Ruby Wright

Ruby Wright (b. Anderson, January 8, 1914 – d. Cincinnati, March 9, 2004) – Singer. Anderson native Ruby Wright got her start singing with a female trio at Lake Manitou in Rochester, Indiana. She and the trio then traveled with the Charlie Davis Band to Milwaukee and Chicago. Next, Wright moved to Cincinnati, where she sang with dance bands during the swing era. She was a featured vocalist for groups led by her husband Barney Rapp. For twenty years, she sang on Cincy’s WLW and appeared on “50-50 Club,” a variety show hosted by Ruth Lyons. From 1949 to 1959, she recorded twenty-seven singles locally on King Records (released on CD as Ruby Wright Regular Girl on Westside, 2001). Although none of her records charted nationally, she put two singles on the U.K. charts. After “Bimbo” made it to #7 in the U.K. in 1954, she followed it up five years later with a tribute to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and Big Bopper entitled “Three Stars,” which peaked at #19. Replete with narration by local DJ Dick Pike, her tribute to the three fallen stars came only a few months after the fatal plane crash in February 1959. Wright’s vocals are heard on Kathy Linden’s “Goodbye, Jimmy, Goodbye,” which went to #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959. Albeit not a charting record, Wright’s “Let’s Light the Christmas Tree” sold 250,000 copies in 1958.