Cx1DJs We Do Things Different Podcast Untold Stories of Teena Marie hosted by DJButterrock

Cx1DJs We Do Things Different Podcast "Untold Stories of Teena Marie" hosted by DJButterrockMary 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[2] before taking the stage name Teena Marie and later acquired the nickname Lady T,[3] given to her by her collaborator and friend Rick James.She was known for her distinctive and soulful soprano vocals,[4][5][6] which caused many listeners to believe she was black.[7] 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 four-time Grammy Award nominee, winning posthumously in 2023 for Best R&B Song for co-writing "Cuff It".Early lifeMary Christine Brockert was born on March 5, 1956, in Santa Monica, California,[8] the daughter of construction worker Thomas Leslie Brockert and home renovator Mary Anne.[9][10] She spent her early childhood in Mission Hills, California. She said that her ethnic heritage was Belgian, Portuguese, Italian, Irish, and Native American.[11] In 2005, while visiting Louisiana, she discovered that her paternal ancestors once lived in New Orleans.[12][13][14] 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 Tina on auditions which, among other things, netted her an acting role on The Beverly Hillbillies, in season 3 episode “Dr. Jed Clampett,” credited as Tina Marie Brockert.[citation needed] 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.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.[13][14][15]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.[16] 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 record companies while studying English literature at Santa Monica College.