Ruby Murray

Ruby Murray
Birth name Ruby Florence Murray
Born 29 March 1935
Donegall Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
Died 17 December 1996 (aged 61)
Torquay, Devon, England, UK
Genres Traditional popular music
Occupation(s) Singer, actress
Instruments Vocals
Years active 1953–1996
Labels Columbia (EMI)
Website www.rubymurray.org

Ruby Florence Murray (29 March 1935 – 17 December 1996[1]) was one of the most popular singers in the United Kingdom and Ireland in the 1950s.[2] In 1955 alone, she secured seven Top 10 UK hit singles.[3]

Child star

Ruby Florence Murray was born on the Donegall Road in south Belfast, Northern Ireland.[4] Her voice's distinctive sound was partly the result of an operation on her throat in early childhood.[5] She toured as a child singer and first appeared on television at the age of 12, having been spotted by producer Richard Afton.[1] Owing to laws governing children performing, Murray had to delay her start in the entertainment industry.[1] She returned to Belfast and full-time education until she was 14.

Chart success

Again spotted by Afton, Murray was signed to Columbia and her first single, "Heartbeat", reached No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart in December 1954.[3] Afton had offered her the position of resident singer on the BBC's Quite Contrary television show, to replace Joan Regan.[6] "Softly, Softly", her second single, reached number one in early 1955.[3] That same year Murray set a pop-chart record by having five hits in the Top Twenty in one week, a feat unmatched for many years.[1][2]

The 1950s was a busy period for Murray, during which she had her own television show, starred at the London Palladium with Norman Wisdom, appeared in a Royal Command Performance (1955),[7] and toured the world.[1] In a period of 52 weeks, starting in 1955, Murray constantly had at least one single in the UK charts — this at a time when only a Top 20 was listed.

Murray appeared with Frankie Howerd and Dennis Price, in her only film role, as "Ruby" in a 1956 farce, A Touch of the Sun.[1] A couple of hits followed later in the decade; "Goodbye Jimmy, Goodbye", a No. 10 hit in 1959, was her final appearance in the charts.[1] EMI put together a compilation album of her hits on CD in 1989, including songs that regularly featured in her act; "Mr. Wonderful", "Scarlet Ribbons" and "It's the Irish in Me".[1] They updated this with the release of EMI Presents The Magic Of Ruby Murray in 1997 and a triple album, Anthology — The Golden Anniversary Collection, in 2005, the 50th anniversary of her peak successes on the charts.[1]

The name "Ruby Murray" lives on in rhyming slang, quite often in Only Fools And Horses, as the rhyme for "curry".[8]

A play about Murray's life, Ruby, written by the Belfast playwright Marie Jones, opened at the Group Theatre in Belfast in April 2000.[1]

Personal life

In 1957, while working in Blackpool, Murray met Bernie Burgess, a member of a successful Television and Recording Vocal Quartet The 4 Jones Boys. Shortly afterwards she left Northern Ireland to marry him and live with him in England.[1] Burgess contrary to press reports didn't become her manager, his role was that of a supporting husband. The couple included a song and dance segment in Ruby's act during the 1960s. After their marriage failed in 1974, she was granted a divorce in 1976. She married an old friend, Ray Lamar, in 1993 and lived in Torquay, Devon. She had two children from her marriage to Burgess.[1]

Although her days as a major star gradually diminished, Murray continued performing until close to the end of her life. She died of liver cancer, aged 61, in December 1996 in Torquay after a long struggle with alcoholism.[1]

Spending her last couple of years in Aspreys Nursing Home, she often delighted her carers with a song and was visited by her special friend, Max Bygraves.

Singles discography

† Ruby Murray with Anne Warren[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 "Biography by Sharon Mawer". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Vallance, Tom (18 December 1996). "Obituary". The Independent. Retrieved February 2009.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 384. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  4. ↑ Culture Northern Ireland website.
  5. ↑ Official website
  6. ↑ "Singers of the Fabulous Fifties". CommuniGate. United Kingdom: This Is Sussex. Retrieved 24 September 2008.
  7. ↑ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 20. CN 5585.
  8. ↑ "Ruby Murray rhyming slang". Webster's Online Dictionary. Retrieved 2007-12-15.

External links