Marlena Shaw (born Marlina Burgess, September 22, 1942 – January 19, 2024) was an American jazz, blues, and soul singer. Shaw began her singing career in the 1960s and continued to perform until her death. Her music has often been sampled in hip hop music, and used in television commercials. Shaw died on January 19, 2024, at the age of 81.[1]

Shaw began to make singing appearances in jazz clubs whenever she could spare the time. The most notable of these appearances was in 1963 when she worked with jazz trumpeter Howard McGhee. She was supposed to play at the Newport Jazz Festival with McGhee and his band, but left the group after getting into an argument with one of the band members. Later that year, she got an audition with Columbia label talent scout John Hammond. Shaw did not perform well during the audition because she was too nervous. Undeterred, she continued to play small clubs until 1966. Her career took off in 1966 when she landed a gig with the Playboy Club chain in Chicago. It was through this gig that she met with representatives of the Chess Records music label, and soon signed with them. She released her first two albums on their subsidiary Cadet Records. A 1969 album track "California Soul", a funk-soul tune written by Ashford & Simpson and originally issued as a single by American pop quintet The 5th Dimension, later became a staple of the UK rare groove scene. This song has appeared in television commercials for Dockers, KFC[3] and Dodge Ram trucks.[4] Unable to find her own style at Chess, she moved to the jazz-oriented Blue Note Records in 1972.