Birth name John W. Ross Jr Role Instrumentalist Occupation(s) Singer Died February 9, 2006 | Years active c.1960 - 2006 Origin Indiana, United States Name Johnny Ross | |
 | ||
Associated acts Baby Huey & the Babysitters, Melvyn "Deacon" Jones, Curtis Mayfield, Johnny Ross & The Soul Explosion Music group Baby Huey & the Babysitters (Since 1963) Genres Soul music, Rhythm and blues, Blues People also search for Baby Huey, Melvyn "Deacon" Jones | ||
Johnny Ross (May 28, 1942 – February 9, 2006) was an American multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and founding member of Baby Huey & the Babysitters, who died in 2006 as a result of appendicitis. He also hosted his own cable television show.
Contents
Biography
John W. Ross, Jr was born in Miller, Indiana, United States. Along with Melvyn "Deacon" Jones and James Ramey aka Baby Huey, Ross was a founding member of Baby Huey & the Babysitters. He stayed with the Babysitters for nearly a decade and during that time he wrote two of their songs, "Monkey Man" and "Just Being Careful". "Monkey Man" appears on numerous 1960s various artists compilations including Pittsburghs Greatest Hits, Teenage Shutdown: Jump, Jive and Harmonize, Mad Mike's Monstors Vol 3
After he left the Babysitters he went solo and recorded some soul singles including, "I Can't Help Myself", which appeared on a Northern soul dance compilation.
In later years
From the early 1990s until the time of his death Ross and his wife managed Ross Music and Video Productions. He was also scoring music for television shows, commercials etc. Sears, Mattel Toys were among the brands that he did music for.
He also had a cable television show Creating Music that ran for ten years. Among the guests that he had on his show were, Mo' Beat Blues, members of Michael Jackson's extended family to Gary Mayor Scott King who played bass to members of The Spaniels.
From the early 2000s he branched out to doing the soundtracks for movies. Two were for Fred "The Hammer" Williamson. They were Down 'n Dirty and On The Edge.
In addition to music, Ross also ran security and he had served as head of security for many municipal events and he also personally handled security for Coretta Scott King, the widow of Dr Martin Luther King.
He died on February 9, 2006, as a result of heart failure after appendicitis, at the age of 63.