Happy 84th Birthday to Ruth Brown

 

"Ain't Nobody's Business", Ruth Brown w/ B.B. King, 1993 

Born Ruth Alston Weston, aka Ruth Brown (January 12, 1928 – November 17, 2006), was born in Portsmouth, Virginia. Her 1950's R&B hits on Atlantic Records, like "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and (Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean" gave Atlantic the reputation of being "the house that Ruth built". Ruth was also an activist within the music industry. When her career went through a revitalization in the '70's & 80's, she used her influence to press for musicians' rights regarding royalties and and contracts. This led to the forming of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.  Inspired by Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington, she had 16 Top 10 hits, including five at #1 from 1949-1955. Her performances in the Broadway musical, Black and Blue, earned her a Tony Award for Best Female Star of a Musical, and a Grammy Award as Best Female Jazz Artist for her album, Blues on Broadway. In 1993, she was inducted into the Rock & Roll HOF. We lost Ruth to heart failure in 2006. RIP, Ruth.