"[2] She spent more than 10 years based in the United States while working as a session vocalist, but had little chart success there under her own name.

Geyer and fellow 1970s singer Marcia Hines are the subjects of Australian academic Jon Stratton's 2008 cultural studies article A Jew Singing Like a Black Woman In Australia.

[2][13][14] Both elder siblings were academically gifted,[12] but Geyer described herself as a problem child,[2] while her parents called her übermutig (German for "reckless").

[6][17][18] The group worked at Kask Wine Bar, Bondi;[14] where she earned $5 a night[16] her father disapproved of her chosen career,[12] "[he] said if I was going to do that, I was not going to live at home.

[1][19] The group released one studio album with Geyer, Sun 1972 in August 1972 but she departed before it appeared and was replaced by Starlee Ford on lead vocals.

[20] John Shand of The Sydney Morning Herald observed, "[on Geyer's tracks] you hear the tug of war between her R&B comfort zone and the freer, jazzier, moodier pieces... [including] diving to the depths of her range, and singing with such bruising power as summons a sudden blazing guitar solo.

[22] It provided one of Geyer's signature songs "Heading in the Right Direction", written by Punch and Garry Paige[1][24] (both ex-the Johnny Rocco Band),[25] which reached the top 40 in 1976.

"[26] Geyer participated in the 1975 federal election campaign for the Liberal Party, singing their theme song "Turn on the Lights".

According to Cashbox' reviewer it showcased the "dynamic interpretive qualities in her voice and material that ranges from disco to MOR... she seems poised and ready for a listen by the Yanks.

[22] In the US, radio stations began playing several of the album's tracks, in particular her re-recorded version of "Heading in the Right Direction", which was issued as her first US & UK single.

[21] Polydor were aware that her vocal style led listeners to incorrectly assume she was black and urged her to keep a low profile until her popularity had grown, thus they suggested her US album release should not include her photograph.

[2][30] Known for her uncompromising and direct personal manner, Geyer refused to accede to such deception and insisted on marketing with a cover photograph of what she referred to as "my big pink huge face".

[2][30] Nevertheless, Geyer earned respect in the US recording industry as a session vocalist for several years working in Los Angeles while periodically returning to Australia.

[31][32] Amy Hanson of AllMusic found Murphy's vocal tracks to be "at best drab and lifeless, and frequently droning and dire.

"[32] In December of that year Geyer released her fifth studio album Winner; backing her were Punch, Tell and Tim Partridge on bass guitar (of Kevin Borich Express),[19] together with session musicians.

Garry Raffaele of The Canberra Times described it as "hard-driving, powerful, emotive rock" with her vocals depicting "an edge so hard yet so sensual as to be alarming.

[35] So Lucky was released in November 1981 and provided two further singles, "Do You Know What I Mean" (December 1981), which reached the Australian and New Zealand top 30s[22][35] and "I Can Feel the Fire" (February 1982).

[27] During the 1980s she also undertook minor acting roles in Australian feature films Starstruck (1982) and My First Wife (1984) and TV series Sweet and Sour (1984).

In 1986 she sang lead vocals on the Danny Hutton Hitters cover of Nik Kewshaw's "Wouldn't It Be Good" that was featured in the John Hughes 1986 film Pretty In Pink, She appeared on Sting's 1987 double-album, ...Nothing Like the Sun, including his single "We'll Be Together".

[41] She performed a duet with Joe Cocker on his 1987 album Unchain My Heart[42] and, following its release, toured Europe with him as a backing vocalist.

She described her backing vocals as supplying "The old Alabama black man wailing on the end of a record so they hire the white Jewish girl from Australia to do it.

[2] Geyer visited Australia in 1992 and recorded a number of songs, including "Foggy Highway", for the ABC-TV mini series Seven Deadly Sins, alongside Vika Bull, Deborah Conway and Paul Kelly.

[44] Two singles were released from the soundtrack including Geyer's cover of Jean Stafford's "Someday I'll Take Home The Roses".

[1] Also in 1998 Geyer recorded "Yil Lull" alongside Kelly, Archie Roach, Christine Anu, Judith Durham, Kutcha Edwards and Tiddas.

[27] According to ABC Radio Melbourne's reviewer Sian Prior it has "plenty of talk about sex and drugs and rock'n'roll... [but] you get a sense of a quite vulnerable person under the confident stage persona... [and it is] written in a nice conversational style, easy to read, and structured not chronologically as you might expect, but in themed chapters.

[59] Geyer delivered a two-hour master class on 3 December 2008 to illustrate her annoyance at vocal gymnastics used by singers Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera which had influenced contestants on talent quests such as Australian Idol.

In June of that year, Geyer was diagnosed with breast cancer and following surgery was told it had been detected early and a full recovery was expected.

[64] In August 2011 she was fined for careless driving over two incidents in Victoria in 2010 and 2011, where she crashed into parked cars, a tree and a shop front.

[72][73][74][75] A public memorial in her honour was held in April 2023 in St. Kilda, performers included Kevin Borich, Kate Ceberano, Deborah Conway, Paul Kelly and Russell Morris.

[76] Renee was a resident of St Kilda and lived in a number of rental properties around the area over the years, always identifying as "a Melbourne person at heart".