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R &B singer Teena Marie passed away today at the age of 54. Teena Marie rose to prominence in the late 70s and 80s, striking a musical and personal partnership with funk legend Rick James. But she is probably best known for her1984 hit “Lovergirl.” Marie’s manager, Mike Gardner, reports that she was found dead by her daughter this morning. The cause of death is unknown at this time, however it is also reported that the singer had suffered a seizure one month ago. We will not speculate as to whether seizures were related to her death.

Specifying a cause of death is required by law in all states. Death certification provides public health statistics and prevents cover-ups of murder. A death certificate requires two things:

* The cause of death: a disease or injury directly related to the death (such as heart attack, AIDS, kidney failure) or the circumstances of death (gun shot wound, hanging)
* The manner of death: natural, accidental, suicide, homicide, unknown, pending

Unless a physician familiar with the patient agrees to sign the death certificate, an autopsy will be required. We will report back when more information is available.

A seizure is the physical findings or changes in behavior that occur after an episode of abnormal electrical activity in the brain. There is a broad spectrum of how this abnormal activity is manifested- anything from a short period of inattentiveness or staring (absence seizures) to a seizure which causes whole body shaking (generalized tonic-clonic seizures). Most seizures last 5 minutes or less. Afterward, the individual will seem very tired and will go to sleep. For more information on seizures, see our articles about Jett Travolta and David Hasselhoff.