Growing up in Chicago with significant exposure to the local African-American music culture, Cherry became an influence in the works of a number of pre-eminent artists, as well as a respected musician in her own right.

Cherry's influence on Young Americans through her connections to major soul music institutions such as Sigma Sound Studios and the Apollo Theater has proven a particularly noted part of her legacy, as has her contemporaneous work with proto-new wave band the Astronettes.

[4] Both parents' careers left deep imprints on her; she was raised to appreciate music by her father and lived for a period in the Playboy Mansion as a bunny.

[7][note 1] As a teenager, she sang in a girl group influenced by the Supremes and was a regular attendee at the Regal Theater in Chicago, a venue frequently attended by black music fans.

Cherry later moved to New York City for her career, but it failed to prosper, and she found work as a cocktail waitress to pay the bills.

[7] Cherry first heard about David Bowie through her agent, who was an early fan and gave her a copy of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

When the two first met, he was attracted by her close-cropped blonde hair and asked if she was a singer, inviting her on the spot to sing backup on a planned tour of Japan.

[9] Travelling Europe, Cherry attracted the attention of some modelling agencies due to her striking and defining visual aesthetic.

Designers treated her as "a goddess from outer space" as she made the rounds through the major fashion capitals of Paris, London, and Milan, and she was featured in Vogue and Elle.

They spent a week in the Château d'Hérouville to record the album, which she described as "one of the most beautiful times in my life", and lived together in Paris for eight months.

[11] He founded a soul-influenced trio called The Astronettes, featuring Cherry, long-time collaborator Warren Peace, and Jason Guess, and recorded and produced their tracks in London through late 1973 and early 1974.

The Astronettes project was quickly shelved and the material was not released until the 1990s; however, Bowie kept the trio as his backing singers for the Diamond Dogs era.

[13] The Astronettes received mixed reviews, with some describing it as "sketchwork" only valuable as a curiosity, while others admired it for a "new wave before the term existed" sensibility.

The heavily soul-influenced work drew on Bowie's interest in black music, and the backing trio of Cherry, Robin Clark (wife of guitarist Carlos Alomar), and a then-unknown Luther Vandross impacted the album's sound.

[37] Contemporary critical reception was positive, describing the album as "electric, heart-pumping funk" and drawing connections to Grace Jones and Debbie Harry.

[40] Picture Me received mixed reviews, being described as "slick and sexy synth pop", but also as a lean album of overplayed "skimpy grooves".

[46] The pair had met many years earlier as backup singers to Bowie, and they built a close relationship, with Cherry referring to him as like a brother.

[48] Vandross' focus on Cherry and Lisa Fischer as a core part of his stage show caused problems for other backup singers, who were required to sink into the background and not outshine them, and treated harshly if they were thought to catch too much attention.