Headliners

Teena Marie

Teena Marie is an American Grammy Award-nominated singer-songwriter-producer. Nicknamed Lady T, she is a protegée of late funk legend Rick James, and is notable as one of the few successful multi-ethnic performers of R&B. She sings R&B with big, robust vocals, and plays rhythm guitar, keyboards and congas.

Teena Marie initially signed with Motown Records in 1976 as a back-up singer, but later released her debut album on the label. Her first release, Wild and Peaceful, scored Teena her first top-ten R&B hit, a duet with mentor Rick James, "I'm Just a Sucker for Your Love" (#8 Black Singles Chart). Neither the album nor its packaging showed a picture of Teena Marie, figuring black audiences wouldn't be compelled to buy an album by a white artist. In fact, many radio programmers assumed Teena was African American during the early years of her career. This myth was dispelled when, in 1980, her sophomore album, "Lady T", sported a picture of her on the cover.

In 1980, Teena released her third LP, "Irons in The Fire", in which she handled all writing and production herself, including the horn and rhythm arrangements of her band and all backing vocals. The single "I Need Your Lovin'" (#37 Pop, #9 Black Singles) brought Teena her first top 40 hit. That same year, Teena Marie appeared on James' hugely successful album Street Songs with the steamy duet "Fire and Desire." The two would perform the single at the 2004 BET Awards, which would be the two's last TV appearance with one another as Rick James passed later that year.

After leaving Motown in 1982, she signed with Epic Records in 1983 and released the concept album Robbery. In 1984, Marie released her biggest-selling album, Starchild. It yielded the singles "Lovergirl" and "Out on a Limb," the former of which became Marie's highest-peaking single to date on the US pop charts, peaking at #4, while peaking at #9 on the R&B charts.

During the 1990s, Marie's classic R&B, soul and funk records were either sampled by hip-hop artists or covered by R&B divas. Marie herself is regarded as something of a pioneer in helping to bring hip-hop to the mainstream by becoming one of the first and only artists of her time to rhyme on one of her singles-"Square Biz."

Most recently, Teena completed an album, due out this summer, that she has described as "personal and spiritual" and indicated that it will be more jazz-influenced than most of her previous work.

Performance Schedule:

Sunday, June 21, 2009
7:00 pm - 8:15 pm
Stage 1:  Main Stage—Ogontz Avenue & Middleton Avenue