Lula Marietta McClelland was born in Mingo Junction, Jefferson County, Ohio on 21 March 1926.
Her family moved to Port Clinton, Ohio, where she sang in her local church choir before winning an audition over 50 other contestants in Toledo to become the vocalist with Sonny Thompson’s band.
She made her recording debut for King Records in Cincinnati in 1951 with I’ll Drown in My Tears which reached #5 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1952. The song was later recorded by Ray Charles as Drown in My Own Tears with wider commercial success.
