Pearly Gates, was born in Alabama in 1946. She joined The Flirtations in 1964 and moved with the group to London, England in 1968 where their music was popular. Pearly left the group in 1973 and released her first single "Sad Old Shadow", written by Lynsey De Paul and Don Gould on Polydor Records under the name Vie. She did not adapt her artist name Pearly Gates before her second single "Johnny and the Jukebox" in 1974. She remained a popular artist on TV, being a regular performer on the Cliff Richard show as well as featuring in all eight episodes of the TV variety show, Hi Summer. Pearly continues to sing and record as a solo artist and with the Flirtations.