Anita Ward

Anita Ward achieved her greatest recognition through the disco track “Ring My Bell,” which reached the top of the pop charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom during 1979. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, on December 20, 1957, she cultivated an early passion for music, with gospel holding particular appeal. While attending Rust College she performed in its A Cappella Choir, participating in a recording session alongside Metropolitan Opera vocalist Leontyne Price, and she also cut an obscure album with her own gospel quartet. Following graduation she chose not to chase a professional singing career, instead working as a substitute teacher in the Memphis elementary school system.

Music nevertheless remained central to her life, prompting her manager to introduce her to singer-songwriter Frederick Knight, whose own hit “I’ve Been Lonely for So Long” had climbed the charts in the summer of 1972. Knight agreed to oversee a three-song demo, yet Ward’s vocal prowess so impressed him that the sessions quickly yielded enough material for a full album. Realizing they still lacked one track, he retrieved an earlier composition titled “Ring My Bell,” originally written for the younger artist Stacy Lattisaw, who would later enjoy several successes in the early 1980s. Although the song’s initial lyrics concerned teenagers talking on the telephone and Ward felt little enthusiasm even after Knight revised the words, she consented to record it, with Knight supplying most of the instrumental backing. Captured across two days, “Ring My Bell” emerged as the strongest cut and secured Ward a contract with the T.K.-affiliated Juana label, leading to the release of her debut album, Songs of Love, in 1979.

The single rapidly ascended the charts, topping Billboard’s Hot 100 that summer and remaining on the listing for five months. A follow-up, “Don’t Drop My Love,” drawn from the hastily recorded second album Sweet Surrender, managed only a number-87 peak. Several additional tracks taped during incomplete sessions for a projected third album later appeared on various Ward compilations issued in subsequent decades. Although she issued just one new single, in 2011, Ward maintained an active performing schedule well into the 2010s.