Marcella Detroit

Marcella Levy (born June 21, 1952), known professionally as Marcy Levy and (later in her career) Marcella Detroit, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist.

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.

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.

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 the 1977 Eric Clapton hit "Lay Down Sally" and released her debut studio album Marcella in 1982.

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.

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.

She wrote and provided backing vocals for "Tangled in Love" with Richard Feldman, which appeared on Eric Clapton's 1985 studio album Behind the Sun.

Following this, she was asked by Clapton to start to work with him again, and after another year of touring with him, she once more left to pursue her own solo career.

Detroit (credited as Marcy Levy) released an LP together with Diane Reeves in 1985, titled Ballerina, where she performs three songs, "Ballerina", "Pretty Polly" and "Always a Woman in Love".

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.

She joined Shakespears Sister in 1988 with ex-Bananarama member Siobhan Fahey.

Detroit was featured in 1988 on the official soundtrack of Mac and Me, on the song "You Knew What You Were Doing".

Detroit met Bananarama member Siobhan Fahey through a friend in common and songwriting partner Richard Feldman.

At the time, Fahey had been contemplating leaving the band for her solo brainchild project Shakespears Sister.

Feldman had invited Detroit as a songwriting aid.

During this period, Fahey suggested to Detroit that she change her name to "give me a sort of new lease of life and to get me disassociated with my background vocal past/entity".

Detroit continued to work as a "hired hand" until Fahey's husband Dave Stewart of Eurythmics suggest the two form a band, which was backed by Feldman, Fahey's management and her record company, London Records.

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.

Two further singles were released from Sacred Heart, "Run Silent" and "Dirty Mind", both of which failed to peak within the UK top 50.

Their first two studio albums, Sacred Heart (1989), and Hormonally Yours (1992), both reached the top 10 of the UK Albums Chart.

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.

Detroit sang the lead vocals on their biggest hit, "Stay", which spent eight consecutive weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart in 1992.

Detroit left the band in 1993 and had a UK top 20 hit with "I Believe" in 1994.

She formed the Marcy Levy Band in 2002, and finished third in the 2010 ITV series Popstar to Operastar.