lit a candle 10h agoCasanova got played at every family cookout I went to. 79.
Their story
Ruby Mae Stackhouse, known professionally as Ruby Andrews, was an American R&B and soul singer whose voice helped define Chicago soul at the end of the 1960s. Born in Hollandale, Mississippi, on 12 March 1947, she moved with her family to Chicago around 1952 or early 1953 and grew up…
Ruby Mae Stackhouse, known professionally as Ruby Andrews, was an American R&B and soul singer whose voice helped define Chicago soul at the end of the 1960s. Born in Hollandale, Mississippi, on 12 March 1947, she moved with her family to Chicago around 1952 or early 1953 and grew up in Hyde Park. She died at her home in Chicago on 13 August 2026, aged 79.
Andrews began singing in church as a toddler in the Mississippi Delta. In interviews with Bill Dahl for the Chicago Reader (2022) and with David Ma (published as Gem Among Giants), she recalled leading choir parts as a small child and treating church as the place where a Mississippi child either sat bored or got into the music. After the family relocated to Chicago, she attended Hyde Park Academy High School, graduating in 1966. In music class she sang alongside classmate Minnie Riperton. The two teenagers sometimes slipped into nightspots near the Sutherland Hotel at 47th and Drexel to hear Walter Jackson, Curtis Mayfield and others. A senior variety-show performance of Ted Taylor's Be Ever Wonderful, complete with Taylor's high notes and a standing ovation, convinced her that singing was her path.
Around her senior year she worked with the vocal group the Vondells. In 1964 she appeared on Marvello singles associated with that circle, and in 1965, still using Ruby Stackhouse, she cut Please Tell Me / Wishing for Leon Singleton's Kellmac (also spelled Kelmac) label. The same year she sang the high background part on Kellmac's national hit Michael (The Lover) by the C.O.D.'s, a neighborhood project from the 47th and Drexel area. Tired of teasing over Stackhouse, she took a new stage surname from Julie Andrews. Manager Bob Morris introduced her to Ric Williams, who was launching Zodiac Records in Chicago. Her early Zodiac sides included Let's Get a Groove Going On. The breakthrough came in 1967 with Casonova (Your Playing Days Are Over), co-written and produced with Joshie Jo Armstead after Williams asked for a song about a player and Armstead floated the name Casanova. Recorded in Detroit with arranger Mike Terry and musicians connected to Motown's Funk Brothers (who frequently moonlighted despite Berry Gordy's restrictions), the single reached No. 9 on Billboard's R&B chart and No. 51 on the pop chart. Andrews later told interviewers that sessions sometimes paused so the Motown players could hide when Gordy's point men checked the studio.
Zodiac became her flagship home through the early 1970s. Detroit writers and producers Fred Bridges, Robert Eaton and Richard Knight (the Brothers of Soul) shaped many of her follow-ups, often drawing on her own romantic and touring life with Williams. You Made a Believer (Out of Me) reached No. 18 R&B and No. 96 pop in 1969; Andrews said Robert Eaton took the title from a Palmolive commercial and that she recorded it still angry after an early-morning wake-up, which is why the vocal sounds forceful. Everybody Saw You peaked at No. 34 R&B in 1970. Other charting Zodiac sides included Hey Boy Take a Chance on Love, The Love I Need, Can You Get Away and You Ole Boo Boo You. Albums from the period include Everybody Saw You (1970) and Black Ruby (1972), the latter containing Just Loving You, later prized on the Northern soul circuit. A ferocious 1971 take on Hound Dog, inspired by Big Mama Thornton, left her throat raw enough that she asked Williams for no more songs like that.
After Zodiac wound down she signed with ABC and returned to Detroit to cut Genuine Ruby (1977) with producers including Ron Dunbar and George McGregor, yielding Queen of the Disco even as she protested that she was not a disco singer. Coffee's UK dance remake of Casanova reached No. 13 in Britain in 1980. In the 1990s she recorded bluesier material, including Kiss This (Ichiban, 1991) with producer Swamp Dogg, Ruby (Goldwax, 1993) and Hip Shakin' Mama (Ripete, 1998). She founded Genuine Ruby Records LLC, later secured rights to Zodiac's catalog after Williams's death, and continued to appear at the Chicago Blues Festival, including a Chicago Soul Tribute set at Pritzker Pavilion in June 2022.
Andrews married Robert Squirrel Lester of the Chi-Lites in 2003; he died in January 2010. Sources report they had no children. She was one of three children of Florence Daniel. In 2023 she was inducted into the National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame in Detroit. Family announced her death on her Facebook page on 13 August 2026, remembering Auntie Ruby for Casanova, You Made a Believer (Out of Me) and Everybody Saw You, and for a voice that touched generations of soul listeners. SoulTracks, Parade and other outlets confirmed she died at home in Chicago at 79. Her recordings remain staples of Chicago soul retrospectives, Northern soul dancefloors and sampling culture (Q-Tip's use of You Made a Believer prompted her public lament that she had never seen royalties).
Biography adapted from Wikipedia Ruby Andrews (CC BY-SA); SoulTracks obituary 13 Aug 2026; Chicago Reader Bill Dahl Soul singer Ruby Andrews makes a career change 8 Jun 2022; David Ma Gem Among Giants interview (Medium repu.
In their own words
“I think I might have been maybe three years old. Being from Mississippi, you went to church. I don't care how young or how old you were. Either you're going to sit in the audience and be bored, or you're going to get in the choir.”
On early church singing; Chicago Reader interview with Bill Dahl, 8 June 2022.
“I got tired of them ribbing me. I changed it to one of my best movie actresses. Her name is Julie Andrews.”
On changing Stackhouse to Andrews; Chicago Reader, 2022.
“He said, 'Let's write a song about a player.' So she said, 'OK. Don Juan?' He said, 'No, that don't work.' She said a couple more names, and then she says, 'How about Casanova?' And he said, 'Yeah! That's the one!' And she sat there, in five minutes she wrote that song.”
Recalling Joshie Jo Armstead writing Casanova with Ric Williams; Chicago Reader, 2022.
“We knew they were coming, so we'd turn out the lights, and everybody would hide behind their instruments until the engineer said, 'Well, he's gone now!' Then we'd turn on the lights and crank it up again. That was so fun!”
On Motown musicians moonlighting on her Detroit sessions; Chicago Reader, 2022.
“I was mad, and that's why the song sounds like that. It's just forceful.”
On recording You Made a Believer after an early studio call; Chicago Reader, 2022.
“I never saw a penny from anybody for using that song. Cool, Q-Tip, but where's my money?”
On sampling of You Made a Believer; David Ma Gem Among Giants interview.
“I decided I'm going to incorporate the two, because I can't leave one and stay away from the other.”
On combining singing with running Zodiac / Genuine Ruby Records; Chicago Reader, 2022.
“Auntie Ruby was truly one of a kind. Her powerful voice, soulful spirit, and incredible talent touched generations of music lovers.”
Family Facebook announcement of her death, 13 August 2026, quoted by EntertainmentNow and PennLive.
Photos
4Ruby Andrews at the Chicago Blues Festival, 6 June 2008.
Jun 2008 · by People Forever
Ruby Andrews promotional portrait used in SoulTracks' 2026 obituary coverage.
by People Forever
Ruby Andrews in the late 1960s (left) and early 1990s (right), Chicago Reader diptych.
by People Forever
Promotional black-and-white portrait of Ruby Andrews (Afro-era publicity photo).
by People Forever
From social media
2Posts by Ruby, and posts about them, kept here so they are not lost.