Jackie Shane
1940-2019
Jackie Shane was an American soul and rhythm and blues singer, who was most prominent in the local music scene of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the 1960s. Considered to be a pioneer transgender performer, she was a contributor to the Toronto Sound and is best known for the single “Any Other Way,” which was a Top 10 hit in Toronto in 1962 and a modest national chart hit across Canada in 1967.
Originally from Nashville, Tennessee, she was born on May 15, 1940. She began performing locally in the 1950s wearing long hair, make-up, and jewelry. Vowing to escape the Jim Crow south, she joined a traveling carnival and arrived in Cornwall, Ontario in 1959 where she said she felt free for the first time.
She relocated to Toronto where she performed in clubs and became a cultural icon of sorts. She became an originator of Toronto’s R&B sound and was courted by A-list labels (she turned down deals with Motown and Atlantic). In 1971, Shane left the music business and spent decades in semi-seclusion. She is commemorated on a massive 20-story musical mural in Toronto with other influential musicians, including Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Ronnie Hawkins and Gordon Lightfoot.