Mary Christine Brockert is an unlikely name for an R&B music diva.

That’s probably why most people have never heard of the Ivory Queen of Soul by her birth name.

She’s better known as Teena Marie or, more simply, Lady T.

The California native made her music debut on the Motown label in 1979 with the album Wild and Peaceful. With it, she scored her first top 10 R&B hit, I’m Just a Sucker for Your Love, a duet with funk legend Rick James.

At the time, only the musicians and studio staff knew she was white. Motown founder and CEO Berry Gordy purposefully kept her picture off the album cover.

"Mr. Gordy felt the music was that black sounding that it would take off on its own merit. He wanted to let the music speak for itself," Teena said. "It just happened that the African- American community absolutely loved and embraced me. That’s a blessing. I don’t think that there’s been anyone in the last 30 years that has been looked at and accepted like that."

Her identity was no longer a secret after the release of three subsequent albums with Motown that produced such hits as It Must Be Magic, Square Biz, Portuguese Love and I Need Your Lovin.

Teena, who will bring her blend of R&B, jazz, funk and soul to Miami’s fifth annual Jazz in the Gardens concert at Sun Life Stadium (7:40 p.m. Saturday), said it’s only been in the last few years that she’s even had to deal with the color question.

"It’s interesting because it wasn’t like that at all in the beginning," she said. "I think it’s because there’s a lot of white soul singers now. That has to be what it is, because it was never an issue before. When I started singing, it was unheard of for anyone of my color to sound like me."

Indeed. Before Eve, Lil’ Kim and M.C. Lyte, Lady T was rocking the mic on perennial fan favorite Square Biz with such rap lyrics as I’ve been called Casper, Shorty, Lil’ Bit/And some they call me Vanilla Child/But you know that don’t mean my world to me/’Cause baby, names can’t cramp my style.

Nothing, apparently can cramp Teena’s style. Though she took a 14-year break from the music business to raise her daughter Alia Rose, who now goes by the stage name Rose Le Beau, she returned in 2004 with La Dona on the hip- hop label Cash Money Records. The successful CD featured A Rose By Any Other Name, a duet with Gerald Levert. She followed that with the release in 2006 of Sapphire and her 13th studio album, Congo Square, in 2009. And it doesn’t look like she plans to stop anytime soon.

"I’m still really passionate about the music. I don’t know life without music. It’s kind of like breathing for me," Teena said. "It’s still very exciting to me. I still love to perform. I still feel like I have a lot to say. I just live it and I try to be truthful and honest about who I am. Everything I feel is the same thing you feel, the same thing everyone feels. I just have an amazing gift that I’m able to put it into song. God blessed me with a beautiful instrument, and I cherish that every day of my life."

As for Saturday’s show, Teena promises a surprise inspired by Rick James, her mentor and former romantic partner, who died in 2004. "He was my best friend. He was brilliant. I think about him all the time. That part of it is really hard for me and really difficult," she said. "I’m not just representing me anymore. I represent the whole Teena Marie-Rick James legacy."

Her fans only care that she represents.

If you go:

What: Jazz in the Gardens hosted by Tom Joyner

When: Saturday and Sunday at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens. Shows start at 4 p.m. both days. Doors open at 3 p.m.

Who: Saturday’s performers include Mary J. Blige, Robin Thicke, Teena Marie, Joe Sample, K’Jon, John Saxx, Kawan Debose and Rachel Brown. Sunday’s performers include John Legend, Boyz II Men, Cassandra Wilson, David Sanborn, Melanie Fiona, Eric Roberson and Jov.

Tickets: Available at TicketMaster.com

Information: jazzinthegardens.com