Ruth Brown was an American singer-songwriter and actress, sometimes known 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 1950’s, such as “So Long”, “Teardrops from My Eyes” and “(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean”. For these contributions, Atlantic became known as “The house that Ruth built” (alluding to the popular nickname for Old Yankee Stadium).
Following a resurgence that began in the mid-1970’s and peaked in the 1980’s, Brown used her influence to press for musicians’ rights regarding royalties and contracts, which led to the founding of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. Her performances in the Broadway musical Black and Blue earned Brown a Tony Award, and the original cast recording won a Grammy Award.
Sit back and listen to some of Ruth Brown’s biggest hits.