Merrilee rush
Merrilee had been singing all her life and she would become known for a voice that was by turns earthy, husky, and sultry.
As events unfolded, the young bandleader was more impressed by Merrilee and he asked if, in addition to playing piano, she could sing. That band was the Amazing Aztecs, led by 18-year-old saxophonist and budding music-biz entrepreneur Neil Rush. Then, while a 16-year-old student at Shoreline High School, she agreed to accompany Vrooman to a band audition in Renton. By age 13 she was volunteering as a performer in various United Service Organizations (USO) programs entertaining military troops along with a girlfriend named Lynn Vrooman.
Merrilee attended Lake Forest Park Elementary and began taking piano lessons, then started at Morgan Junior High. Reuben was a home-builder and the family - eventually including Merrilee's younger siblings Cheryl, Marsha, Laura, and Clayton - moved at least a few times into new houses he had built.
But then in 1968, after scoring her first of several international radio hits, "Angel of the Morning," she was no longer Seattle's private treasure and the years of major-label record deals, television appearances, and concert touring began.īorn Merrilee Gunst to Reuben and Edith Gunst in Seattle on January 26, 1944, Rush grew up in the the city's north end. Her trademark low voice and comely looks and an exciting stage presence helped her lead a string of teen combos - notably the Statics and the Turnabouts - to regional fame. Merrilee Rush was among the most popular homegrown singing stars that the Northwest rock 'n' roll teen scene produced during the mid 1960s.