*Teena Marie may bring memories of classic songs to mind for fans, but the late singer is remembered most for being one thing in the eyes of Alia Rose: mom.

The young entertainer, now 20, who follows in Teena Marie’s footsteps as a vocalist, is doing her part to keep her mother’s legacy alive as a co-executive producer for Centric’s new documentary “Being: Teena Marie” and the driving force behind bringing Marie’s final album, “Beautiful,” to fans.

“Right now I’m still finishing up my mother’s album. My mother has a last album that’s coming out. It’s called “Beautiful,” Rose confessed to EUR’s Lee Bailey. “It was finished when she passed and I’m just working on getting that out to her fans right now and that should be very soon.”

According to Rose, “Beautiful” will be released “within the next six months.” In the meanwhile, “Being: Teena Marie” will help keep the revered songstress in the public eye. The hour-long docu-series will include never-before-seen footage of the singer, who was interviewed for “The Hippest Trip in America, The Soul Train Story” documentary by the film’s director J. Kevin Swain. During the chat, Marie opens up about growing up in Venice, CA, performing on “Soul Train,” being a local and national star, her friendship with Rick James and the beauty of life.

In addition, “Being: Teena Marie” will feature performances from Marie on “Soul Train” as well as personal reflections from Rose, Faith Evans, Lalah Hathaway, Shanice Wilson, Smokey Robinson, and Nelson George. As co-executive producer, Rose played an active role in bringing “Being: Teena Marie” to the small screen. The inclusion of the “Soul Train” footage came after the people behind the Don Cornelius created program came after a meeting with Rose regarding footage of Teena that wasn’t used in the documentary.

“They felt bad after she passed and they approached me about doing a whole piece on her and just her and putting all her “Soul Train” performances in it,” said Rose, who labeled the final version of “Being: Teena Marie” as “amazing.” “I think it worked out even better than it would’ve worked out before.”

While she admits to the challenge of moving forward after Marie’s death, Rose believes her mother would want her to continue to stay productive.

“It has been very hard,” she stated. “It’s been the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life but I feel that it has to be done and I know my mom would want me to be OK so that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

As Rose reminisces over Marie, she recalls her mother being “a very spiritual person” who realized her time on Earth was limited.

“I feel my mother always kind of knew that she wasn’t gonna be here that long. She was a very spiritual person. She talked about it. She talked about leaving, and being a kid, you don’t ever wanna hear that,” said Rose, who misses talking to Teena Marie and her humor. “You don’t ever wanna think about your parents leaving you. Especially me. My mom was a single parent and she talked about it. So I feel like in the back of my mind, it was already there but I wasn’t exactly sure when the day would come.

“But now that it has,” she continued, “I feel that it could’ve gone one of two ways. I either could have lost my mind or I could learn from it. And I chose to learn from it.”

“Being: Teena Marie” will premiere at 10pm (E/P) on Saturday (March 3), with an encore presentation scheduled to run on what would have been the singer’s 56^th birthday on March 5 at 12 Midnight (E/P).

For more of Lee Bailey’s interview with Alia Rose, in which she talks more about her relationship with her mother Teena Marie and Whitney Houston’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina, click the player below:

This is my all time favorite female vocalist. Teena taught her daughter well hopefully Bobbi Kris follows in her footsteps... R.I.P. Teena Marie & Whitney Houston.....

http://soundcloud.com/eurnews/alia-rose-on-mom-teena-marie

[Edited 3/3/12 7:40am]

Thank you! I can't wait to see this.

What was the first Teena Marie song you heard and when was the first time she blew you away? Tune In Tomorrow blew me away the first time...still does!

MidniteMagnet said:

Thank you! I can't wait to see this.

What was the first Teena Marie song you heard and when was the first time she blew you away? Tune In Tomorrow blew me away the first time...still does!

Thanks for the post. Can't wait either.

And the news on Beautiful ...

I became a Starchild when I played Young Love on a jukebox at a Pizzahut around 1981. [I think it was the b side for something and I was just being my contrary in selecting it. And I had heard the singles by that time and loved them.] And then my friend Don made me come inside one day when I picked him up, cause I "had to hear Fire and Desire." It was all over at that point.

I have been thinking about Tune In Tomorrow lately. (But I can't get BlackRain out of my disc player so that I can hear it.) But yeah, TIT was one of the first songs that I felt a little worn out from listening to and going on the journey.

I gotta see this. I miss Teena Marie and I can only imagine how her daughter feels. I'm glad her daughter is helping to keep the memories alive. Teena was so underrated, but I'm sure her daughter will help to carry on her legacy.