Jackie Shane, soul singer and transgender icon, has died. She was 78. Her label Numero Group confirmed the news via a press release.
“Pioneering trans soul singer Jackie Shane has passed away at the age of 78 in her home in Nashville,” the label said in a press statement. “A cultural icon in her adopted hometown of Toronto, Ms. Shane left the music business suddenly in 1971 and spent decades in semi-seclusion. A career retrospective on Chicago’s Numero Group label in 2017 ultimately led to a Grammy nomination for Best Historical Album. ‘I do believe that it’s like destiny, like that something that could not be avoided,’ Jackie told the CBC last month. ‘I really feel that I have made a place for myself with wonderful people. What I have said, what I have done, they say it makes their lives better.’”
Douglas Mcgowan, A&R at Numero Group added, “I’m devastated to report that our friend and hero Jackie Shane passed away peacefully in her sleep earlier this week. Jackie lived in Nashville with her cat, Sweetie. She said many times that she was humbled by all the acclaim lavished on her in the year and a half since our record. To this she’d rarely fail to add that she never asked for any of this, but felt it was fate. Jackie didn’t do what she did for anyone’s else’s approval.”
