Sherrill was born in
Bayonne, New Jersey, on August 20, 1924. Her first ambition was to become a writer: She had a sister, Alice. "I never really left the band. I did recordings and special occasions. Duke would call me for jobs once a year at least," Sherrill told
John S. Wilson in 1979. From 1970, Sherrill hosted a children's television show,
Time for Joya, later called ''
Joya's Fun School''. This was recorded for a few years, but was rerun until 1982. In the mid-1970s, she accompanied her husband when he went to Iran for his work. There, she had her own television program, which was broadcast live. She returned to singing in New York near the end of that decade. Her husband died in 1989; they had a son and a daughter. Sherrill died from leukemia at home in
Great Neck, New York, on June 28, 2010. ==Discography==