She was born in Durham, North Carolina and grew up in Homestead, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. Her father worked in a steel mill.
She attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, and worked as a runway and magazine model, while writing songs in her spare time.
Funk rock artist with a bold, sexy persona.
Wrote the Chambers Brothers song "Uptown (to Harlem)".
Most of her musical catalog was recorded between 1964 and 1975.
Appeared on the cover of the Mile Davis' "Filles de Kilimanjaro".
The recordings Betty made with Miles Davis' band during their marriage were shelved.
Was the inspiration behind Miles Davis' "Mademoiselle Mabry".
At the age of 16 she enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Began her career as a model appearing in photo spreads in Seventeen, Ebony and Glamour.
First began making music under her birth name Betty Mabry, including her 1964 single "Get Ready for Betty".
She released her self-titled debut album in 1973 for Woodstock promoter Michael Lang's Just Sunshine Records, she recruited Sly and the Family Stone producer Greg Errico and an outfit of West Coast musical greats like Larry Graham and Merl Saunders. Two more albums quickly followed: 1974's They Say I'm Different and 1975's Nasty Gal.