Teenie Marie Cam Dies at 54

Teenie Marie Cam, commonly referred to as Lady T, passed away today at 54. She was one of the greatest R&B vocalists of the 1980s with an angelic voice and passion to match it; an innovative trailblazer who fully embraced black culture despite having audiences from beyond her race respecting and loving her immensely.

Marie was originally signed to Motown Records in 1976 after staff producer Hal Davis introduced her to label boss Berry Gordy, and eventually worked with producers like Jerry Wise and Rick James who helped develop her sound. Her debut album Wild and Peaceful produced by James was an enormous hit, followed by Irons in the Fire with sophisticated funk compositions from James, It Must Be Magic by Wise, Square Biz (including one of the earliest hip-hop verses by female artists ever written by herself), It Must Be Magic with sizzling single It Must Be Magic by Rick James that would later be sampled by artists like Fugees).

Marie made history when, following her acrimonious departure from Motown Records in 1982, her lawsuit became an important precedent against record labels who held artists on contract without producing new material. Although she moved onto Epic in the ’80s with hits like Loversgirl, Marie will always be associated with Motown; indeed her final album released was 2009’s Congo Square on Stax Records.