For other people named Ruth Brown, see Ruth Brown (disambiguation).
Ruth Brown
Brown in 1955
Background information
Birth name
Ruth Alston Weston
Born
(1928-01-12)January 12, 1928[1] Portsmouth, Virginia, U.S.
Died
November 17, 2006(2006-11-17) (aged 78) Henderson, Nevada, U.S.
Genres
R&B
soul
jazz
blues
doo-wop
gospel
funk
Occupation(s)
Actress
singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)
Vocals
piano
keyboards
Years active
1949–2006
Labels
Atlantic
Philips
Fantasy
Musical artist
Ruth Alston Brown (née Weston; January 12, 1928[2][3][4] – November 17, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and actress, sometimes referred to as the "Queen of R&B". She was noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean".[5] For these contributions, Atlantic became known as "the house that Ruth built"[6][7] (alluding to the popular nickname for the old Yankee Stadium).[8] Brown was a 1993 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Following a resurgence that began in the mid-1970s and peaked in the 1980s, Brown used her influence to press for musicians' rights regarding royalties and contracts; these efforts led to the founding of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.[9] Her performances in the Broadway musical Black and Blue earned Brown a Tony Award, and the original cast recording won a Grammy Award.[10][11] Brown was a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.[12] In 2017, Brown was inducted into National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.[13] In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Brown at number 146 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.[14]
Brown is the aunt of rapper Rakim.
^Obituary. The New York Times, November 18, 2006. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
^Dates of birth and death. Death-records.mooseroots.com. Accessed January 29, 2016.
^Profile with dates of birth and death Archived August 22, 2017, at the Wayback Machine. Biography.com. Accessed January 29, 2016.
^Obituary. Washingtonpost.com. Accessed January 29, 2016.
^Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books. p. 96. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
^Dahl, Bill. "Ruth Brown: Music Biography, Credits and Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
^Gulla, Bob (2008). Icons of R&B and Soul. ABC-CLIO. p. 76. ISBN 9780313340451. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
^Miller, Michael (July 1, 2008). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music History: From Pre-Historic Africa to Classical Europe to American Popular Music. Penguin. ISBN 9781440636370. Retrieved July 22, 2021 – via Google Books.
^Heatley, Michael (2007). The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock. London: Star Fire. ISBN 978-1-84451-996-5.
^"Tony Winner and R&B; Pioneer Ruth Brown Dies at Age 78". Broadway.com. November 20, 2006.
^"Ruth Brown". Recording Academy Grammy Awards.
^Mcphate, Tim (May 15, 2017). "Special Merit Awards to honor 2016 class". Recording Academy Grammy Awards.
^"Inductees". National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
^"The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time". Rolling Stone. January 1, 2023. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
Ruth Alston Brown (née Weston; January 12, 1928 – November 17, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and actress, sometimes referred to as the "Queen...
May Ruth Snyder (née Brown; March 27, 1895 – January 12, 1928) was an American murderer. Her execution in the electric chair at New York's Sing Sing Prison...
transformation into rock & roll" include Etta James, Fats Domino, Roy Brown, Little Richard and RuthBrown. The "doo wop" groups were also noteworthy, including the...
RuthBrown Kahn (June 21, 1902 - April 9, 1987) was an American civic leader in Dallas, Texas. Kahn co-founded the Dallas Jewish Archives, which later...
Gillian RuthBrown is a British psychologist and reader in Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of St Andrews. She is known for her research on...
and soul by Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, RuthBrown and Otis Redding. Its position was greatly improved by its distribution...
George Herman "Babe" Ruth (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB)...
Ruth Simmons (born Ruth Jean Stubblefield, July 3, 1945) is an American professor and academic administrator. Simmons served as the eighth president of...
Mother's Love" – Earl King (1954) "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean" – RuthBrown (1953) "Let Old Mother Nature Have Her Way" – Carl Smith (1951) "Mother...
on board as partners. Hit artists that recorded on Atlantic included RuthBrown, Big Joe Turner, The Clovers, The Drifters, The Coasters and Ray Charles...
played a role in the LGBT comedy-drama, She Hate Me, and appeared as RuthBrown in biographical film Ray. Her breakthrough was in the 2005 independent...
owner. Marla Gibbs as Florence Johnston Larry Linville as Lyle Block RuthBrown as Betty Patrick Collins as Earl Bellamy Robert Costanzo as Hank Sabatino...
McPhatter recorded his first solo hit, "Love Has Joined Us Together", with RuthBrown. He released several R&B recordings in the next few years, including "Rock...
of the over 800 songs she published, including Big Maybelle, James Brown, RuthBrown, Nat King Cole, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, and Ike & Tina Turner...
Late Date with RuthBrown is an album by vocalist RuthBrown featuring tracks recorded in 1959 and released on the Atlantic label. Allmusic awarded the...
Allen 1958 United Nations, Toshiko Akiyoshi 1959 Late Date with RuthBrown, RuthBrown 1959 More Charlie Barnet, Charlie Barnet 1959 New York, N.Y., George...
taboo, and had one son, Drew Brown III (born January 20, 1955, in Harlem). According to the autobiography of singer RuthBrown (no relation), he was also...
Brown may refer to: Gillian Brown (diplomat) (1923–1999), British diplomat Gillian Brown (linguist) (born 1937), British linguist Gillian RuthBrown,...
Ruth Katrin Gemmell (born October 1967) is an English actress. She starred in the film Fever Pitch in 1997 which was followed by supporting roles in television...
Global Information