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Diana Ross

 
Gale Encyclopedia of Biography:

Diana Ross

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Diana Ross
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Diana Ross (born 1944), once the lead singer for the Motown supergroup the Supremes, was the most successful female singer of the Rock 'n' Roll era. In the next few decades, she continued to enjoy success with a solo career and numerous television and film appearances.

Diana Ross was born on March 26, 1944, in Detroit, Michigan. She was the second of six children of Fred and Ernestine Ross, who lived in Brewster-Douglass, one of Detroit's low income housing districts. While her family was active in the Baptist church choir, Diana learned secular music from a cousin. She played baseball and took tap dance and majorette lessons at Brewster Center.

At age 14 Ross tried out for a part in a school musical, but was turned down. The brief failure turned into good fortune, as she was invited to sing with the Primettes, a girls' vocal group that included Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson among its members. She sang with the Primettes throughout her high school years at Cass Technical High School, where she took sewing and fashion design courses. The male counterparts of the Primettes were called the Primes, and their members included Paul Williams and Eddie Kendricks, who would later form part of the Motown superstar group the Temptations.

Yet another Motown superstar, Smokey Robinson, introduced Ross and the Primettes at Motown Studios, where they visited frequently until they met Motown producer Berry Gordy. Gordy instructed Ross and her friends to finish high school and come back, which they did in 1962. Ross, Ballard, and Wilson then signed a contract with Motown, and Ballard selected a name for the group - the "Supremes" - a name which Ross disliked.

The Supremes released a number of singles and often sang background vocals for Marvin Gaye and Mary Wells at local Detroit record hops. "Let Me Go the Right Way" became the first Supremes song to register on the national charts, and it enabled the group to join the touring Motor Town Revue. "Where Did Our Love Go?" was their first national number one hit, selling over two-million singles, and the Supremes became the Revue's opening act. Ross' ambition and talent helped the trio turn the fierce competition for recording songs at Motown in their favor, and she became the group's lead singer.

The Supremes proceeded to lead Motown and its outstanding artists into its heyday in the 1960s with a series of number one hits that included "Baby Love" (1964), "Stop! In the Name of Love" (1965), "Back in My Arms Again" (1965) and "I Hear a Symphony" (1966). A popular television group, the Supremes continued to skyrocket in popularity along with the Motown label, and their principal songwriting team - Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Brian Holland - produced many more of their number one songs, including "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (1966), "You Can't Hurry Love" (1966), "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone" (1967), and "The Happening" (1967).

Holland-Dozier-Holland left Motown in 1967, and the Supremes entered their next phase with a new billing as Diana Ross and the Supremes. Florence Ballard was replaced by Cindy Birdsong, also in 1967. The year 1968 brought "Love Child," yet another top hit, this one written by themselves. By this time rumors had begun to circulate about Ross leaving the group, and they reached their peak when her performance in the 1969 television special "Like Hep" outdid co-stars Lucille Ball, Dinah Shore, and comedians Rowan and Martin. Diana Ross' last single with the group was, ironically, the number one hit "Someday, We'll Be Together" (1969). Indeed, she began her solo career after their last appearance together in January of 1970.

Things would only get better for Ross. Motown Records invested heavily in her new career, which debuted with "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" (1970). Many changes began to take place in her personal life as well. She had helped the Jackson 5 get its start with Motown with her well-developed business acumen that she had learned from Berry Gordy, and she had moved into her new Beverly Hills home. In 1971 Ross was married to Robert Silberstein, a pop-music manager, with whom she had three daughters - Rhonda, Tracee, and Chudney.

Diana Ross was cast as the legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday in the Motown film production Lady Sings the Blues. Her critically acclaimed performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for best actress. In 1973 she returned to her customary position atop the national record charts with "Touch Me in the Morning." Her next film was Mahogany (1975), from which her "Theme From Mahogany" (1976) was nominated for the Academy Awards' best song in a motion picture and topped the record charts again. After her third daughter was born in 1975 she and Silberstein were divorced.

Ross' hit parade continued with the number one "Love Hangover" (1976). She closed out the decade with a Broadway show entitled "An Evening With Diana Ross" (1976-1977); a March 6, 1977, television special that featured her alone; and a portrayal as Dorothy in Motown's film production of the Broadway show The Wiz (1978).

