Musicians, Others Say Goodbye to R&B Star Ruth Brown
AP
Sangjib Min, Daily Press/ AP
Tina M. Allen, of Norfolk, Va., reads a funeral program during services for R&B singer Ruth Brown, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2006, in Portsmouth, Va. Brown died Nov. 17 at a Las Vegas-area hospital after suffering complications from a stroke and heart attack. She was 78.
Nine-time Grammy winner Bonnie Raitt called R&B star Ruth Brown a "butterfly in my spirit singing with me every night" during a tearful eulogy Tuesday.
Brown, a Portsmouth native, died Nov. 17 in a Las Vegas-area hospital from complications of a heart attack and stroke. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee dominated the R&B charts in the 1950s, earning the nickname "Miss Rhythm."
"We're all representing the generations that have been walking across the bridge that Ruth Brown and the other pioneers of rhythm and blues provided for us," Raitt said.
A steady stream of fans and friends passed through Willett Hall, where Brown sang a decade ago, Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday's service at the concert hall was open to the public.
The Original Drifters sat at the front of the auditorium, and a letter of condolences from former President Bill Clinton was read by entertainment lawyer Howell Begel, who with Brown helped create the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to providing financial and medical assistance to R&B pioneers.
Raitt, who said she spoke on behalf of other musicians, including Etta James and B.B. King, told how she met Brown 20 years ago and said her mentor taught her about performance and resilience. She said it was as if every heartache and problem Brown had encountered in her life "was there in every note that she sang."
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