You began singing at the remarkably young age of three.

Yes, I asked my mother if I could sing a solo in church and her first question was, ‘Do you know a solo?’ She would leave me on my own a lot – she ran the Sunday school at the local church, the AOH Church Of God. She was the church pianist, church secretary, church cook, church janitor. She did everything in that church but preach, so she had no idea I was going around the neighbourhood singing and dancing and keeping them entertained while she was out of the house. Some of the neighbours would give me money to entertain their guests. I had a whole repertoire, by three I was a little star! So for that first solo in church, I wasn’t nervous or scared. I sang Journey To The Sky and loved it.

Was singing your first love because you graduated from college as a cosmetologist?

I had really wanted to go to executive business school but people had always told me I had a special touch where hair was concerned, they liked me touching their hair, combing it and grooming it and so I naturally drifted into doing that. All the time I was singing though.

You honed your singing craft in the Christianaires, who were tutored by James Cleveland.

I met Kerry Jones, she was the first soprano in the Christianaires, a local gospel group and she recruited me to sing and play piano. I was only 18 at the time. We sung all over the Detroit area, at the New Bethel Baptist Church, which was Aretha Franklin’s father’s church, at King Solomon’s, at the Prayer Tabernacle Church, which was James Cleveland’s church. James was initially playing at New Bethel when we started out but then he moved to the Tabernacle. Our manager Thomas Wright got James to tutor us and he taught us the gospel standards.