Ross continued to perform in concerts, in Atlantic City and Las Vegas casinos, and in charity functions. Her 1980 single "Upside Down" was her 16th number one hit, a record surpassed only by the Beatles. She moved to Connecticut with her three daughters and in 1985 married Norwegian shipping tycoon Arne Naess, Jr. In 1989, Ross made a return to Motown with a new album titled "Workin' Overtime", and in 1991 collaborated with Stevie Wonder and other artists to make "The Force Behind the Power", a group of contemporary ballads. In January of 1994, she received critical acclaim for her role as a schizophrenic in the ABC television movie Out of Darkness.

But tragedy marred Ross' new-found success in film in 1996 when her brother, Arthur Ross, and his wife, Patricia Ann Robinson, were found smothered to death on June 22, in Oak Park, Michigan. Ross and her family put up a reward of $25,000 for any information leading to an arrest. In September of 1996, two men, Ricky Brooks and Remel Howard, were charged with the killings. Police had no motive at the time, only to say that drugs were involved. "Like all survivors," quotes The Harmony Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, "Ross has adapted well, handling pop, soul, disco and rock masterfully." And as evident in a recent interview with Ross and her daughters, she was handling her life in that same fashion.

Further Reading

Tributes to the hard working Diana Ross' personification of the American dream are numerous. Her biographies include Leonore K. Itkowitz, Diana Ross (1974), Geoff Brown, Diana Ross (1981), J. Rand Taraborrelli's Diana (1985), and Diana Ross by James Haskins (1985). Her autobiography, Secrets of a Sparrow, was published in 1995.

Gale Contemporary Black Biography:

Diana Ross

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singer; actor; president (organization)

Personal Information

Born on March 26, 1944, in Detroit, MI; daughter of Fred (a factory worker) and Ernestine Ross, one of six children; married Robert Ellis Silberstein, 1971 (divorced, 1976); married Arne Naess, Jr., 1985 (divorced, 2000); children: (first marriage) Rhonda, Suzanne, Tracee Joy, Chudney; (second marriage) Ross Arne, Evan.

Career

Began singing as part of quartet with The Primettes, 1959; signed to Motown Records (group's name was changed to The Supremes), 1960; released first single with Supremes for Motown, 1961; left Supremes to pursue solo career, 1968; signed contract with RCA, 1980; returned to Motown, 1989. Actress in films and television, including Lady Sings the Blues, 1972; Mahogany, 1975; The Wiz, 1978; Out of Darkness (TV), 1994; Double Platinum (TV), 1999. Appeared in television specials An Evening With Diana Ross, 1977 and Diana, 1981. President of Diana Ross Enterprises Inc., Anaid Film Productions, RTC Management Corporation, Chondee Inc., Rosstown, and Rossville Music Publishing.

Life's Work

As lead singer for the most successful female vocal group in pop music history, Diana Ross became world famous as a performer during the mid-1960s. She continued to fan the flames of her fame after becoming a solo act at the end of the decade and later received accolades as an actress in a number of star vehicles. Along with mega-stars such as Barbara Streisand, Ross became one of the most influential and wealthiest women in show business.

"Although never a commanding instrument, Miss Ross's small, syrupy voice with its dash of vinegar can convey a certain calculated poignancy," wrote Stephen Holden in the New York Times in 1991. Using this voice to deliver the songs of ace songwriters Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Brian Holland for Motown, Ross and The Supremes generated a phenomenal fourteen top-ten records from 1964 and 1967, including ten number-one hits. As a solo artist or in duets after leaving the Supremes, Ross continued the hit parade with a dozen top-ten singles from 1970 to 1985.

Grew Up in the Ghetto

Diana Ross was raised in the low-income Brewster-Douglass housing project in Detroit, where she had to share one bed with two sisters and three brothers. Despite the obvious hardship, Ross recalls her childhood as a happy one. "We always had a good life," she told Woman's Day in 1990. "It wasn't like we had gobs of money. But we always had what we needed somehow. Later on, I found out that neighborhood is called the ghetto. But, basically, it was a warm, loving family environment. There was always something exciting going on."

Singing in the choir at the local Olivet Baptist church led to her meeting Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard, and the threesome later sang together at social functions. They joined up with Betty Anderson in 1959 to become The Primettes as a sister group to The Primes formed by Eddie Kendricks, which would later become The Temptations. Anderson was later replaced by Barbara Martin, and Martin dropped out in 1962, to leave the group as a trio. As high school students, the Primettes took in about $15 a week as performers. They also made some recordings, but didn't get very far.

