lose such a talent so prematurely. And make no mistake about it: Teena Marie was still recording, still performing, and she still sounded fabulous. The fact that radio considered her yesterday’s news didn’t change that fact. Just last year (2009) she put out an album called “Congo Square,” and if you listen to samples on Amazon, you can see that she had much more talent than most of today’s pre-packaged, over-produced, auto-tuned pop tarts.