Ruth Brown was an American singer-songwriter and actress also known as the "Miss Rhythm" or the "Queen of R&B."[1][2] She was an incredibly prolific artist throughout the 1950's.[2] She wrote and performed a number of hit songs for Atlantic Records including, "So Long" and "Teardrops from My Eyes".[1][3] She contributed so much to the standing of her label that Atlantic Records became known as "The house that Ruth built".[4] This was a play on the nickname for Old Yankee Stadium, referencing Babe Ruth.[4]
Despite her success, Atlantic Records treated Ruth (and many other black artists) poorly.[5] They made her pay for her own tour costs and the costs of recording her songs.[6][5] As such, when Ruth left Atlantic, she did not have much savings to fall back on.[6][5]
Eventually, Ruth once again found success, this time in the world of musicals. In 1976, she performed in Selma, a musical tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement.[5][6] After that performance, her career took off once more. She appeared in Hairspray as Motormouth Maybelle and gave a Tony-award winning performance in Black And Blue.[6][7] In 1990, she won a Grammy for her album Blues on Broadway.[7]
In 1992, Ruth was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame.[8] This was followed the next year, 1993, with an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[9]
Throughout her career, Ruth continued to champion the rights of artists.[1][2] In 1988, she founded The Rhythm and Blues Foundation, a nonprofit designed to give aid to artists in need.[10] It was founded using the money from Ruth's settlement of her lawsuit with Atlantic Records.[5]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 https://www.wijsf.com/jazzwomen/ruthbrown.htm
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 https://www.kut.org/post/queen-rhythm-and-blues-ruth-brown
- ↑ http://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/rbrown.htm
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://www.goldminemag.com/articles/meet-the-ruth-who-swung-into-history-as-atlantic-records-first-mvp
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 https://www.wmky.org/post/ruth-brown
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 https://www.npr.org/2017/10/23/559070707/forebears-ruth-brown-the-fabulous-miss-rhythm
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 https://www.playbill.com/article/ruth-brown-tony-winner-for-black-and-blue-is-dead-at-78-com-136512
- ↑ http://www.okjazz.org/index.cfm?id=5
- ↑ https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/ruth-brown
- ↑ https://www.rhythmandbluesfoundation.org/new-page