[3][4] She was born in Mobile, Alabama,[5] and brought up in the small town of Lower Peach Tree, where she began singing in church as a child.

[5] She later relocated to Chicago, Illinois, and by 1971 was the lead singer in Jerry Butler's backup group Peaches.

[9] She worked as a backup singer for such artists as Ray Charles, Mavis Staples, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder and Graham Nash.

[6] She has also written songs recorded by Bobby Womack, the Staples Singers, Aretha Franklin, Cliff Richard, Gladys Knight, Shirley Brown, Prince, and others.

[12] She has also written and performed in a one-woman musical theatre show based on her own life, Grace, which premiered in Los Angeles in 2010.