On This Day in 2004, the World Lost an Iconic Singer Discovered by James Brown, Named After a Demigoddess, and Featured on Countless Classic Rock Tracks

If you’re going to give yourself a stage name after the demigoddess Helen of Troy, then you ought to be ready to lead a legendary life that mirrors your esteemed namesake. Doris Troy certainly did just that. From her early years cutting her teeth in her Barbadian Pentecostal minister father’s church choir to recording backing vocals for some of the most iconic classic rock albums of all time, Troy’s career was extraordinary.

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The Bronx native got a job as an usherette at the Apollo in Harlem when she was just sixteen. This job is where soul singer James Brown would “discover” Troy. This led to her first recording gigs as a backup vocalist for Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick. Born Doris Payne, the singer adopted a new stage name based on the demigoddess Helen of Troy, daughter of Zeus. Troy became a founding member of The Sweet Inspirations in 1963, the same year she released her only charting single, “Just One Look”.

Although Troy’s solo career never picked up significant steam, she stayed consistently busy with recording work. By the late 1960s, Troy moved to London, where she would forge a professional relationship with The Beatles and land gigs singing backup on some of the most ubiquitous classic rock albums of all time.

Classic Rock Fans Have Heard Doris Troy Sing Countless Times

All fans of late 1960s and early 70s rock and pop have likely heard Doris Troy sing countless times, even if they didn’t know it at the time. After signing with The Beatles’ Apple Records label, Troy continued putting out solo work and singing as a backup vocalist. The latter category includes vocals on The Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”, Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain”, throughout Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon (though, not to be confused with Clare Torry, the principal vocalist on “Great Gig In The Sky”), and Billy Preston’s That’s the Way God Planned It.

Troy moved back to the States in the mid-1970s. She worked in various nightclubs and casinos in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Her younger sister, Vy Higgensen, co-wrote a musical based on Troy’s life. Mama, I Want To Sing was a smash. Troy played the role of her mother, Geraldine, from 1984 to 1998, touring the show across the United States and in London and Japan. From the 2000s on, Troy lived a much quieter life, with most of her musical earnings coming from residual royalties from “Just One Look”. She would later say that income was an answered prayer about her one hit.

Troy’s marvelous, star-studded journey came to an end on February 16, 2004. Her brother-in-law, Ken Wydro (who co-wrote Mama, I Want to Sing with Higgensen), confirmed that Troy’s cause of death was emphysema. She was 67 years old.

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