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.