[3] In 1954, Gunter and Taylor worked up a nonsense song, "Oop Shoop", and the group quickly recorded it with saxophonist and arranger Maxwell Davis.

Credited to Shirley Gunter and the Queens, it immediately became a regional hit, and rose to number 8 on the national Billboard R&B chart after being promoted by leading DJ Alan Freed.

[6][7] Also in 1958, Shirley Gunter – who had been registered as legally blind by 1954,[1] and later lost her sight completely – left the music business to marry and raise a family.

[8] Shirley Gunter later lived in Las Vegas, and continued to sing at her local church.

In 1990, she made a rare appearance with Blondene Taylor, and the Flairs, at a Doo-Wop Society show.