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Page 10
December 29, 2010
‘Ivory Queen of Soul ‘ Dies at 54
Singer was
protege of funk
master Rick
James
(AP) - Teenä Marie, the "Ivory
Queen of Soul" who developed a
lasting legacy with her silky soul
pipes and with hits like "Lovergirl,"
"Square Biz," and "Fire and Desire"
with mentor Rick James, has died.
She was 54.
Marie certainly wasn't the first
white act to sing soul music, but she
was arguably among the most gifted Teenä Marie passed away
and respected, and was thoroughly recently at 54. She had a
embraced by the black audience.
great influence in the Soul
Marie made her debut on the Community
legendary Motown label back in
1979, becoming one of the very few
white acts to break the race barrier of
the groundbreaking black-owned
record label that had been a haven
for black artists like Stevie Wonder,
the Jackson Five, the Supremes and
Marvin Gaye.
Marie was the protege of the
masterful funk wizard James, with
whom she would have long, turbu
lent but musically magical relation
ship.
The cover of her debut album,
"Wild and Peaceful," did not fea
ture her image, with Motown appar
ently fearing black audiences might
not buy it if they found out the
songstress with the dynamic, gos
pel-inflected voice was white.
But Marie notched her first hit,
"I'm A Sucker for Your Love," and
was on her way to becoming one of
R&B's most revered queens. Dur
ing her tenure with Motown, the
singer-songwriter and musician pro
duced passionate love songs and
funk jam songs like "Need Your
Lovin'," "Behind the Groove" and
"Ooh La La La."
Marie's voice was the main draw
of her music: Pitch-perfect, piercing
in its clarity and wrought with emo
tion, whether it was drawing from
the highs of romance or the mourn
ful moments of a love lost. But her
songs, most of which she had a
hand in writing, were the other major
component of her success.
She continued to record music
and perform. In 2004 and 2006 she
put out two well-received albums
on the traditional rap label Cash
Money Records, "La Dona" and
"Sapphire."
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