b. Emmit Ellis, Jr., 10th November, 1940, Homer, Louisiana, U.S.A.
Bobby Rush (the son of Ellis Sr. and Mattie Ellis) and his family moved to Chicago in 1953.
Bobby performed on the West Side blues circuit of the 1960's, collaborating with the likes of Luther Allison and Freddie King.
Bobby notched his first hit in 1971 with his Galaxy label single 'Chicken Heads’, after being picked up from a small label.
Bobby later scored with 'Bow-Legged Woman' for the Jewel imprint.
rush hour 1979
He appeared on a wide variety of labels as the decade progressed, culminating in the 1979 LP 'Rush Hour', produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff for their Philadelphia International label.
‘I Wanna Do The Do’, taken from the album, charted in 1979 at number 75.
During the early 1980's, he moved to Jackson, Mississippi.
Bobby signed with the LaJam label, where he remained for a number of years.
In 1984 he released 'Gotta Have Money’, followed by 1985's 'What's Good for the Goose Is Good for the Gander’.
During the mid-1990's, Bobby moved to Waldoxy, heralding a return to a soul-blues sound on LPs including 1995's 'One Monkey Don't Stop No Show', 1997's 'Lovin' a Big Fat Woman' and 2000's 'Hoochie Man'.
In April, 2001, his tour bus crashed, injuring several band members and killing one, Latisha Brown.
Bobby was hospitalized for a short time, then returned home to recuperate.
In 2004, Bobby released ‘FolkFunk’, which highlighted a return to a more rootsier sound.
Bobby also appeared appeared in the Martin Scorcese film, ‘The Road to Memphis’.
His album, ‘Hoochie Mama’ was later nominated for a Grammy award in the blues music section in 2000.
His most recent albums, recorded for his own Deep Rush Records imprint, include ‘Look At What You Gettin' (in 2008)’, Blind Snake’ (in 2009), ‘Show You a Good Time’ (in 2011) and ‘Down In Louisiana’ (in 2013).
Albums:
Rush Hour (Philadelphia International Records 1979)
Man Can Give (La Jam Records 1990)
Handy Man (Urgent! Records 1992)
She's a Good Un (It's Alright) (Ronn Records 1995)
One Monkey Don't Stop No Show (Waldoxy Records 1995)
Sue (La Jam Records 1996)
Wearing It Out (La Jam Records 1996)
Gotta Have Money (La Jam Records 1996)
It's Alright, Vol. 2 (Ronn Records 1997)
Lovin' a Big Fat Woman (Waldoxy Records 1997)
What's Good for the Goose Is Good for the... (La Jam Records 1997)
Southern Soul (Cannonball Records 1998)
Hoochie Man (Waldoxy Records 2000)
Undercover Lover (Deep Rush Records 2003)
Folkfunk (Deep Rush Records 2004)
Night Fishin' (Deep Rush Records 2005)
Raw (Deep Rush Records 2007)
Look At What You Gettin' (Deep Rush Records 20008)
Blind Snake (Deep Rush Records 2009)
Show You a Good Time (Deep Rush Records 2011)
Down In Louisiana (Deep Rush Records 2013)