When the new Motown Records company was started in Detroit, Ross and her fellow singers began hanging around the building in hopes of being discovered. Ross gives a lot of credit to her mother in supporting her quest to become a singer. As she told Woman's Day, "She [her mother] said, 'Is this what you want to do? Do you think you can do this well?' And I said 'Yes.' And she said, 'I want you to finish high school and we'll do that.'" Berry Gordy, Jr., the creator of Motown, brought the Primettes and Primes on board in 1961. The Primettes were so young that their parents had to be in attendance when the contracts were signed. Gordy renamed the group The Supremes and used them primarily as backup singers for established Motown artists such as Marvin Gaye and Mary Wells.

During the next few years, Ross spent a good deal of time on the road gaining singing experience but not building her reputation to any degree. Although the group cut its first Motown single in 1961, they lacked the distinctive sound that was necessary to click with listening audiences. It wasn't until Gordy assigned Holland, Dozier, and Holland to create songs for them that the group struck a chord. The first of these songs, with Ross on lead as usual, was the two-million seller "Where Did Our Love Go?" released in 1964. Within a mere year, the group recorded six number-one hits that included "Baby Love," "Come See About Me," "Stop! In the Name of Love," "Back in My Arms Again," and "I Hear a Symphony."

Broke New Ground for Female Groups

Somewhat tame compared to other Motown acts of the time, The Supremes had a gentle sound supported by Ross's almost girlish voice that had just enough of a beat to make it danceable. In 1988, Rolling Stone listed "Stop! In the Name of Love" at number ten on its list of Top 100 singles in pop music. The Harmony Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock said that the "Supremes' '60s output with Holland/Dozier/Holland ranks among finest pop music ever."

In addition to closing the color gap in women's music in the 1960s, The Supremes made the music more marketable by presenting a glamorous image along with a touch of soul that was not demonstrated by other women's groups. Critical to the group's success, of course, was Diana Ross, who proved her versatility by applying the Motown sound to ballads, country and western songs, and even psychedelic numbers. As was indicated in Rolling Stone, the output of the Supremes was "almost a perfect song cycle, progressing steadily from the wide-eyed simplicity and sexy venerability of the first hit to the world-weary complexity of the last."

In 1969, the group's name was changed to Diana Ross and The Supremes to acknowledge Ross's stature, and, by then, the lead singer was planning her departure from the trio. Her exit into a solo career became official after a final performance with The Supremes at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas in January of 1970. Her final Supremes recording in 1969, "Someday We'll Be Together," made it to number one. It was the group's 12th number-one song with Ross.

Expanded Range as Solo Performer

On her own, Ross steadily moved up from the nightclub circuit to major concert tours in the 1970s. She hit the charts with Ashford and Simpson's "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" in 1970, then soared to number one with her version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" later that year. Under Gordy's careful direction, Ross was upgraded from pop singer to full-fledged superstar by appearing in more elaborately staged performances and television specials.

Ross also ventured onto the big screen with a much heralded performance as Billie Holiday in 1972's Lady Sings the Blues. Ross earned an Academy Award nomination for her performance, but the film itself was not favorably reviewed. Her drawing power was evident in her being able to make that film and the subsequent Mahogany in 1975 box office successes despite a lack of critical support. The soundtracks for her movies were also popular with the public. While her portrayal of "Lady Day" was publicized as her "official" film debut, Ross had made some gratuitous appearances on screen with The Supremes in films such as Beach Ball in 1965.

With number-one hits such as "Touch Me in the Morning," Ross transcended the pop formulas that had fueled the success of The Supremes. As a solo artist she concentrated largely on ballads that capitalized on her ability to generate emotion. For a time during the early 1970s, she focused on jazz numbers, and she often performed songs that had been part of Holiday's repertoire. She was especially acclaimed for her performance at Radio City Music Hall that closed the Newport (now New York) Jazz Festival in 1974. Then she shifted away from jazz and back to pop music, performing a wide range of pop standards along with her own music at concerts. Her repertoire ran the gamut from Rodgers and Hart songs to Beatles's songs and show tunes, along with medleys of her hits with The Supremes.

Ross somewhat surprised audiences in 1976 when she ventured into the realm of disco music and recorded the number-one hit "Love Hangover." Meanwhile, her concert performances had become major media events. Robert Palmer wrote in the New York Times in 1977 that "in stage shows, she is perfectly at home with contemporary middle-of-the-road material. On records, she continues to be convincing as a rhythm-and-blues singer, performing an updated disco-style idiom." Ross added another category to her resume in 1978 when she starred in the movie version of the Broadway hit, The Wiz. She had purchased the rights to the film and had changed the character of Dorothy to an adult so that she could play a role, a move that was criticized by many at the time.

