Loleatta Holloway was born in Chicago in 1946 and started singing early with the help of her mother. As part of the gospel group Holloway Community Singers, Holloway and her mother developed the young girl's throaty, full-bodied voice early on. She started taking acting and dancing classes and joined the classic gospel group the Caravans with Albertina Walker, who recorded a few records with Savoy. Later, she joined the musical Don't Bother Me I Can't Cope, which followed a meeting with future producer, manager and husband Floyd Smith. Smith helped sign Holloway to the new Aware label, which had just been started by businessman and founder of General Recording Corporation (GRC), Michael Thevis. With Aware she released Loleatta in 1973.

When GRC went out of business she signed with Norman Harris' Salsoul-distributed label, Gold Mind Records. With the help of Harris, Holloway began creating hip-hop beats that were great for dance clubs, while at the same time making easy tempo ballads. When Gold Mind folded, she was transferred to Salsoul. She premiered her LP Queen of the Night in 1978 with the hits "Catch Me on the Rebound," "Mamma Don't Papa Won't," and "I May Not Be There When You Want Me." The album also had her most popular and best selling single, "Only You," a ballad with Bunny Sigler.

She continued to release more disco heavy albums into the next few years and had huge followings in Europe and Japan. When her husband died and her record label folded yet again, she continued to work, with singles like "Crash Goes Love." She still lives in Chicago and occasionally tours.