Ruth Brown was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, Brown was the eldest of seven siblings. She attended I. C. Norcom High School. Brown’s father was a dockhand. He also directed the local church choir at Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, but the young Ruth showed more interest in singing at USO shows and nightclubs, rebelling against her father. She was inspired by Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, and Dinah Washington.
In 1945, at the age of 17, Brown ran away from her home in Portsmouth along with the trumpeter Jimmy Brown, whom she soon married, to sing in bars and clubs. She then spent a month with Lucky Millinder’s orchestra.
What is Ruth Brown known for?
Ruth Brown is known to be an American singer and actress, who earned the sobriquet “Miss Rhythm” while dominating the rhythm-and-blues charts throughout the 1950s. She is originally called Ruth Alston Weston, and was born on January 12, 1928, in Portsmouth, Va., U.S., and passed away on November 17, 2006, in Las Vegas, Nev. Her success helped establish Atlantic Records (“The House That Ruth Built”) as the era’s premier rhythm-and-blues label.
Source: Ghanafuo.com
