Born as Patricia Marion Johnson in London, England in 1934,[1][2] she studied voice there with Maria Linkers.[2] She first worked as a choir member at the Royal Opera House. From 1954, she was a soloist at the Sadler's Wells Opera, where she appeared in the title role of Bizet's Carmen, as Dalila in Samson et Dalila by Camille Saint-Saëns, and as Azucena in Verdi's Il trovatore).