Bonnie Brown (musician)

Bonnie Jean Brown (July 31, 1938 – July 16, 2016) was an American country music singer and member of the Browns, a sibling trio popular in the 1950s and 1960s.[1]

Bonnie Brown
Birth nameBonnie Jean Brown
Also known asBonnie Brown Ring
Born(1938-07-31)July 31, 1938
Sparkman, Arkansas, U.S.
DiedJuly 16, 2016(2016-07-16) (aged 77)
Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.
GenresCountry
Occupation(s)Singer
Years active1955–1967
LabelsRCA Victor

Biography

Bonnie Jean Brown was born July 31, 1938, in Sparkman, Arkansas, to Floyd Iron Brown and Birdie Lee Tuberville Brown.[2] Her parents owned a farm, and her father also worked at a sawmill. While Bonnie was still a child, the family moved to Pine Bluff, Arkansas. In 1955, at age 18, she joined her older siblings Maxine and Jim Ed, who were already performing as a duo, to form the musical trio the Browns.[3] Signed by RCA Victor in 1956, the trio scored their biggest hit when their folk-pop single "The Three Bells" reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop and country charts. The single held the No. 1 spot on the pop charts for 4 weeks, and on the country charts for ten.[3]

After she married Dr. Gene Ring in 1960, she was known as Bonnie Brown Ring.[2]

In 1965, the Browns joined the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, and disbanded in 1967 after Bonnie had decided to retire from the music business.[4][2]

Unlike her siblings, Bonnie did not pursue a solo music career after the Browns dissolved, though the trio did reunite twice: in the 1980s, and in 2006 for a TV special Country Pop Legends.[5]

In 2015, the trio was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.[3] Bonnie's brother, Jim Ed Brown, died of cancer June 11, 2015, and Maxine died on 21 January 2019.

Death

On September 28, 2015, Bonnie announced that she had been diagnosed with stage 4 adenocarcinoma right lung cancer.[6] Brown died of the illness on July 16, 2016, fifteen days before her 78th birthday.[7] She was survived by her sister Maxine Brown; and by daughters Kelly Ring, former co-anchor of the evening news at WTVT-TV in Tampa, Florida,[8] and Robin Ring Shaver of Little Rock. Her husband, Dr. Gene Ring, preceded her in death six months before her passing.

References
  1. McCall, Michael; Rumble, John; Kingsbury, Paul (February 2012). The Encyclopedia of Country Music (Second ed.). p. 55. ISBN 978-0195395631. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  2. "Bonnie Brown Ring". Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  3. Freeman, Jon (July 16, 2016). "Country Music Hall of Fame Member Bonnie Brown Dead at 77". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  4. Brennan, Sandra & Manheim, James. "The Browns Biography". Country Music Television, Inc. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  5. The Associated Press (2016-07-17). "Bonnie Brown, Part of Sibling Country Trio, Dies at 77". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  6. "U.S. Country singer Bonnie Brown, hall of fame inductee, has cancer - Reuters". Tim Ghianni. 28 September 2015. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  7. "Country Music Hall of Famer Bonnie Brown dead at 77". Tennessean.com. 16 July 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  8. "Kelly Ring". KTVT-TV - Fox13News.com.


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