Ruby Turner was born in Jamaica where she lived until the age of 9, when she moved to Birmingham. Truly the genuine article and blessed with a voice that has been likened to Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin, Ruby can breathe life and meaning into a song whether it is a passionate soaring ballad or a soulful up-tempo groove. Her career to date has been anything but dull and with major tours and theatre appearances the future continues to look positive.
Her major break came in the mid 1980's, when her friend Helen Terry left 'Culture Club' and put her forward as her replacement. Culture Club were at the height of their stardom and Ruby quickly learned how to deal with grueling tour schedules and living out of a suitcase. An offer of a solo record deal closely followed and she signed to Jive Records. Four albums and the 'Best of Ruby Turner' were released over the next few years. This period spawned the hits 'If You're Ready (Come Go With Me) and 'I'd Rather Go Blind' and, in the American R'n'B chart, the number 1 hit single 'It's Gonna Be Alright' - one of less than ten British records to achieve this! It was at this time that she also released her hit album 'The Motown Songbook' on which she performed with some of the great stars of that era - The Four Tops, The Temptations, Jimmy Ruffin etc. To date, Ruby has released 10 albums plus the BBC's 'Live From Glastonbury', as well as appearing on releases by the likes of Brian Ferry, UB40, Steve Winwood and Jools Holland.
Ruby affirmed her ability as a fine songwriter, an aspect of her talent which she has gradually been honing and tuning, when she penned nine of the songs for her 'Call Me By My Name' album released at the end of 1999. Other artists as diverse as Lulu, Yazz and Maxi Priest have covered some of her original songs.
In recent years, with theatre still in her blood, Ruby has returned to the stage and appeared in productions of Tennessee William's 'A Streetcar Named Desire',
Carmen Jones, Fame (in the West End) and in the highly acclaimed ‘One Love’ directed by Yvonne Brewster at the Hammersmith Lyric Theatre. Ruby has also appeared in the BBC TV’s 'Doctors' and the top hit soap 'Eastenders'.
On the recording front, Ruby has released a new album – Ruby Turner 'Live in Bristol' - recorded at a recent concert at the Bristol Theatre Royal. She performs some of the hit songs for which she is best known, including 'I'd Rather Go Blind' and ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered’. Further to this, Jools Holland features a track by Ruby – ‘Nobody But You’ – on his platinum-selling album Small World Big Band.
With appearances this year at BBC Radio 2Â’s Music Live at the Cardiff Bay Arena with Joe Cocker and Michael Bolton, the Brecon Jazz Festival and a critically acclaimed season at the Donmar Warehouse Theatre, Ruby remains positive about the future.
In the pipeline before the end of this year are more TV appearances, her film debut and a busy December touring with the Jools Holland Rhythm & Blues Orchestra.