Left Motown for RCA

By the late 1970s, Ross's concerts often featured tributes to legendary blues singers such as Josephine Baker, Ethel Waters, and Bessie Smith. However, by then she often drew criticism for overstaging her concert performances with extravagances in costuming and atmosphere that detracted from the music. Similar criticisms were launched about her 1977 television special, An Evening with Diana. Meanwhile, she went through stormy affairs with actor Ryan O'Neal and Gene Simmons of the rock group Kiss.

Ross's longtime relationship with Motown also soured. Claiming that she had "gone as far as I could in that relationship," according to Essence, she left Motown to sign a purported $20-million dollar contract with RCA for the United States, and one with Capitol for the rest of the world. She achieved immediate success with her new label with the release of Why Do Fools Fall in Love? in 1981. That year, she also paired up with Lionel Richie on the title song for the movie Endless Love, which turned out to be one of her major hits of the decade.

Demonstrating superior business skills, Ross set up a number of corporations under her name and accumulated massive wealth during her solo years. She has often been called dictatorial in both her business and artistic ventures, as well as susceptible to drastic changes of mood. Many have blamed her for forcing Florence Ballard out of the Supremes, who left in the late 1960s, but Ross has denied it. In her 1993 autobiography, Secrets of a Sparrow, Ross recounted her life as a Supreme, solo performer, actress, businesswoman, wife, and mother of five children. She wrote about her complicated relationship with Berry Gordy over the years, and tried to dispel some of the negative images that have proliferated in other books about her life.

Ross returned to Motown in 1989 with her Workin' Overtime album, with an additional role as partner on the company's board of directors. She career lagged during the next few years. Then it was resuscitated by her well-received 1991 album, The Force Behind the Power, which featured contemporary ballads written by Stevie Wonder and other artists. On other fronts, Ross initiated efforts to produce three made-for-television movies, two them star vehicles for her. In Out of Darkness, aired by ABC in January of 1994, she played a schizophrenic who is repeatedly institutionalized. In his review in People, David Hiltbrand wrote, "Ross's performance is inspired both in the ferocious beginning and later, in a more subdued fashion, in conveying the way regret and resolve commingle in a person who is recovering from an incapacitating disease that has hacked years out of her life."

In 1999, Ross co-starred with pop-singer Brandy in the ABC television movie, Double Platinum. The movie tells the story of the reunion of a young singer, played by Brandy, and the now-superstar mother who abandoned her (Ross). According to Hollywood Reporter, the movie "delivers a series of musical extravaganzas."

That same year, Ross released a new album entitled, Every Day Is A New Day. According to Michael Paoletta of Billboard, "the album is primarily steeped in lush ballads and sensual midtempo jams." However, Paoletta notes that Ross's cover of Martha Wash's "Carry On" is a definite stand out dance track and that Ross has given the song "a new lease on life." The album also featured several songs performed on the television movie Double Platinum.

Ross was arrested in September of 1999 after allegedly assaulting a female security officer at Heathrow airport in London, England. Ross, who was waiting to board a flight to New York, was subjected to a routine frisking after her silver belt buckle set off the metal detector. Ross claimed that the officer had touched her breast during the body search. Witnesses reported that Ross reacted by touching the security officer's breast and asking, "How do you like it?" After boarding her flight, the police removed Ross from the plane and placed her under arrest. Ross was held at the police station for five hours. "I sat in the police room crying my eyes out," Ross said in The Mirror. "I was frightened, absolutely terrified. I felt violated and humiliated." She was then released with a caution from police.

Return to Love tour

Controversy began shortly after it was announced that Diana Ross and the Supremes would embark on a reunion tour in 2000. The tour, named the Return to Love tour, did not feature original Supreme Mary Wilson. When she was offered $2 million dollars and Ross was offered $20 million, Wilson, feeling that the offer was not a fair one, declined to join the tour. Wilson, whose financial disputes with Ross were highly publicized, told Jet that she felt an offer of "a third" of the tour's profits would have been more appropriate, considering that she is a founding member of the Supremes. Cindy Birdsong, who replaced original member Florence Ballard, also declined to appear after receiving an offer that, according to Wilson, "wasn't even a million." Instead, Scherrie Payne and Lynda Laurence, who Mary Wilson hired after Ross left the Supremes, were recruited for the tour.

The controversial tour was not a successful one. At most venues, less than half of the tickets were sold. Gary Bongiovanni, a concert magazine writer, told People Weekly that the public felt the tour "wasn't a real Supremes reunion." The tour's controversy was also flamed by frequent cancellations until, finally, the Return to Love tour was canceled due to low ticket sales.

