JACKIE SHANE: Pioneering Transgender Rhythm & Blues Soul Singer

Jackie Shane promo shot, circa 1960s. Photo Ron Scribner Agency
Jackie Shane promo shot, circa 1960s. Photo Ron Scribner Agency

“When you’re different, people are not sure how to approach you, so what I’ve done is I’ve loved them first. I had to.”

TRQ: Jackie Shane Born May 15, 1940 

Jackie Shane was a pioneering transgender rhythm & blues soul singer. She was friends with Little Richard, and performed alongside Etta James, Jackie Wilson, and the Impressions. Several of her songs, including a cover of William Bell’s “Any Other Way,” were hits with critics and the public, especially in Toronto, Canada, where she was a prominent figure on the music scene.

Shane was born on May 15, 1940, in Nashville, Tennessee. There she sang in the church choir and gospel groups. She dressed as a girl starting at age 5 and came out to her mother at age 13. She was feminine and self-confident, even as a child.

Shane told The Guardian in 2017, “Even in school, the other kids accepted me… so did their parents. There was something about me that drew them in.”

Not to say she her grade school days were without trouble. When a bully once threw a rock at her, Shane retaliated by whipping him with a jump rope. She then whipped a teacher who tried to intercede.  

She sometimes described herself as a woman trapped in a man’s body and periodically described herself as gay. Like Little Richard, Shane found herself drawn to Nashville’s R&B and soul scene. She frequently performed wearing long hair and makeup. Though she sang alongside such legends as Etta James, Jackie Wilson and the Impressions, she found southern racism and bigotry oppressively difficult. Southern soul singer Joe Tex encouraged her to take her career elsewhere.

Shane moved to Boston, Massachusetts, but joined a carnival and travelled to Ontario, Canada, in 1959. In 1960, she joined Frank Motley and his Motley Crew as lead vocalist. In 1961, Shane moved with the band to Toronto.

In 2019, she told the CBC, “One cannot choose where one is born, but you can choose your home. I chose Toronto. I love Toronto. I love Canadian people. I consider myself a part of them.”

She rose to prominence in Toronto’s R&B scene. She released several singles, sold out nightclub shows and booked music TV shows. Then, as now, the R&B scene was largely straight and unacquainted with trans culture. In her early Toronto days, Shane presented as a gay man who wore shiny pantsuits and makeup. “Show business is glamour,” Shane said. “When you walk out there, people should say, ‘Whoa! I like that!’ When I walk out onstage, I’m the show.”

In 1963, Shane’s cover of “Any Other Way” by William Bell climbed to No. 2 on the CHUM singles chart. In 1965, she appeared on Nashville’s Night Train on WLATV. She turned down The Ed Sullivan Show after they insisted she perform as male. In 1967, she released a live album. Weary of music labels, she turned down offers from Motown and Atlantic records. She also declined to join George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic.

“I’ve never really wanted to record. I get my charge from performing in front of people. That’s my energy,” Shane told the Guardian in 2017. 

In 1971, Shane retired from performing and moved to Los Angeles to take care of her ageing mother, who died in 1996. Shane lived a very private life after returning to Nashville. She mostly stayed at home watching movies on television. She gave an interview with The Times, where she commented on the legalization of same-sex marriage. “We’ve had to fight for everything that should have already been on the table.” On what had become of pop music, she insisted, “I’m going to have to school these people again.”

“I am what I am. I don’t have to add or subtract anything… You would know if you met me. I’m not like anyone else.” — Jackie Shane

In 2015, a reissue of Jackie Shane Live made the shortlist for the Polaris Music Prize’s 1960-1970 Heritage Award. In 2017, the label Numero Group released Shane’s anthology, Any Other Way, which was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Historical Album. The release inspired fresh interest in her career, and the CBC produced the documentary, I Got Mine: The Story of Jackie Shane (2018).

In January 2019, Shane told the AP, “I had been discovered… It wasn’t what I wanted, but I felt good about it. After such a long time, people still cared. And now these people who are just discovering me, it’s just overwhelming.”

A month later, on February 21, 2019, Shane died at home in Nashville. In downtown Toronto on Yonge Street, a 22-storey mural features Shane alongside Ronnie Hawkins, Glenn Gould, and Dianne Brooks in a tribute to 1960s Yonge Street’s music scene. Shane had framed a photo of the mural. 

“When you’re different, people are not sure how to approach you, so what I’ve done is I’ve loved them first. I had to.” — Jackie Shane

Jackie Shane, early 1960s. Photo via Numero Group2
Jackie Shane, early 1960s. Photo via Numero Group
Young Jackie Shane hand-colored photo circa 1947. Photo via Numero Group
Young Jackie Shane hand-colored photo circa 1947. Photo via Numero Group
Jackie Shane, early 1960s. Photo via Numero Group
Jackie Shane, early 1960s. Photo via Numero Group
Jackie Shane performing circa 1960s. Photo via Numero Group
Jackie Shane performing circa 1960s. Photo via Numero Group
Jackie Shane circa 1959. Photo via Numero Group
Jackie Shane circa 1959. Photo via Numero Group
Jackie Shane on stage, n.d. Photo Unknown
Jackie Shane on stage, n.d. Photo Unknown
Jackie Shane at the bottom center with The Jerry Jackson Revue, late 1950s. Photo via Numero Group
Jackie Shane at the bottom center with The Jerry Jackson Revue, late 1950s. Photo via Numero Group
Jackie Shane by the pillar, early 1960s. Photo via Numero Group
Jackie Shane by the pillar, early 1960s. Photo via Numero Group
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Advertisements for two separate Jackie Shane shows in Toronto that appeared in the Toronto Daily Star, Toronto Star Photograph Archive, Courtesy of Toronto Public Library
Jackie Shane promo shot, circa 1960s. Photo Ron Scribner Agency.1
Jackie Shane promo shot, circa 1960s. Photo Ron Scribner Agency

About the Authors

Troy Wise is currently a PhD student at UAL Central St Martins and teaches fashion and graphic design at London College of Contemporary Arts. His background is in marketing and is founder and co-editor of Image Amplified. He lives in, and is continually fascinated by, the city of London.

Rick Guzman earned his most recent MA at UAL Central St Martins in Applied Imagination in the Creative Industries. He currently holds two MA’s and an MBA in the New Media, Journalism and International Business fields. Co-editor at Image Amplified since its start, he lives in London, is fascinated by history and is motivated by continuing to learn and explore. 

 

Sources: 

NPR

NY Times

RollingStone

Southern Cultures

The Canadian Encyclopedia

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