Ruth Brown was a 1993 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
23 Facts About Ruth Brown
2.
Ruth Brown was a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.
3.
Ruth Brown 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.
4.
Ruth Brown was inspired by Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, and Dinah Washington.
5.
In 1945, aged 17, Ruth Brown ran away from her home in Portsmouth along with the trumpeter Jimmy Ruth Brown, whom she soon married, to sing in bars and clubs.
6.
Ruth Brown then spent a month with Lucky Millinder's orchestra.
7.
Ruth Brown was unable to audition as planned because of a car crash, which resulted in a nine-month stay in the hospital.
8.
Ruth Brown signed with Atlantic Records from her hospital bed.
9.
Ruth Brown's repertoire was mostly popular ballads, but Ertegun convinced her to switch to rhythm and blues.
10.
Ruth Brown played many racially segregated dances in the southern states, where she toured extensively and was immensely popular.
11.
Ruth Brown performed at the famed tenth Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, which was produced by Leon Hefflin, Sr.
12.
Ruth Brown performed along with The Flairs, Count Basie and his Orchestra, Lamp Lighters, Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five, Christine Kittrell, and Perez Prado and his Orchestra.
13.
Ruth Brown returned to music in 1975 at the urging of the comedian Redd Foxx, followed by a series of comedic acting jobs.
14.
Ruth Brown had a recurring role during the second season of the sitcom Hello, Larry as the neighbor, Leona Wilson.
15.
Ruth Brown's fight for musicians' rights and royalties in 1987 led to the founding of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1988.
16.
Ruth Brown was one of the first recipients of the Pioneer Award in 1989.
17.
Ruth Brown was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
18.
Ruth Brown recorded and sang with the rhythm-and-blues singer Charles Ruth Brown.
19.
Ruth Brown toured with Bonnie Raitt in the late 1990s.
20.
Ruth Brown appeared on Bonnie Raitt's 1995 live DVD Road Tested, singing "Never Make Your Move Too Soon".
21.
Ruth Brown hosted the radio program Blues Stage, carried by more than 200 NPR affiliates, for six years, starting in 1989.
22.
Ruth Brown had completed preproduction work on the Danny Glover film, Honeydripper, which she did not live to finish.
23.
Ruth Brown is buried at Roosevelt Memorial Park, Chesapeake City, Virginia.