Jackie Shane

Welcome to North Nashville, home of the legendary transgender soul singer Jackie Shane! Shane was born in Nashville on May 15, 1940. She was raised by her grandparents and her aunt— Gussie Martindale. At the age of four, Jackie began wearing her grandmother’s shoes and dresses. Some accepted Shane as a girl, while others, especially local kids in the neighborhood, made fun and threw rocks at her.

She also discovered a passion for music as a young child. A musical family, spirituals filled her home, and she also sang in several gospel groups. Growing up in North Nashville, she was regularly exposed to secular music, too. Jefferson Street was a mecca for southern soul and R&B music clubs. Take our Jefferson Street Driving Tour to learn more about the rich history of this area.

Jackie Shane began her musical career as a teenager. She played drums with pianist Louis Lavelle and guitarist Les Monday every Saturday on the R&B station WVOL. The trio also hit the recording studio for Ernie Young's Excello Records and played in venues across Nashville. By 1959, Shane was ready to escape the segregated South. She joined the Cetlin-Wilson Carnival as part of Jerry Jackson’s Hep Cats and later toured with a traveling show in Canada. Jackie fell in love with the Ontario area and decided to stay. "I never felt that good before. I felt so free.”

Shane rose to fame in Canada’s music industry as a founding member of the Toronto Sound. Her most popular single, “Any Other Way,” was released in 1962 and reached the top of the Toronto charts. Ultimately, she chose to leave the music industry. Jackie Shane was born to perform but walked away from an industry that pressured her to be someone she was not.

In the 2010s, Jackie resurfaced after a documentary showcased her influence as a Black transgender woman in R&B music. In 2017, she released a compilation album called Any Other Way, which was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Historical Album category. Jackie Shane died at home in Nashville in February 2019, but left a legacy as a musical pioneer. Now we will head to our last stop. See you on the campus of Vanderbilt University.

Okay, let’s head back to midtown for our last stop, the K.C. Potter Center at Vanderbilt University. Head east on Jefferson Street for just under a mile. Turn RIGHT onto Dr. D.B. Todd Jr. Boulevard. Stay on this road for 1.5 miles; when you cross over Charlotte Avenue you will be on Eighteenth Avenue South. Next, turn RIGHT onto Broadway. In about a half mile, turn LEFT onto Scarritt Place. You can find parking in the Wesley Place Garage or street parking on Nineteenth Avenue South. The K.C. Potter Center is about half a mile away on the Vanderbilt campus. Walk down Scarritt Place and cross Twenty-First Avenue South to reach the campus. You’ll be right next to the Library and Special Collections–feel free to stop in and learn more about their LGBTQ collection digitization efforts! Otherwise, keep heading west to reach the K.C. Potter Center on West Side Row.