Ruth Brown

Born Ruth Alston Weston in Portsmouth, Virginia, she attended I. C. Norcom High School. Her father directed a church choir, but Brown was drawn to secular music, performing in clubs and USO shows. Influenced by singers such as Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, and Dinah Washington, she left home in 1945 with musician Jimmy Brown, whom she later married, to pursue a singing career.

After early setbacks, including being stranded in Washington, D.C., she was helped by bandleader Blanche Calloway, who secured her a nightclub engagement and became her manager. A recommendation from radio host Willis Conover brought her to the attention of Atlantic Records founders Ahmet Ertegün and Herb Abramson. Following recovery from a serious car accident, she signed with the label and scored her first hit in 1949 with “So Long.”

Her 1950 recording “Teardrops from My Eyes” became a major success, spending eleven weeks at number one on the R&B charts and establishing her as a leading artist in the genre. Throughout the early 1950s she released a string of hits, including “5-10-15 Hours,” “(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean,” “Mambo Baby,” and “Oh What a Dream.” Between 1949 and 1955 she spent 149 weeks on the R&B charts, achieving sixteen top-ten hits, five of which reached number one, earning Atlantic Records the nickname “The House that Ruth Built.”

Brown’s career slowed in the 1960s as she stepped away from music, but she returned in the mid-1970s at the encouragement of comedian Redd Foxx. She then expanded into acting, appearing in television and film, including the movie “Hairspray,” and on Broadway in productions such as “Amen Corner” and “Black and Blue.” Her performance in the latter earned her a Tony Award, and she also won a Grammy Award for the album “Blues on Broadway.”

In 1987, Brown played a key role in advocating for musicians’ rights, helping to found the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. She was honored as a Pioneer Award recipient in 1989 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. Her 1995 autobiography, “Miss Rhythm,” received the Gleason Award for music journalism.

Ruth Brown died in a Las Vegas–area hospital, following complications from a heart attack and stroke she suffered after surgery in the previous month. She remains an influential figure in the history of rhythm and blues music.