Henderson was born Marian Grossman in Melbourne, Australia, on 16 April 1937, to an air force family which moved frequently with her father's job, resulting in her attending 13 schools.

[citation needed] She formed a rock and roll band, the Thunderbirds, with fellow musician/songwriter Don Henderson (later her husband), before she lost interest and turned to jazz singing.

In 1978 she participated in a one-off progressive jazz rock recording by a group entitled "First Light", released on Music Farm Studios, a small label operating out of the Byron Bay hinterland.

[citation needed] In her later years Henderson lived quietly in an artistic environment, enjoying camping, the beach, and creating a beautiful garden.

She died in 2015 aged 78, after suffering from cancer from several years; her ashes were scattered at the small New South Wales coastal town of Brunswick Heads.

[8]An extended reissue of Henderson's 1970 album Cameo was released in 2016 on the Stoned Circle label, incorporating all known additional tracks from her hard-to-find earlier EPs plus other material.