Rust College’s Anita Ward Sang Her Way from the College A’Cappella Choir to the No. 1 Hit “Ring My Bell”

If you have ever heard the unmistakable synth and the words “ring my bell,” you have heard the voice of Anita Ward. The disco anthem became one of the biggest songs of 1979, and the woman who sang it got her start in the choir of a historically Black college in Mississippi.

Anita Ward was born on December 20, 1956, in Memphis, Tennessee. She attended Rust College, the historically Black college in Holly Springs, Mississippi, where she was an active member of the school’s A Cappella Choir and received classical and gospel training. As BlackPast notes, she graduated in 1978 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and briefly worked as a substitute teacher in the Memphis public schools.

Then came the record that changed her life. In 1979, Ward released “Ring My Bell,” a bouncy disco track that became a worldwide phenomenon. The song shot to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the R&B chart, and the dance chart, and it topped the charts in the United Kingdom as well, selling more than a million copies around the world.

“Ring My Bell” became a defining song of the disco era and has echoed through pop culture for decades, appearing in films, television, and commercials and introducing Ward’s voice to generation after generation.

Ward has continued to record and perform, releasing additional albums and appearing at major venues and celebrations around the world.

From the Rust College A Cappella Choir to the top of the international charts, Anita Ward turned a classic HBCU music education into a song the world will never forget.