Few women have had as much of an impact on music and the entertainment business overall as Diana Ross. Evolving from lead singer with one of the most successful female pop groups ever to blockbuster solo performer and recording artist, she has managed to achieve success with almost every change of identity. As was written in The Harmony Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, "Like all survivors, Ross has adapted well, handling pop, soul, disco and rock masterfully."

Awards

Selected Awards: Citation, President Lyndon; citation, SCLC; Grammy Award, Best Female Vocalist, 1970; Billboard, Cash Box, and Record World Awards for Best Female Vocalist, 1970; Female Entertainer of the year, NAACP, 1970; Academy Award nomination, Best Actress (Lady Sings the Blues), 1972; Cue Award, Entertainer of the Year, 1972; Antoinette Perry (Tony) Award, 1972; Golden Globe Award, 1972; Gold Medal Award, Photoplay, 1972; Inductee, Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, 1988.

Works

Selected discography

  • Singles
  • With The Supremes:
  • "Where did Our Love Go?," 1964.
  • "Baby Love," 1964.
  • "Stop! In the Name of Love!," 1965.
  • "I Hear a Symphony," 1965.
  • "My World Is Empty Without You," 1966.
  • "You Can't Hurry Love," 1966.
  • "Reflections," 1967.
  • "Love Child," 1968.
  • "Someday We'll Be Together," 1969.
  • Solo releases
  • "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)," 1970.
  • "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," 1970.
  • "Touch Me in the Morning," 1973.
  • "Do You Know Where You're Going To (Theme from 'Mahogany')," 1976.
  • "Love Hangover," 1976.
  • "Upside Down," 1980.
  • "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?," 1981.
  • "Missing You," 1985.
  • With Marvin Gaye
  • "You're a Special Part of Me," 1973.
  • With Lionel Richie:
  • "Endless Love," 1982.
  • Albums
  • With The Supremes:
  • Meet the Supremes, Motown, 1964.
  • Live at the Apollo, Motown, 1964.
  • More Hits, Motown, 1965.
  • The Supremes Sing Motown, Motown, 1967.
  • Greatest Hits, Motown, 1968.
  • The Supremes Join the Temptations, Motown, 1969.
  • Solo releases
  • Diana Ross, Motown, 1970.
  • Lady Sings the Blues, Motown, 1972.
  • Greatest Hits, Motown, 1976.
  • Why Do Fools Fall in Love?, RCA/Capitol, 1981.
  • Swept Away, Capitol, 1984.
  • The Force Behind the Power, Motown, 1991.
  • Every Day Is A New Day, 1999.

Further Reading

Books

  • Clifford, Mike, consultant, The Harmony Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, sixth edition, Harmony Books, 1988, pp. 148-49, 169.
  • Ross, Diana, Secrets of a Sparrow, Villard Books, 1993.
Periodicals
  • Billboard, May 8, 1999, May 22, 1999, July 22, 2000.
  • Cosmopolitan, November 1989, pp. 280-85.
  • Ebony, February 1970.
  • Essence, October 1989, pp. 70-2, 128, 130, 133.
  • Hollywood Reporter, May 18, 1999.
  • Interview, October 1981.
  • Jet, July 24, 2000, May 15, 2000.
  • The Mirror (London, England), September 23, 1999.
  • New York Daily News, July 9, 1974.
  • New York Times, July 15, 1976; March 4, 1977; July 25, 1977; February 19, 1989; September 21, 1991, p. 11; November 17, 1993, p. C-20.
  • People, January 17, 1994, p. 11.
  • People Weekly, July 17, 2000.
  • Publisher's Weekly, November 1, 1993, p. 33.
  • Rolling Stone, November 23, 1972; September 8, 1988.
  • South China Morning Post, September 23, 1999.
  • Woman's Day, March 20, 1990, pp. 55, 58, 60, 61.

— Ed Decker and Jennifer M. York

Quotes By:

Diana Ross

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Quotes:

"You can't just sit there and wait for people to give you that golden dream. You've got to get out there and make it happen for yourself."

"Instead of looking at the past, I put myself ahead twenty years and try to look at what I need to do now in order to get there then."

"With the Supremes I made so much money so fast all I wanted to do was buy clothes and pretty things. Now I'm comfortable with money and it's comfortable with me."

