www.yeticket.com pays tribute to Teena Marie.
Mary Christine Brockert, better known by her stage name Teena Marie (March 5, 1956 — December 26, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter and producer. Marie, nicknamed Lady Tee, (sometimes spelled Lady T), was a protégée of funk legend Rick James, and was notable as one of the few successful white performers of R&B. She played rhythm guitar, keyboards and congas. She also wrote, produced, sang and arranged virtually all of her songs since her 1980 release, Irons in the Fire, which she said was her favorite album. She had a daughter, Alia Rose,[1] who, as of 2009, sang under the name Rose LeBeau. Marie died of natural causes on Sunday, December 26, 2010, at home in Pasadena, California.
Alicia Keys:
God bless Teena Marie & her Family! Sending Blessings &prayers I was jus sayin tht fire & desire is 1 of the most beautifully performd songs! Once a beautiful song, always a beautiful song! Certain songs jus have that “THING”! What a SANGIN Lady! Fire & Desire
MTV.com remembers Marie as “the ultimate collaborator,” reeling off a diverse list of artists the singer worked with over the years including Rick James, Faith Evans, Smokey Robinson, Common and Birdman.
Soul Train recalls Marie as an artist who broke big as a white artist in black music, and shares some classic footage of the singer on the show back in the ’80s.
Pitchfork calls Marie an “R&B legend,” and reminds us that music critic Chuck Eddy listed her 1986 album Emerald City as one of the best heavy metal albums of all time in his book Stairway to Hell. (Really.)
Rap-Up collected Twitter comments and remembrances from several R&B and hip hop stars including ?uestlove, Q-Tip, the Game, Estelle and Amerie.
Eddie Levert, founder of the R&B group the O’Jays, told CNN “there are a lot of black people who swore by her and believed in her, as far as her music was concerned.”
