R&B singer Teena Marie, sometimes mistakenly spelled Tina Marie, died today, according to her manager Mike Gardner. She was 54 years old.
Born Marie Christine Brockert, Teena Marie rose to fame in the 70’s and 80’s. She had six albums go platinum on the U.S. R&B chart. Her biggest hit was “Lovergirl”, which topped out at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
She was nominated for the Grammys four times during her music career.
According to her manager, Teena Marie was found dead by her daughter earlier today. He also said she had suffered a seizure last month.
Marie as born on March 5, 1956. She was a protege of Rick James, and was nicknamed Lady Tee (Lady T). According to Wikipedia, she played rhythm guitar, keyboards and congas, and wrote, produced, sang and arranged most all of her own songs since the 1980 release of her “Irons in the Fire” album.
Marie was a regular on the Las Vegas strip into 2010. Some of her other hits included Square Biz, Behind the Groove, Portuguese Love, Ooh La La La and I Need Your Loving.