AMG AllMovie Guide:

Diana Ross

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Biography

African-American musical superstar Diana Ross may well be a by-product of the almost crippling shyness she has suffered since childhood. Reportedly, it took a lot out of young Ross to work up the courage to sing in her church choir; but once she decided that music was to be her bread and butter, there was no stopping her. With Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson, Ross formed the now-legendary R&B "girl group" the Supremes, which was elevated from a local Detroit attraction to international renown by Motown Records maven Berry Gordy. When Florence Ballard was replaced by Cindy Birdsong in 1967, the group's name was changed to Diana Ross and the Supremes (which it had essentially been all along). Ross struck out on her own in 1969; within 12 months, her popularity was such that she was voted Entertainer of the Year by the NAACP. In 1972, she made her long-anticipated film debut in Lady Sings the Blues, delivering a bravura performance as blues great Billie Holliday. Nominated for an Oscar, Ross lost the statuette to Liza Minnelli, but did take home a Golden Globe Award. Her follow-up attempts at film stardom were major disappointments: Mahogany (1975) was utterly forgettable save for its signature tune "Do You Know Where You're Going To," while The Wiz (1978) suffered from bad casting decisions and an utter lack of a consistent style. Despite her failures on the big screen, Ross continued to excel as a recording artist. She floundered a bit when she left Motown in 1980, but was back on top the following year after signing with RCA. In 1977, Diana won a Tony Award for her starring Broadway revue, and in 1988 she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Diana Ross showed no signs of slowing down in the 1990s: in 1993, she wrote a book titled Secrets of a Sparrow; in 1994, she made her TV-movie acting debut, playing a paranoid schizophrenic in the commendable Out of Darkness; and in 1996, she was center of attention in what was arguably one of the most spectacular Super Bowl half-time shows ever conceived. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Gale Musician Profiles:

Diana Ross

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Singer

As lead singer for The Supremes, the most successful female vocal group in pop music history, Diana Ross became world famous during the mid-1960s. She continued to fan the flames of stardom after becoming a solo act at the end of the decade and later received accolades as an actress in a number of star vehicles. In the process, she became one of the most influential and wealthiest women in show business.

"Although never a commanding instrument, Ross's small, syrupy voice with its dash of vinegar can convey a certain calculated poignancy," wrote Stephen Holden in the New York Times in 1991. Using this voice to deliver the songs of ace songwriters Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Brian Holland for Motown, Ross and The Supremes generated a phenomenal fourteen top-ten records from 1964 and 1967, including ten number-one hits. As a solo artist or in duets after leaving the Supremes, Ross continued climbing into the hit parade with a dozen top-ten singles from 1970 to 1985.

Grew Up in the Ghetto
Diana Ross was raised in the low-income Brewster-Douglass housing project in Detroit, where she had to share one bed with two sisters and three brothers. Despite the obvious hardship, Ross recalls her childhood as a happy one. "We always had a good life," she told Woman's Day in 1990. "It wasn't like we had gobs of money. But we always had what we needed somehow. Later on, I found out that our neighborhood is called the ghetto. But, basically, it was a warm, loving family environment. There was always something exciting going on."

Singing in the choir at the local Olivet Baptist church led to her meeting Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard, and the threesome later sang together at social functions. They joined up with Betty Anderson in 1959 to become The Primettes as a sister group to The Primes formed by Eddie Kendricks, which would later become The Temptations. Anderson was later replaced by Barbara Martin—who dropped out in 1962—which solidified the group as a trio. Still in high school, the Primettes took in about $15 a week as performers. They also made some recordings for the small Lupine label, which weren't released until after the girls achieved stardom as the Supremes.

When the new Motown Records company was started in Detroit, Ross and her fellow singers began hanging around the building in hopes of being discovered. Ross gives a lot of credit to her mother in supporting her quest to become a singer. As she told Woman's Day, "She [her mother] said, 'Is this what you want to do? Do you think you can do this well?' And I said 'Yes.' And she said, 'I want you to finish high school and we'll do that.'" Berry Gordy, Jr., the creator of Motown, brought the Primettes and Primes on board in 1961. The Primettes were so young that their parents had to be in attendance when the contracts were signed. Gordy renamed the group The Supremes and used them primarily as backup singers for established Motown artists such as Marvin Gaye and Mary Wells.

During the next few years, Ross spent a good deal of time on the road gaining singing experience but not building her reputation to any degree. Although the group cut its first Motown single in 1961, they lacked the distinctive sound that was necessary to click with listening audiences. It wasn't until Gordy assigned Holland, Dozier, and Holland to create songs for them that the group struck a chord. The first of these songs, with Ross on lead, was the two-million seller "Where Did Our Love Go?" released in 1964. Within a year, the group recorded six number-one hits including "Baby Love," "Come See About Me," "Stop! In the Name of Love," "Back in My Arms Again," and "I Hear a Symphony."

