1970–1987: Early career and Marcella Detroit-born Marcy Levy began playing for different bands in her home city during the early 1970s. The first major act she worked with was
Bob Seger who signed her band "Julia" up to tour with him. She sang backing vocals on his studio album ''
Back in '72'' (1973), which was recorded at
Leon Russell's Grand Lake studio. Detroit was then asked by Russell to join him on tour, which she later did. After moving to
Tulsa, Oklahoma to further pursue her musical career, she and her then-current band were hired by
Eric Clapton for touring. She sang backing and group vocals on Clapton's studio album ''
There's One in Every Crowd'' (1975), and toured and recorded with him for the next four years. While working with Clapton, she sang backing vocals on some of his most enduring songs, including "
Lay Down Sally" (which she co-wrote), "
Promises", and "
Wonderful Tonight". She co-wrote and sang lead vocals on "Roll It" on Clapton's studio album
Backless (1978) and dueted with Clapton on "
The Core", which she also co-wrote with Clapton. During this period, she began working on her debut solo studio album with producer
David Foster in the mid-late 1970s signed to
RSO Records. For unknown reasons however, the album was shelved and remained unfinished. Marcy later stopped working with Clapton to focus more on her own solo career, but rejoined him when they performed at
Live Aid where she added backing vocals. Whilst working on her debut studio album, she was singing and songwriting for numerous artists including
Aretha Franklin,
Burt Bacharach,
Carole Bayer Sager,
Stanley Clarke,
Chaka Khan,
Belinda Carlisle, and
Al Jarreau. Marcy duetted with
Alice Cooper on his 1978 studio album
From the Inside (producer David Foster) on the song "Millie and Billie". She provided backing vocals on the 1980 hit "
Lookin' for Love" (#5 Pop and #1 Country) by
Johnny Lee. Also in 1980, she sang a duet with
Robin Gibb, "
Help Me!", which was featured on the
official soundtrack of the film
Times Square. The song was released as a single, and reached number 50 on the US
Billboard Hot 100. She also sang a duet on
Jimmy Ruffin's studio album
Sunrise; "Where Do I Go", and in 1981 was featured on the
official soundtrack of
American Pop on "
Somebody to Love". During this period, Detroit was signed to
Epic Records and released her debut studio album,
Marcella in 1982. The album failed to appear on any major charts, and after the commercial failure of the album, Epic Records refused Detroit tour allowance with
John Mellencamp, and she was later dropped by the label. Also credited as Marcy Levy, she sang a duet with
Max Carl, "Come and Follow Me" for the movie
Short Circuit 1 in 1986; however, no movie soundtrack album was ever released. Detroit was featured in 1988 on the official soundtrack of
Mac and Me, on the song "You Knew What You Were Doing". Detroit officially became a member of the band after the release of the first Shakespears Sister single, "
Break My Heart (You Really) /
Heroine". Their second single "
You're History" reached the top 10 in the UK, as did their debut studio album
Sacred Heart, which was certified Gold by the
BPI. In late 1991, Shakespears Sister released the first single from their second studio album
Hormonally Yours, "
Goodbye Cruel World", which was also a commercial failure, failing to peak within the UK top 50. The second single however, "
Stay", marked Shakespears Sister's first and only number one, staying at the top of the UK charts for eight consecutive weeks, and also found similar success in international charts. The duo continued to enjoy success with further singles from
Hormonally Yours; "
I Don't Care" peaked at number seven, "
Hello (Turn Your Radio On)" at number 14, and a re-release of "Goodbye Cruel World" at number 32. During this period, however, tensions began to arise between the two. A concert at the
Royal Albert Hall was cancelled due to Fahey's own personal issues at the time, and the two decided to put Shakespears Sister on hiatus for Detroit to release her new solo studio album, which she had been working on at the time, and also for Fahey to "take that time off to be with her family." During this period, "
My 16th Apology", the fifth and final single from
Hormonally Yours, was released; given that neither member was able to promote it, it was a commercial failure, reaching number 63 on the UK charts. Detroit found out that Fahey had ended her partnership with her at the 1993
Ivor Novello Awards ceremony through Fahey's publisher when
Hormonally Yours won "Best Contemporary Collection of Songs". Detroit and Fahey did not speak to or see each other for 25 years,
1994–2001: Jewel, Feeler, and Dancing Madly Sideways After leaving Shakespears Sister in 1993, Detroit began her own solo career also with London Records. Her second studio album, and her first since leaving the duo,
Jewel was released in March 1994 preceded by "
I Believe", which reached number 11 in the UK. The album itself reached number 15 and was certified silver by the BPI. Three more singles followed; "
Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" (a duet with
Elton John), "
I'm No Angel", and "
Perfect World", which peaked at number 24, 33, and 134 respectively. The album did not chart in the UK, or any other territories except Japan, where under
Sony Records it peaked at number 82. Four singles were released, "
I Hate You Now...", "Somebody's Mother", "
Boy", and "Flower". "I Hate You Now..." and "Boy" peaked at number 107, and 102 respectively. Over the course of the two episodes, five original songs by Detroit feature in numerous scenes, which were later released in 1999 on
Abfab Songs. The same year, Detroit released
Demoz, a double-CD collection of demos. Her fourth solo album,
Dancing Madly Sideways was released in July 2001 under Detroit's own independent label Banned Records, which would later be retitled Lofi Records. The album was preceded by one single, "Lust for Like", and a three-track sampler EP,
Limited Edition. Detroit described the project as "getting back to my roots, the stuff that inspired me in the first place. So I decided to contact all my blues friends and do a record." Their debut EP
Button Fly Blues received a limited release under Handmade Records, Detroit and the band's only release with the label. and began songwriting for artists including
Charlotte Church and
Alex Parks, among others. The Marcy Levy Band released their debut studio album
The Upside of Being Down in July 2006 under Detroit's independent label Lofi Records. In April 2007, she featured on Loverush U.K.'s single "Mystery to Me". In 2008, she also featured on "My Friend Misery" by
Vacuum.
2009–2018: Popstar to Operastar, The Vehicle, and Gray Matterz In 2009, the Marcy Levy Band split. In the same year, Detroit featured on two tracks, "Fantasy" and "Paint You a Picture", of the album
Rising from the Bushes, by Alex Dixon (grandson of
Willie Dixon). , Detroit had been working on two separate solo studio albums; ''Skin I'm In
, produced by Larry Klein, and The Vehicle
, a more personal project, and is to coincide with the release of her autobiography of the same name. In January 2010 Detroit participated in Series 1 of the British ITV1 celebrity reality television show Popstar to Operastar. She finished as a joint semi-finalist alongside Kym Marsh in week 5 of the competition. When the voting statistics were released it was revealed that she had more votes than Marsh; therefore she came third overall. She was also only three percent behind Darius Campbell Danesh, who went on to become the winner of the season. In 2010, she released a single titled "All is Forgiven", based on the Irish Prayer, which has since been removed from the iTunes Store. In November 2011, Detroit released her first Christmas EP Happy Holiday'', consisting of classic covers and an original song of the same name. In May 2012, Detroit released her first single in two years; "Madison's Light" as a tribute to her niece, who died at the age of five months. Detroit was featured on the song "Yell Cut" among numerous artists including
Anthony Costa, originally written by aspiring singer Natasha Anastasi, who was killed in a car accident in 2005. The song was recorded for and included on Anastasi's tribute album
Natasha, released in June 2012 consisting of songs performed by Anastasi and other artists. In August 2012, Detroit announced
James Gadson would be featuring on her "new album" (which one hasn't been specified) and would be performing on her tour with her, which opened on September 20, 2012 in
Largo, Florida. A supporting tour backed by London session organisation The AllStars Collective, the Vehicle Jump Start Tour, opened on April 28, 2013 in
Milton Keynes, United Kingdom.
2019–present: Shakespears Sister reunion In May 2019, it was announced that Detroit would reunite with Fahey as Shakespears Sister on stage later in the year. A UK tour, titled Shakespears Sister Ride Again, was announced during the same month, and was launched in Nottingham on 31 October 2019, before playing 13 other gigs across the UK during the following month. A new single by the band, "All the Queen's Horses", was released on 15 May, with an accompanying music video. This was followed by the compilation album,
Singles Party, in July 2019. The duo performed "Stay" on
The Graham Norton Show on 10 May 2019; this was their first TV performance together since 1993. They also announced that they were recording an EP of new material; this turned out to be the
Ride Again mini-album, which charted at number 69 in the UK Albums chart in November 2019. In 2021, Detroit appeared on a cover version of
Robbie Williams' "
Angels", recorded for charity with
Tony Hadley of
Spandau Ballet,
Jools Holland,
Clem Burke of
Blondie and
Glen Matlock of the
Sex Pistols. In June 2021, she talked about her time working with Eric Clapton and Alice Cooper on an episode of
Sounds of the 70s with Johnnie Walker on
BBC Radio 2. In 2026, Detroit appeared as Gargoyle on ITV's "The Masked Singer" in which she got eliminated in the fourth episode. ==Songwriting career==