3d • General discussion
Jackie Shane
I feel like I’m gonna spend the rest of my life spreading the gospel of Jackie Shane.
For the uninitiated: Jackie was a transgender soul dynamo that fled her Nashville roots to find huge success in Toronto’s booming local music scene in the late 60s. The success never went all that much further than the regional footprint, although legend has it she turned Ed Sullivan down when the appearance was made contingent on performing “as a man.”
Jackie was largely lost to history (outside Toronto) until 2017 when the good folks at Numero Group unearthed her local singles and her 1967 live record (which f—ing RIPS) and rereleased a slick 2-record comp. That album earned Jackie a Grammy nomination and plans were put in motion to mount a small but triumphant comeback tour.
Alas, it was not to be, and Jackie died in 2019.
Her life and career was also the foundation of a documentary feature (Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story) that tells her story far better than I ever could in this crude little recap. It won the 2025 Peabody Award for docs.
Just doing my bit to spread the word, but if you’re interested, do check out the live record (the comp has left streaming for some reason) and/or the doc trailer in the links below!
Trailer: https://youtu.be/xnlvygHhqrM
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Jackie Shane
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