Varetta Mamie Dillard (February 3, 1933 – October 4, 1993)[1] was an American rhythm and blues singer in the 1950s whose biggest hit was "Mercy, Mr. Percy".

She met Carl Feaster of doo-wop group The Chords, who encouraged her to enter talent contests as a singer, and in 1951 she won two consecutive competitions at the Apollo Theater.

[1] Although her early singles were commercially unsuccessful, she was invited by Alan Freed to perform at what later became recognised as the first major rock and roll concert: the Moondog Coronation Ball held in Cleveland, Ohio on March 21, 1952.

Because of concerns over crowd safety, the concert was shut down by the authorities after the first song by Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams, and Dillard did not perform in the event.

[4][5] She then toured with Oran "Hot Lips" Page and The Five Keys before the record company paired her with singer H-Bomb Ferguson for a series of duets.