In the 1960s, she achieved chart success with the country song "Release Me" and recorded in the pop, jazz, blues and soul genres.

Phillips received a Grammy nomination for her single "Home Is Where the Hatred Is" in 1973 and her disco recording of "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" was a major hit in 1975.

Her parents divorced during her adolescence, and she divided her time between her father, in Houston, and her mother, in the Watts section of Los Angeles.

She made several hit records for Savoy with the Johnny Otis Orchestra, including "Mistrusting Blues" (a duet with Mel Walker) and "Cupid's Boogie", both of which also went to number 1 that year.

Short on money, she worked in small nightclubs around the South, punctuated by periodic hospital stays in Lexington, Kentucky, to treat her addiction.

In 1962, Kenny Rogers discovered her singing at a Houston club and helped her get a contract with Lenox Records, owned by his brother Lelan.

[6] In July 2018, Paul McCartney recalled "the earliest [Beatles cover] that really caught my ear was by Esther Phillips ... "And I Love Him" which is really great.

Her friendship with Fletcher resulted in a performance engagement at Freddie Jett's Pied Piper club in late 1969, which produced the album Burnin'.

"With her lubricious, naturally sardonic high vibrato, this modern blues singer is well equipped to carry Dinah Washington's torch, and a club date with the likes of Chuck Rainey and Cornell Dupree is the perfect place for her to shine her light—even the horn overdubs sound hot."

The lead track, "Home Is Where the Hatred Is", an account of drug use written by Gil Scott-Heron, was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Phillips died at UCLA Medical Center in Carson, California, in 1984, at the age of 48, from liver and kidney failure due to long-term drug abuse.

A bronze marker recognizes her career achievements and quotes a Bible passage: "In My Father's House Are Many Mansions" (John 14:2).