Donna Hightower was born in
Caruthersville, Missouri, to a family of
sharecroppers. She listened to singers such as
Ella Fitzgerald, but never planned to have a singing career and by the age of 23 had been married, had two children, and divorced. While working in a diner in
Chicago, Hightower was heard singing by Bob Tillman, a reporter with the
Chicago Defender newspaper, who then won her a booking as a singer at the Strand Hotel. Initially billed as
Little Donna Hightower, she won a recording contract with
Decca Records and recorded her first single, "I Ain't In The Mood", in 1951. During the mid-1950s, Hightower recorded R&B songs for
RPM Records, often accompanied by the
Maxwell Davis Orchestra, as on her 1955 version of "Hands Off". She toured widely in the US, with
Louis Jordan,
B.B. King,
Johnny Mathis,
Della Reese and others. While none of her records made the pop or R&B charts, she received good reviews, and her discs did perform well in Decca Record's own sales guides, with her "I Ain't In The Mood" ranking at No. 1 on their Sepia (
race) charts. By 1958, Hightower's career had slowed down, and she began working for a
music publishing firm in
New York City, recording
demonstration records of new songs. Her version of "Light of Love" — later recorded by
Peggy Lee — was heard by record producer
Dave Cavanaugh, and as a result of his interest she was signed to Capitol Records. Hightower recorded two albums for Capitol, including
Take One! and ''Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You?'', both released in 1959. While noted for her "range and power, [she] was equally compelling doing sentimental, soft ballads." ==Move to Europe==