Ruby Wright (January 8, 1914 – March 9, 2004) was an American

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

Biography

Born in Anderson,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

, United States, she began singing with a trio of college girls in

Lake Manitou Lake Manitou is the largest lake on Manitoulin Island in Ontario, Canada. With an area of , it is the largest lake on a lake island in the world. It is drained by the Manitou River. There are several small islands in Lake Manitou, such as Rope ...

, Indiana. Though not very successful in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, she had two hits in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The first, " Bimbo", made number 7 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in April 1954, whilst in May 1959, her

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...

of " Three Stars" reached number 19. Her most popular recording was a Christmas single, written by Ruth Lyons, "Let's Light the Christmas Tree" which sold 250,000 copies in 1958. She also sang on the radio on

WLW WLW (700 AM) is a commercial news/talk radio station licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio. Owned by iHeartMedia, WLW is a clear-channel station, often identifying itself as The Big One. WLW operates with around the clock. Its daytime signal provides ...

, and appeared on Lyons show, "50-50 Club", for twenty years. Wright was married to bandleader,

Barney Rapp Barney Rappaport (March 25, 1900 – October 12, 1970) was an American orchestra leader and jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centu ...

. She also sang in his orchestra. The couple had four daughters. A CD of Wright's recordings, which contained a total of 27 songs, is entitled ''Ruby Wright Regular Girl'' (The King Recordings 1949–1959).

References

External links

* * 1914 births 2004 deaths American women singer-songwriters King Records artists Writers from Anderson, Indiana Musicians from Anderson, Indiana 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women Singer-songwriters from Indiana {{US-singer-songwriter-stub