She added theatrical credits to her repertoire: she understudied Leslie Uggams for the Broadway show "Hallelujah Baby" in 1967, and appeared with the Equity Theatre in a production of "Lost in the Stars". In 1969, her old friends back home in Detroit, Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Edward Holland, Jr., persuaded her to sign with their newly formed record label Invictus. During that same year, her first Invictus single, "Unhooked Generation" (a minor R&B hit), was released. Shortly thereafter, Eddie Holland offered her a song entitled "Band of Gold", which he along with Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier co-wrote (under the pen name Edythe Wayne) with Ronald Dunbar. In early 1970, the song became an instant pop smash reaching #3 in the US and #1 in the UK for six consecutive weeks; it also gave Payne her first gold record. Global sales were estimated at two million. An album of the same name proved to be fairly successful as well. Other Invictus singles included "Deeper and Deeper", which reached # US24 and UK #33 at the end of 1970;"You Brought the Joy", and the Vietnam War protest song "Bring the Boys Home" (U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100 #12, 1971), her second gold record. Her other Invictus albums were "Contact" (1971), "The Best of Freda Payne" (1972, a compilation which included four new, unissued songs), and her last Invictus album "Reaching Out" (1973).