Rhea was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky and began singing publicly at the Hill Street Baptist Church of that city,[3] where she was a member of the children's choir.

[5] Her professional debut was at Chicago's Kimball Hall in 1929, and she continued to make regular concert performances across the United States as she studied operatic roles in a period that lasted more than two decades.

"[6] In the early 1930s, Rhea toured the country with Ethel Waters in the stage production of Rhapsody in Black,[7] and was for a time the feature soloist of the Cecil Mack Choir.

Pinafore, Rhea won over 6,000 votes from the audience and became the first black winner of an audition of the Major Bowes Amateur Hour, and toured with the group under the name Rea Parada.

[11] In attendance for the performance was the drama critic for the Chicago Tribune Cecil Smith, who commented: "A musical event without parallel in grand opera in America took place at the Civic Opera House last night when two colored singers, La Julia Rhea and William Franklin, sang the Ethiopian roles of Aida and Amonasro in a special performance of Aida ...