She was born as Doris Elaine Higginsen, She later took her grandmother's name and grew up as
Doris Payne. Her parents disapproved of "subversive" forms of music like rhythm & blues, so she cut her teeth singing in her father's
choir. At age 16, she was working as an
usherette at the
Apollo where she was discovered by
James Brown. Under the name Doris Payne, she began songwriting and earned $100 in 1960 for the
Dee Clark hit "
How About That". She was also part of the original lineup of
The Sweet Inspirations in 1963, with
Cissy Houston and the two Warwicks, who were Houston's nieces. Taking her stage name from
Helen of Troy, before she
co-wrote and
recorded "
Just One Look" (the songwriting credits use the name Doris Payne). This song hit No. 10 on the US
Billboard Hot 100 in 1963. "Just One Look" was the only charting US hit for Troy. The song was recorded in 10 minutes in October 1962, with producer Buddy Lucas, as a demo for Atlantic Records. However, after Atlantic Records heard the demo, they decided not to re-record it, instead releasing it unchanged. In 1968, her single "I'll Do Anything" was released in the UK on the
Toast label. It was reviewed by
Bob "The Bear" Hite of
Canned Heat in the "Blind Date" section of
Melody Maker. Hite said that he wasn't a fan of records with big symphony backings. After moving to London in 1969, she was signed by
The Beatles to their
Apple Records label,
Pink Floyd's
The Dark Side of the Moon, In addition, she also sang for
Humble Pie,
Kevin Ayers,
Edgar Broughton,
Mama, I Want to Sing! was also made into a motion picture, starring
Ciara,
Patti LaBelle, and
Hill Harper, which was released on DVD in 2012. Troy died from
emphysema at her home in
Las Vegas, Nevada, aged 67. ==Discography==