She contributed vocals to numerous tracks and worked with many major recording artists for decades, including a duet with Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones song "Gimme Shelter".

[1] Clayton is prominently featured in 20 Feet from Stardom, the Oscar-winning documentary about background singers and their contributions to the music industry.

[2] Clayton's voice as a backing singer can be heard on songs by Pearl Bailey, Phil Ochs, Burt Bacharach, Tom Jones, Joe Cocker, Linda Ronstadt, Carole King, Tori Amos and on several tracks from Neil Young's debut album.

They called Clayton "randomly" in the middle of the night in Los Angeles, and she showed up to the studio "in curlers" and contributed her parts in a few takes, which Jagger remarked was "pretty amazing.

Along with her frequent partner Clydie King,[11] Clayton also sang backing vocals on Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama".

[12] In the mid-1970s Clayton sang on The Blackbyrds' R&B hit "Rock Creek Park", and continued to release solo albums throughout the next decade, notching several minor R&B chart singles.

[4] Clayton's soundtrack work continued into the 1980s, including "You're Always There When I Need You", the title track for the 1980 Get Smart film, The Nude Bomb, and the song "Yes" from Dirty Dancing, which hit No.

[14] In 1994, Clayton sang backing vocals and also the "Man with the Golden Gun" bridge for Tori Amos's hit, "Cornflake Girl".

[19] On June 16, 2014, Clayton was critically injured and almost died after being involved in a car crash in Los Angeles, California[20] that caused both of her legs to be amputated at the knees due to her suffering "profound trauma to her lower extremities.