Blondes Have More Fun

The world will probably never see another group quite like the Del Rubio Triplets, three swinging ladies who debuted their musical act in the 1950s but who rose to infamy in the 1980s due to their camp style, fun interpretations of standards and current chart songs – and an unforgettable appearance on the hit TV show The Golden Girls.

Edith, Elena and Mildred Boyd were born in August 1921 (their great-aunt was Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, the wife of President Woodrow Wilson) and grew up in the Panama Canal Zone and in Washington, D.C. Daddy was a lawyer and mother a socialite: "Even though we didn't have any talent," Millie told People magazine in 1988, "we knew we wanted to be in show business." Their father bought them all guitars and financed a move to Hollywood in the mid 1950s. There they changed their name to Del Rubio because, as Millie told People: "Rubio is Spanish for blond," and they were soon were working clubs in Asia, Australia and Europe and appearing on television with Bob Hope and Jerry Lewis amongst others.

The touring left little time for love. "If you really want to get married, take a cruise," Elena once explained. "We never did. We didn't want to break up our act." Eadie agreed: "We're not interested in security. We're artists. We're living on the edge."

When their mother suffered a stroke in 1965, the sisters came home and put their careers on hold. Yet in the mid 80s they were rediscovered by songwriter Allee Willis (who wrote the theme from Friends, as well as hits for Earth Wind and Fire, the Pet Shop Boys and many others). She got them noticed and helped gain them their first recording contract. An album - Three Gals, Three Guitars - soon followed. And it’s a blast!

The Del Rubio’s new-found fame led to a slew of nightclub and theatre bookings and a handful of new TV appearances: Married... with Children, The Golden Girls, Hangin' With Mr. Cooper, the short-lived New Monkees, Ellen and Pee-Wee's Playhouse among them. They also appeared in the film Americathon and even featured in an ad for McDonald's. They usually appeared in short skirts, hot pants or dresses cut to the waist, showing off their shapely legs. Don’t forget: these women were all past retirement age when fame came a-knocking a second time.

The three continued to perform – often in old folks homes ("men at the retirement homes think we're in our 30s," Elena once said) - until Eadie was diagnosed with cancer in 1996; she died that year in Torrance, California. Elena and Milly would never perform again, living together until Elena died – also from cancer - in 2001. Milly joined her sisters in 2011. The triplets are interred in a family plot at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California next to their father.

These tracks - Walk Like an Egyptian and These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ - come from the album Three Gals, Three Guitars.

Enjoy!