Broke New Ground for Female Groups
Somewhat tame compared to other Motown acts of the time, The Supremes had a gentle sound supported by just enough of a beat to make their records danceable, which deftly accented Ross's appealing, youthful voice. In 1988, Rolling Stone listed "Stop! In the Name of Love" at number ten on its list of Top 100 singles in pop music. The Harmony Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock said that the "Supremes' '60s output with Holland/Dozier/Holland ranks among finest pop music ever."

In addition to closing the color gap in women's music in the 1960s, The Supremes made the music more marketable by presenting a glamorous image along with a touch of soul that was not demonstrated by other women's groups. Critical to the group's success, of course, was Diana Ross, who proved her versatility by applying the Motown sound to ballads, country and western songs, and even psychedelic numbers. As was indicated in Rolling Stone, the output of the Supremes was "almost a perfect song cycle, progressing steadily from the wide-eyed simplicity and sexy vulnerability of the first hit to the world-weary complexity of the last."

Ross's personal relationship with label founder Berry Gordy enabled the singer to ditch the group's shared spotlight scenario for heightened individual status. As a result, in 1969, the group's name was changed to Diana Ross and The Supremes, although even then the lead singer was planning her departure from the trio. Her exit into a solo career became official after a final performance with The Supremes at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas in January of 1970. Her final Supremes recording in 1969, "Someday We'll Be Together," was the group's 12th number-one song with Ross. Various line-ups of the Supremes scored several top 40 hits, most notably "Up the Ladder to the Roof" and "Stoned Love," before they officially disbanded in 1976, only to be revived as a touring act with Mary Wilson as the lead singer in 1983.

Expanded Range as Solo Performer
Solo, Ross steadily moved up from the nightclub circuit to major concert tours in the 1970s. She hit the charts with Ashford and Simpson's "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" in 1970, and soared to number one with her version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" later that year. Under Gordy's careful direction, Ross was upgraded from pop singing superstar to rock and pop diva by appearing in elaborately staged performances and television specials.

Ross also ventured onto the big screen with a much heralded performance as Billie Holiday in 1972's Lady Sings the Blues. Ross earned an Academy Award nomination for her performance, but the film itself was not favorably reviewed. Her drawing power was evident in her being able to make that film and the subsequent Mahogany box office successes despite a lack of critical support. The soundtracks for her movies were also popular with the public.

With number one hits such as "Touch Me in the Morning," Ross transcended the pop formulas that had fueled the success of The Supremes. As a solo artist she concentrated largely on ballads that capitalized on her ability to generate emotion. For a time during the early 1970s, she focused on jazz numbers, and she often performed songs that had been part of Holiday's repertoire. She was especially acclaimed for her performance at Radio City Music Hall that closed the Newport (now New York) Jazz Festival in 1974. Then she shifted away from jazz and back to pop music, performing a wide range of pop standards along with her own music at concerts. Her repertoire ran the gamut from Rodgers and Hart songs to Beatles songs and show tunes, along with medleys of her hits with The Supremes.

Ross somewhat surprised audiences in 1976 when she ventured into the realm of disco music and recorded the number-one hit "Love Hangover." Meanwhile, her concert performances had become major media events. Robert Palmer wrote in the New York Times in 1977 that "in stage shows, she is perfectly at home with contemporary middle-of-the-road material. On records, she continued to be convincing as a rhythm-and-blues singer, performing an updated disco-style idiom." Ross added another category to her resume in 1978 when she starred in the movie version of the Broadway hit, The Wiz. She had purchased the rights to the film and had changed the character of Dorothy to an adult so that she could play a role, a move that was criticized by many at the time.

Left Motown for RCA
By the late 1970s, Ross's live show often featured tributes to legendary blues singers such as Josephine Baker, Ethel Waters, and Bessie Smith. However, by then she often drew criticism for overstaging her concert performances with extravagances in costuming and atmosphere that detracted from the music. Similar criticisms were launched about her 1977 television special, An Evening with Diana. Meanwhile, she went through stormy affairs with actor Ryan O'Neal and Gene Simmons of the rock group Kiss.

Ross's longtime relationship with Motown also soured. Claiming that she had "gone as far as I could in that relationship," according to Essence, she left Motown to sign a purported $20 million dollar contract with RCA for the United States, and one with Capitol for the rest of the world. She achieved immediate success with her new label with the release of Why Do Fools Fall in Love? in 1981. That year, she also paired up with Lionel Richie on the title song for the movie Endless Love, which turned out to be one of her major hits of the decade.

