Future Motown stars such as David and Jimmy Ruffin would hang out at her Carter residence, and Johnnie Mae recalled that "Diana Ross would come over to my house - she was liking Richard Street."

She also mentioned her brush with Motown's first major female star. "Mary Wells was 14 years old when she came to me. She came with about four lines of "Bye, Bye Baby" and asked me if I would finish it up for her, and I finished it up for her - I wrote that record. I never got any credit for that!"

Detroit's famed Funk Brothers played on many of her sessions, starting from when Joe Hunter's band backed her on her Brax recording back in '58. Johnnie Mae claimed that she bought legendary bassist James Jamerson his very first Fender bass and said he'd always acknowledge her whenever she entered a Detroit nightclub where he was gigging. "He'd stop the whole show when I walked in. He'd say. Here's the lady - just walked in - that the first time I walked into a studio - that's who took me in."