Music

Ruby Turner

Pier 8, The Quays

Fri 16 Oct · 20:00

Theatre

About this event

Ruby Turner is widely recognised as one of the UK’s leading soul singers, known for her powerful performances across soul, R&B, and reggae. She has earned praise not only for her solo albums and live shows but also for her frequent collaborations with Jools Holland’s Rhythm & Blues Orchestra. Ruby Turner began a successful run as a solo artist in the late 1980s, landing a chart-topping hit with "It's Gonna Be Alright," and releasing numerous respected albums and singles over the coming years that traversed soul, gospel, and pop. She became a frequent collaborator with Jools Holland and performed with an array of high-profile stars from Mick Jagger to Steve Winwood. Her debut album, Woman Hold Up Half the Sky (1986), was a critical and commercial success, and she went on to release another 13 albums over the course of the next three decades, including 1989's Paradise, which peaked at number 39 on the Billboard R&B chart. She also charted eight singles throughout the 80s and 90s, the most successful of which was "I'd Rather Go Blind". On 4 June 2012 Ruby performed 'You Are So Beautiful' with Jools Holland at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert outside Buckingham Palace in London. In autumn 2012, Ruby was a guest judge on the BBC's The Choir: Sing While You Work with choirmaster Gareth Malone and in 2013 Ruby was a guest judge on the BBC's Songs of Praise Gospel Choirs competition. In June 2016 Ruby was awarded an MBE.