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R&B Singer Ruth Brown Dies At 78

R&B singer, Ruth Brown died yesterday in Las Vegas, after weeks of coma. She was 78.

Ruth Brown suffered a stroke and a heart attack and was in coma for nearly three weeks.

Ruth Brown is one of the most important figures of R&B music. The R&B pioneer started her career in the late forties. Ruth Brown's first songs were significantly influenced by jazz, very popular back then.

The singer established herself as a popular artist after the release of her first hit, "So Long." Ruth Brown, who topped the R&B charts during the fifties, was best known to the public as "Miss Rhythm." In 1961, the singer ended her 13-years collaboration with Atlantic Records and stayed away from the spotlights till the mid-seventies.

Ruth Brown return to the showbiz meant not only music. The R&B artist became involved in numerous projects. She embraces the theatrical career, appeared in movies and hosted two popular radio shows.

In 1993, Ruth Brown gathers the selective group of celebrities having a star in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

"Ruth was one of the most important and beloved figures in modern music. You can hear her influence in everyone from Little Richard to Etta, Aretha, Janis and divas like Christina Aguilera today. She set the standard for sass, heartache and resilience in her life as well as her music, and fought tirelessly for royalty reform and recognition for the R&B pioneers who never got their due. She taught me more than anyone about survival, heart and class. She was my dear friend and I will miss her terribly," stated Bonnie Raitt, Ruth's good friend and collaborator.