Jackie Shane

Jackie Shane (born May 15, 1940) is a former American-Canadian soul and rhythm and blues singer, best known for the 1962 single "Any Other Way". A cover of a song previously recorded by William Bell, Shane's version was noted for adding a different spin to the lyric "Tell her that I'm happy/tell her that I'm gay"; while the original lyric intended the word "gay" in its older meaning as a synonym of "happy", Shane — who was gay in the sexual sense and usually performed in drag — played on the word's double meaning, which was not yet in universal mainstream usage.

Although Shane was male-identified during her active music career, following retirement she came out as transgender.

Originally from Nashville, Tennessee, she was born on May 15, 1940, the child of Gussie B. Shane-Martingale. A fan mythology linked her to Little Richard, including claims that she had been Richard's backing vocalist before moving to Canada or even that she was Richard's cousin, although no verification of either claim has ever been found and no evidence exists that Shane ever made either claim herself. Music critic Carl Wilson has concluded that, while in reality Shane had deep and identifiable roots in the drag traditions of the Southern US Chitlin' Circuit, the mythology emerged because that scene's traditions were not known to Torontonians in the 1960s, and thus Little Richard was the only antecedent for Shane's style that most of her local fan base could identify.

In 1960, Shane moved to Montreal, Quebec, where saxophonist King Herbert Whitaker, invited a young Shane along to watch the popular band, Frank Motley and his Motley Crew at the Esquire Showbar. Shane, who showed up in a bright red dress and her hair done up, sat down near the front. When Motley said, "Get that kid up here and let's see what they can do," pianist Curley Bridges invited her up onstage for the next set, where she performed songs by Ray Charles and Bobby "Blue" Bland. She was soon the band's lead vocalist, and relocated to Toronto with them in late 1961. She sometimes returned to the United States to perform shows in Nashville, Boston and Los Angeles.

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