R&B Singer Ruth Brown

Ruth Brown (1928 to 2006) was a Tony and Grammy award-winning American singer-songwriter and actress known as the "Queen of R&B" for hits including ‘So Long’ and ‘(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean’. She talks about emulating Billie Holiday until the night Holiday visited her dressing room. Her early hits for Atlantic Records led to the label being known as the ‘house that Ruth built’. She gives a shout-out to her first pianist, Seattleite Lee Anderson, talks about playing DJ Motor Mouth Mabel in the John Waters film ‘Hairspray’, and her years out of the entertainment business working as a bus driver and teacher’s aide to raise a family