For decades, Jackie Shane was a musical mystery: a riveting black transgender soul singer who packed out nightclubs in Toronto in the 1960s, but then disappeared after 1971.

Some speculated she had died, but her legacy lived on among music historians and R&B collectors who paid big money for her vinyl records. But in 2010, the Canadian Broadcasting Company produced an audio documentary about her, awakening a wider interest in the pioneering singer. Today her face is painted on a massive 20-story musical mural in Toronto with other influential musicians like Muddy Waters.

In 2014, Doug Mcgowan, an A&R scout for archival record label Numero Group, finally reached her via phone in Nashville, Tennessee, where she was born in 1940. After much effort, Mcgowan got her agree to work with them on a remarkable two-CD set of her live and studio recordings that was released in 2017 called 91裸聊视频淎ny Other Way,91裸聊视频� which has been nominated for best historical album at this year91裸聊视频檚 Grammy Awards.

Shane, now 78, has lived a very private life since she stopped performing. In fact, no one involved in album has yet to meet her in person as she only agrees to talk on the phone. But she realized after the CBC documentary that she could no longer hide. News outlets began calling and her photos started appearing in newspapers and magazines after the release of the album. RuPaul and Laverne Cox have tweeted stories about Shane.

91裸聊视频淚 had been discovered,91裸聊视频� Shane told The Associated Press in a recent phone interview. 91裸聊视频淚t wasn91裸聊视频檛 what I wanted, but I felt good about it. After such a long time, people still cared. And now those people who are just discovering me, it91裸聊视频檚 just overwhelming.91裸聊视频�

Grammy-winning music journalist Rob Bowman spent dozens of hours on the phone with Shane interviewing her for the liner notes in the album. Her story, Bowman says, is so remarkable that even Hollywood couldn91裸聊视频檛 dream it up.

Born in the Jim Crow era and raised during the heyday of Nashville91裸聊视频檚 small but influential R&B scene, Shane was confident in herself and musically inclined since she was a child. She learned how to sing in Southern churches and gospel groups, but she learned about right and wrong from watching a con artist posing as a minister selling healing waters to the faithful.

From an early age, she knew who she was and never tried to hide it.

91裸聊视频淚 started dressing (as a female) when I was five,91裸聊视频� Shane said. 91裸聊视频淎nd they wondered how I could keep the high heels on with my feet so much smaller than the shoe. I would press forward and would, just like Mae West, throw myself from side to side. What I am simply saying is I could be no one else.91裸聊视频�

By the time she was 13, she considered herself a woman in a man91裸聊视频檚 body and her mother unconditionally supported her.

91裸聊视频淓ven in school, I never had any problems,91裸聊视频� Shane said. 91裸聊视频淧eople have accepted me.91裸聊视频�

She played drums and became a regular session player for Nashville R&B and gospel record labels and went out on tour with artists like Jackie Wilson. She91裸聊视频檚 known Little Richard since she was a teenager and later in the 91裸聊视频�60s met Jimi Hendrix, who spent time gigging on Nashville91裸聊视频檚 Jefferson Street.

To this day, Shane playfully scoffs at Little Richard91裸聊视频檚 antics and knows more than a few wild stories about him. 91裸聊视频淚 grew up with Little Richard. Richard is crazy, don91裸聊视频檛 even go there,91裸聊视频� Shane said with a laugh.

But soon the South91裸聊视频檚 Jim Crow laws became too harsh for her to live with.

91裸聊视频淚 can come into your home. I can clean your house. I can raise your children. Cook your food. Take care of you,91裸聊视频� Shane said. 91裸聊视频淏ut I can91裸聊视频檛 sit beside you in a public place? Something is wrong here.91裸聊视频�

One day in Nashville she had been playing with acclaimed soul singer Joe Tex when he encouraged her to leave the South and pursue her musical career elsewhere.

She began playing gigs in Boston, Montreal and eventually Toronto, which despite being a majority white city at the time still had a budding R&B musical scene, according to Bowman. She performed with Frank Motley, who was known for playing two trumpets at once.

91裸聊视频淛ackie was a revelation,91裸聊视频� Bowman said. 91裸聊视频淨uite quickly the black audience in Toronto embraced her. Within a couple of years, Jackie91裸聊视频檚 audiences were 50-50 white and black.91裸聊视频�

Bowman said that in the early 91裸聊视频�60s, the term transgender wasn91裸聊视频檛 widely known at all and being anything but straight was often feared by people. Most audiences perceived Shane as a gay male, Bowman said. In the pictures included in the album91裸聊视频檚 liner notes, her onstage outfits were often very feminine pantsuits and her face is adorned with cat eyes and dramatic eyebrows.

For Shane, her look onstage was as important as the music.

91裸聊视频淚 would travel with about 20 trunks,91裸聊视频� Shane said. 91裸聊视频淪how business is glamour. When you walk out there, people should say, 91裸聊视频榃hoa! I like that!91裸聊视频� When I walk out onstage, I91裸聊视频檓 the show.91裸聊视频�

She put out singles and a live album, covering songs like 91裸聊视频淢oney (That91裸聊视频檚 What I Want),91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频漎ou Are My Sunshine,91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频淎ny Other Way,91裸聊视频� which was regionally popular in Boston and Toronto in 1963. Her live songs are populated with extended monologues in which Shane takes on the role of a preacher, sermonizing on her life, sexual politics and much more.

91裸聊视频淚 humble myself before my audience,91裸聊视频� Shane explained. 91裸聊视频淚 am going to sing to you and talk to you and do all the things I can so when you leave here, you91裸聊视频檒l be back here again.91裸聊视频�

She was beloved in Toronto and still considers it her home.

91裸聊视频淵ou cannot choose where you are born, but you can choose where you call home,91裸聊视频� Shane said. 91裸聊视频淎nd Toronto is my home.91裸聊视频�

But her connection to her mother was so strong that ultimately it led Shane to leave show business in 1971. Her mother91裸聊视频檚 husband died and Shane didn91裸聊视频檛 want to leave her mother living alone. But she also felt a bit exhausted by the pace.

91裸聊视频淚 needed to step back from it,91裸聊视频� Shane said. 91裸聊视频淓very night, two or three shows and concerts. I just felt I needed a break from it.91裸聊视频�

Since the release of 91裸聊视频淎ny Other Way,91裸聊视频� Shane often gets the question about whether she would ever perform again now that so many more people are discovering her music.

91裸聊视频淚 don91裸聊视频檛 know,91裸聊视频� Shane said. 91裸聊视频淏ecause it takes a lot out of you. I give all I can. You are really worn out when you walk off that stage.91裸聊视频�

She wavered on an answer, saying she91裸聊视频檚 thinking about it. Her record91裸聊视频檚 nomination in the best historical album category only go to producers and engineers, not the artists, so Shane is not nominated herself. But Mcgowan, who is nominated as a producer, said he has invited her to come with him to the ceremony in Los Angeles on Feb. 10 as his guest.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 like my grandmamma would say, 91裸聊视频楪ood things come to those who wait,91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频� Shane said. 91裸聊视频淎ll of the sudden it91裸聊视频檚 like people are saying, 91裸聊视频楾hank you, Jackie, for being out there and speaking when no one else did.91裸聊视频� No matter whether I initiated it or not, and I did not, this was the way that fate wanted it to be.91裸聊视频�

Kristin M. Hall, The Associated Press

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