Shirley Brown

Brown was born in West Memphis, but was raised in Madison, Illinois, where she started singing in church at the age of nine.

Early experience singing gospel gave her a powerful but expressive voice likened to that of Aretha Franklin.

[2][3][4] By 1972, Shirley was living in East St. Louis, Illinois, where she made her first record for the Abet label called, "I Ain't Gonna Tell" and "Love Built on a Strong Foundation".

[5][8] Her signing to Arista Records in 1977 resulted in the album Shirley Brown, produced by the former Stax owner Jim Stewart and writer-producer Bettye Crutcher, who provided most of the songs.

[10] She remains a popular live performer, mainly in southern states of the US, without having found the recording success of her earlier years.