Happy birthday to Anita Ward, born December 20, 1957, who is best known for her huge 1977 disco hit, “Ring My Bell.”
Before signing a recording contract, Ward obtained a degree in psychology from Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi, and had become a schoolteacher. While Ward was recording her debut album, record label owner Frederick Knight presented her with a song he had written the previous year for Stacy Lattisaw. Ward did not like the song, but Knight insisted that a dance track was needed to capitalize on the current disco trend, and Ward relented. The song, which was originally a juvenile-targeted tune about teens talking on the telephone, was rewritten with more ‘adult’ lyrics and the result was the single “Ring My Bell”. The single reached number one in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada in 1979. Read full Anita Ward biography.
