Ruth Brown - Personal Life

Personal Life

• Oldest of seven children.
• First husband Jimmy Brown (trumpeter) was found to be already married.
• Married Earl Swanson (saxophonist) in 1955, the father of her son Earl Swanson Jr.
• Married to Bill Blunt (police officer) for three years.
• Was mother of Ronald David Jackson ("Ronnie") with Clyde McPhatter of The Drifters, although Ronnie grew up believing that his father was Brown's former companion and accompanist Willis "Gator" Jackson.
• Her nephew Rakim is considered one of the most influential rappers in the history of the hip hop genre.

Brown died in a Las Vegas-area hospital on November 17, 2006, from complications following a heart attack and stroke she suffered after surgery in the previous month. A memorial concert for her was held on January 22, 2007 at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York.

Brown is buried at the Roosevelt Memorial Park, Chesapeake City in Virginia.