Inspiration

Ruth Flowers was 58 years old when her husband died. It happened unexpectedly, literally in a day. The day before, Ruth was fully satisfied with her retired life with her husband in a resort town on the coast of Portugal. But one day later, that was it. The cozy house with the swimming pool and the habitual way of life only reminded her of her loss.


Ruth Flowers had lived with her husband nearly
40 years. Her world collapsed with his death. Everything that awaited her in the future was the same as for thousands of other widows - a quiet old age filled with reminiscences of the past.

Instead of that, Ruth Flowers decided to become a club DJ. At 68. Her friends decided that she had gone crazy from grief. For a large part of her life, Ruth had specialized in the study of the literary works of Charles Dickens. Today, 72 year-old Ruth Flowers gives several concerts a month, performing in the best clubs in the world and truly living on planes, flying from one end of the world to the other.

Ruth Flowers made the decision to become a DJ in the following manner.Her grandson invited her to his birthday party at a night club. The bouncer at the door of the club summed up Ruth with a glance and smiled condescendingly.

"I think you shouldn't go in there at your age," he said.

"But I think I should," Ruth responded.

The bouncer just shrugged his shoulders.

"If I want, I can become a DJ!" said Ruth.

The bouncer threw her another glance and chuckled in such a way that Ruth got it; either she would become a DJ or she wouldn't respect herself anymore. "Why is it assumed that people my age can't have a good time?" thought Ruth the next morning after the party. "Why is everyone so sure that we should sit quietly at home and not go to a night club or go dancing?"

Ruth Flowers decided to become a DJ in order to give her life a new point and new interest. In only a few days, friends introduced her to young French producer, Orel Simon. He took an interest in the idea and offered her his assistance.

Over the course of the next two years, Ruth Flowers learned to combine tracks and make DJ sets. Contemporary electronic music was for Ruth, who also had been a singing teacher in the past, a completely new world.

Meanwhile, Orel was trying unsuccessfully to organize at least one decent gig for Mummy Rock, the stage name they had invented for Ruth. However, club managers only shrugged their shoulders. An almost 70 year-old grandmother who used to give lectures on Charles Dickens? Laughable!

Their first real chance, which could easily have been their last, came their way in Cannes. By some miracle, Orel managed to include Mummy Rock's performance in the program of one of the film festival's parties. Both Orel and Ruth were very anxious. How would the public receive their enterprise?

Their worries were in vain. The audience went into ecstasy. Over the next weeks, Orel got dozens of offers to organize performances of Mummy Rock in the most wide-ranging clubs all over the world. It had begun.

In exactly a year, Ruth had achieved genuine global fame. Young club audiences are ecstatic over her image and musical sets. She is recognized in clubs and on the street. She's asked for autographs.

In the past two years, Flowers has given more than 80 performances. She appears at the best clubs in the world--in London, on Ibiza, in Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo. And she has flown practically around the whole world, from the USA to Japan, from Russia to Singapore. Ruth insists that the constant flying doesn't tire her out. She is capable of flying into a city in the evening, performing at a club and taking off again that same night. For her next appearance.

"I love airports," she says. "I love wandering around them, strolling from store to store and watching people."

A standard Ruth Flowers performance lasts for an hour. For an hour, she holds the energy of a crowd of two, three and sometimes even five thousand spectators. On Ibiza, her show took place at Privilege, one of the biggest clubs on earth. On that evening, more than seven thousand people simultaneously danced to her music.

"It's only a pity that there's no time left to lecture on Dickens!" she says.

In spite of all the brilliance and glamour of club life, Ruth Flowersdoesn't go in for romances. When asked why, she answers, "I cared very much for my husband and don't want to spoil those memories."
(RF)