RUBY TURNER


Ruby Turner is Britain's premier soul singer, whose style encompasses Soul, R&B, and Reggae, and who has received much acclaim for her soul shows and albums, but also her regular appearances with Jools Holland's Rhythm & Blues Orchestra.

Born in Jamaica, Ruby came to the UK with her mother when she was just nine. At the tender age of 16, Ruby turned to the theatre, specifically the Bristol Old Vic, including a production of A Streetcar Named Desire. Through theatrical friends, her early love of reggae began to be mixed in with her command of blues and soul, via Ella Fitzgerald and Aretha Franklin, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, Ry Cooder, and The Rolling Stones.

With friend and then manager Gareth Owen, the teenage Turner played the Edinburgh Festival with a rock opera he'd written. Says Ruby: "I was Millie Duckling and I was encaged by a Dr. Crabs, in a gilded cage. It was outrageous" The hit show got her noticed: BBC2's 'Arena' broadcast a portion, while Punch magazine wrote about a girl to watch, "a la Billie Holiday".

A first EP release, including Van Morrison and Bob Dylan covers, was rewarded by airplay on the late blues legend Alexis Korner's BBC Radio 1 show. Korner then came to see Turner play at Dingwalls, they became great friends and she toured with him in Europe. Ruby became an in-demand session singer, working with everyone from UB40 to Canadian Corey Hart, then a huge star in the US.

After Ruby toured the States as featured vocalist with Culture Club, she returned home to find a solo recording deal with Jive Records on the table. Four albums, regular chart singles, extensive national and international touring and huge acclaim all followed, as Turner was recognised as Britain's premiere soul voice.

A Motown Songbook album had her recording with the Four Tops, the Temptations, Jimmy Ruffin, and other legends. Ruby would also claim top 30 UK hits with consummate covers of the Staples Singers' If You're Ready (Come Go With Me) and then I'd Rather Go Blind, first recorded by Etta James. Another proud landmark arrived in February 1990, It's Gonna Be Alright, performed and co-written by Ruby, hit No. 1 on Billboard's R&B chart, an extremely rare feat for a non-American artist. She followed this up with US chart entries for four subsequent releases, including Paradise from the film Dancin' Thru The Dark.

Her career has continued with major tours, film, TV and theatre appearances. She dominated the stage in the West End musical Simply Heavenly and had cameo appearances in Love Actually in the cinema and Hotel Babylon on TV. She has thrilled the nation by her rendition of the National Anthem for the Queen when the Millennium Dome was opened and her show-stopping performance of You Are So Beautiful with Jools Holland at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert from Buckingham Palace in June 2012.

A prolific songwriter, Ruby's songs have been covered by artists such as Lulu, Yazz, and Maxi Priest, while her vocal prowess has been employed to good effect by Culture Club, Bryan Ferry, Mick Jagger, Steve Winwood, and Jools Holland. As a measure of the high esteem in which she is held, in October 2009 The British Society of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and the Performing Rights Society presented Ruby with a Gold Badge Award for her contribution to Britain's music and entertainment industry.