[1] Briggs was the first woman to achieve star status at the dawn of rock 'n roll in the early 1950s; soon after embarking upon her career, as she toured Australia with Nat King Cole in early 1956, she began being billed as "The Queen of Rock and Roll"[2] during the same period that media began referring to Elvis Presley as the "King" of the new musical genre.

[5] In the early 1950s, she worked for 14 months as a laundry truck driver in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania and later as a welder to support herself and finance The Downbeats, a band she formed that drew audiences both on live radio and at public venues in the Allentown area.

A year later, appearing with Cayler's Orchestra at the Arcadia Ballroom in New York City, she performed a version of "Shake, Rattle and Roll" and was discovered by celebrity manager and talent scout Jack Petrill, who signed her as a preferred client, launching her solo career.

Briggs toured at sock hops and nightclubs and did radio interviews, driving herself coast-to-coast from one engagement to the next in her white Cadillac convertible.

[11] Briggs continued recording with Sunbeams, Paramount, Coral, and Phillips while touring extensively until the early 1970s, when she relocated to Miami Beach, Florida, to become a co-partner in Turnberry Isle, a luxury condominium resort.