Ruby Brooks

He became famous in 1887 when he performed and won at that year's banjo "Championship of the World" held in Chickering Hall, New York City.

[3][4] He gave concerts (often at Chickering Hall) and played in society programs regularly beginning in the late 1880s,[5][6] performing in many varieties ranging from the latest vaudeville tunes to attempts at serious classical music.

[8] He made three separate European tours,[9] performing for various royalty including the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII), who was also a banjo player of some skill.

[10] By the late 1890s he had mostly ceased to perform in public, finding it more lucrative to give private lessons to wealthy students[2] and to make recordings for the developing phonograph industry.

[2] Although an influence on Fred Van Eps, he is considered by Kaufman and Winans to be inferior to that player, as well as his contemporaries Vess Ossman and Olly Oakley.