Bonnie Brown (musician)
| Bonnie Brown | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Bonnie Jean Brown |
| Also known as | Bonnie Brown Ring |
| Born |
July 31, 1938 Sparkman, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Died | July 16, 2016 (aged 77) Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Genres | Country |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1955–1967 |
| Labels | RCA Victor |
| Associated acts | Jim Ed Brown, Maxine Brown |
Bonnie Jean Brown (July 31, 1938 – July 16, 2016) was an American country music singer and member of the Browns, a trio popular in the 1950s.
Bonnie Jean Brown was born on July 31, 1938 in Sparkman, Arkansas to Floyd Iron Brown and Birdie Lee Tuberville Brown. Her parents owned a farm, and her father also worked at a saw mill. While still a child, the family moved to Pine Bluff, Arkansas. In 1955, at age 18, she joined her older siblings Maxine and Jim Ed Brown, who were already performing as a duo, to form the musical trio the Browns. 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.
After she married Dr. Gene Ring in 1960, she was known as Bonnie Brown Ring.
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.
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.
In 2015, the trio was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Bonnie's brother, Jim Ed Brown, died of cancer on June 11, 2015.
On September 28, 2015, Bonnie Brown announced that she had been diagnosed with stage 4 adenocarcinoma right lung cancer. Brown died of the illness on July 16, 2016, fifteen days before her 78th birthday. She was survived by her sister Maxine Brown; and by daughter Kelly Ring, former co-anchor of the evening news at WTVT-TV in Tampa, Florida.
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