Ironically I was editing this piece when I got word that Teena Marie passed suddenly of a heart attack, and while it hurt my heart to hear it, as I turned on my copy of Portugeese Love, I realized that she will always be here through her music.

Teena Marie died today at 54 when her daughter found her dead at her home of an apparent heart attack. more details to come.

The four times grammy nominated, Mary Christine Brockert had a strong African-American influence from her godmother. Blessed with the gift of music at a young age, the Santa Monica, California native grew up in the historically African-American enclave of Oakwood in westside Los Angeles. Raised on Motown music and Singing Harry Belafonte music by age two, Ms. Marie’s self-professed “Gift from God” would become fine-tuned as the years progressed.
As a child, she had an acting role on The Beverly Hillbillies, credited as Tina Marie Brockert. She also sang at the wedding of actor Jerry Lewis’s son when she was 10 years old.
Marie worked briefly at Mar Vista’s Pup ‘n’ Taco in the mid 1970s while attending Venice High School, where she joined the Summer Dance Production, and also had a role in the school’s production of The Music Man.[5] In a recent television interview she noted she drove a Chevy Vega during this period.

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Segment Journalist Deserrae Mitchell

footage shot October 2010

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