[3] Her father was of mixed race and married a Memphis musician who was nearly 20 years his junior; the couple had three sons and one daughter.
She needed a stage name, and several options came up including the name Wendy Storm, suggested by Stax receptionist-turned PR head Deanie Parker.
[3] Her second solo single, "Bar-B-Q", was released in November 1964, to cash in on the popularity of dance craze records.
[5] In December of that year, she was scheduled to fly with Redding and the Bar-Kays for what would have been her final live performance for the foreseeable future.
[4] Several of her songs have been used in films (Gegen die Wand, The Fighting Temptations, Lucky Number Slevin, The Wackness, Felix and Meira, The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun) and sampled/redone by current artists such as Wu-Tang Clan (in "Tearz"), Metro Boomin, Ariana Grande, Alicia Keys and Lykke Li.
Rene's single "Bar-B-Q" was used in an episode of MTV's animated series Daria during its original airing, as well as a 2013 advertisement for Chili's Restaurant.