Born into a family of gospel singers, Arnold married early and had two children. She had a series of menial jobs until the early 1960s, when Maxine Smith, an ex-girlfriend of her brother contacted her with an offer. Maxine and her friend Gloria Scott had managed to arrange an audition for three girls to replace the original Ikettes, the dancer/singer troupe that provided vocal and dance accompaniment for the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Initially, Smith and Scott were stood up by a third girl, and they were desperate for another vocalist to make up the trio, Smith contacted Arnold, whom she knew to be a singer.