Atlantic Records was called The House That Ruth Built -- her hits kept the label alive in the 1950s, and Ahmet Ertegun himself said that without Ruth Brown, there wouldn't have been an Atlantic Records. Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean. Teardrops from My Eyes. 5-10-15 Hours. She was the Queen of r&b before the term existed.

Ruth Alston Weston from Portsmouth, Virginia ran away from home at 17 to sing with Lucky Millinder's band. She was fired after one show. But Atlantic signed her in 1949, and the hits came. Her records sold millions. Then rock and roll happened and r&b singers got pushed aside. She spent the 1960s raising her family and working as a domestic.

She fought the record industry for unpaid royalties -- and won. Her activism helped establish the Rhythm and Blues Foundation, which recovered millions in unpaid royalties for older artists. She won a Tony for Black and Blue on Broadway. She recorded a Grammy-nominated album in her 60s. The Queen of r&b didn't just survive being forgotten. She made the industry pay for it.

Ruth Brown's hits kept Atlantic Records afloat -- The House That Ruth Built. Then the industry forgot her. She fought them for royalties and won. The Queen of r&b.