19 Facts About Ruby Wilson

Ruby Wilson was an American blues and gospel singer.

Ruby Wilson was known as "The Queen of Beale Street" as she sang in clubs on Beale Street, Memphis, Tennessee, for over 40 years.

Ruby Wilson had a successful touring and recording career, and appeared in a number of films.

Ruby Wilson's mother was a maid, her father was self-employed, and Wilson grew up picking and chopping cotton - work she later described as hot and unpleasant.

Ruby Wilson's upbringing was filled with music, from two quite different sources - her mother, a deeply religious woman, only allowed her children to listen to gospel music, as she believed that all other music was "the devil's music".

Ruby Wilson's mother was the choir director at their family church, and when she was 7 years old Ruby Wilson began singing in her mother's choir.

When she was 15 years old, singer Shirley Caesar heard Ruby Wilson singing at church and invited her to tour with her as a backing singer.

Ruby Wilson later returned to Texas and started singing jazz.

Ruby Wilson moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1972, and started working as a kindergarten teacher in the Memphis City School system.

Ruby Wilson began performing regularly in clubs on Beale Street, including The Peabody, Club Handy and Club Royale, with musicians such as Ray Charles, Isaac Hayes, and the Four Tops.

Ruby Wilson performed on cruise ships and river cruises, and at parties and corporate events.

Ruby Wilson appeared in several films, including The People vs Larry Flynt, The Chamber, Cookie's Fortune and Black Snake Moan as well as in television commercials.

In 2006, Ruby Wilson received the Memphis Sound Award for Best Entertainer; in 2010, she was inducted into the Black Business Directory's African-American Hall of Fame.

In 2012, Wilson was offered space to exhibit items from her career, and later that year the Ruby Wilson Museum was opened.

Ruby Wilson's first husband was a gospel entertainer from Chicago.

Ruby Wilson suffered a stroke in 2009, and was unable to speak for four months.

Ruby Wilson received speech therapy and physical therapy and eventually recovered enough to return to acting and singing.

Ruby Wilson suffered a heart attack in 2016, and after several days in a coma died on August 12, aged 68.

Ruby Wilson was survived by four children, twelve grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.