Disco artist Viola Wills worked as a backup vocalist for Barry White, Joe
Cocker, and Smokey Robinson before releasing multiple dance hits during the
late-'70s and early-'80s. Born in Los Angeles on December 30, 1939, she recorded
her solo debut album, Soft Centers, while working with Cocker in 1974. Her disco
cover of Patience and Prudence's "Gonna Get Along Without Ya Now" became an
international hint 1979, cracking the Top 10 in New Zealand, the Netherlands,
Belgium, and the UK. It also helped jumpstart her popularity on the U.S. dance
chart, where her follow-up single — a cov...