Ruby started singing at age 14 leading a gospel choir in her hometown of Plumerville, Arkansas. She toured numerous towns around Arkansas before she moved to Washington, DC in the early 1970's. In Washington, DC she made her professional singing debut at the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel as part of the Al Martinez jazz combo.

Later she honed her skills in a rhythm and blues band called the Exclusives and performed in military officers clubs and major hotel ballrooms around the Washington, DC metropolitan area. In 1975 Ruby started her own jazz and blues band and she performed up and down the East Coast from New York to Florida and made television appearances on WJLA, Channel 7, and WDCA, Channel 20 in Washington, DC.

Ruby is known for her upbeat, interactive performance style. When not performing in the top clubs & festivals, she performs her own original one-woman musical, Ruby Hayes Sings Bessie’s Blues in regional theaters. Although, she is seen as cool, calm and reserved, when she takes the stage, she's hotter than the month of July.

In 2005, she performed in the Washington, DC Blues Festival, “Divas Stir up the Blues” held at the CarterBaron Amphitheater.

Ruby performed blues, jazz, and R&B for diverse audiences from all around the world in a 5-Star resorts from December 2007 to May 2008.

Ruby recently completed a six-month engagement in Pattaya Beach, Thailand