Demonstrating admirable business skills, Ross set up a number of corporations under her name and accumulated massive wealth during her solo years. She has often been called dictatorial in both her business and artistic ventures, as well as susceptible to drastic changes of mood. Many have blamed her for forcing Florence Ballard out of the Supremes, who left in the late 1960s, but Ross has denied it. In her 1993 autobiography, Secrets of a Sparrow, Ross recounted her life as a Supreme, solo performer, actress, business-woman, wife, and mother of five children. She wrote about her complicated relationship with Berry Gordy over the years, and tried to dispel some of the negative images that have proliferated in other books about her life.

Ross returned to Motown in 1989 with her Workin' Overtime album, with an additional role as partner on the company's board of directors. Her career lagged during the next few years. It was then resuscitated by her well-received 1991 album, The Force Behind the Power, which featured contemporary ballads written by Stevie Wonder and other artists. On other fronts, Ross initiated efforts to produce three made-for-television movies, two them star vehicles for her. In Out of Darkness, aired by ABC in January of 1994, she played a schizophrenic who is repeatedly institutionalized. In his review in People, David Hiltbrand wrote, "Ross's performance is inspired both in the ferocious beginning and later, in a more subdued fashion, in conveying the way regret and resolve commingle in a person who is recovering from an incapacitating disease that has hacked years out of her life."

In 1999, Ross co-starred with pop-singer Brandy in the ABC television movie, Double Platinum. The movie tells the story of the reunion of a young singer, played by Brandy, and the now-superstar mother who abandoned her (Ross). That same year, Ross released a new album entitled, Every Day Is A New Day. According to Michael Paoletta of Billboard, "the album is primarily steeped in lush ballads and sensual midtempo jams." However, Paoletta notes that Ross's cover of Martha Wash's "Carry On" is a definite stand out dance track and that Ross has given the song "a new lease on life." The album also featured several songs performed on the television movie Double Platinum.

Ross was arrested in September of 1999 after allegedly assaulting a female security officer at Heathrow airport in London, England. Ross, who was waiting to board a flight to New York, was subjected to a routine frisking after her silver belt buckle set off the metal detector. Ross claimed that the officer had touched her breast during the body search. Witnesses reported that Ross reacted by touching the security officer's breast and asking, "How do you like it?" After boarding her flight, the police removed Ross from the plane and placed her under arrest. Ross was held at the police station for five hours. "I sat in the police room crying my eyes out," Ross said in The Mirror. "I was frightened, absolutely terrified. I felt violated and humiliated." She was then released with a caution from police.

Return to Love Tour
Controversy began shortly after it was announced that Diana Ross and the Supremes would embark on a reunion tour in 2000. The tour, named the Return to Love tour, did not feature original Supreme Mary Wilson. When she was offered two million dollars and Ross was offered twenty million, Wilson, feeling that the offer was not a fair one, declined to join the tour. Wilson, whose financial disputes with Ross were highly publicized, told Jet that she felt an offer of "a third" of the tour's profits would have been more appropriate, considering that she is a founding member of the Supremes. Cindy Birdsong, who replaced original member Florence Ballard, also declined to appear after receiving an offer that, according to Wilson, "wasn't even a million." Instead, Scherrie Payne and Lynda Laurence, who Mary Wilson hired after Ross left the Supremes, were recruited for the tour.

The controversial tour was not a successful one. At most venues, less than half of the tickets were sold. Gary Bongiovanni, a concert magazine writer, told People Weekly that the public felt the tour "wasn't a real Supremes reunion." The tour's controversy was also flamed by frequent cancellations until, finally, the Return to Love tour was canceled due to low ticket sales.

The early 2000s were not kind to the fading superstar. A conviction on DUI (driving under the influence of alcohol) charges made her the subject of national ridicule via the television show Saturday Night Live. As a form of damage control, Ross addressed the controversies of her later career in 2004 with the second volume of her autobiography, Wrong Turns, Right Turns and the Road Ahead. Although her days as a commercial force seem spent, few artists have had as much of an impact on music, and the entertainment business overall, as Diana Ross.

Selected discography

Singles with The Supremes
"Where did Our Love Go?," 1964.
"Come See About Me," 1964.
"Baby Love," 1964.
"Stop! In the Name of Love!," 1965.
"Back in My Arms Again," 1965.
"I Hear a Symphony," 1965.
"My World Is Empty Without You," 1966.
"You Can't Hurry Love," 1966.
"You Keep Me Hangin' On," 1966.
"Love is Here and Now You're Gone," 1967.
"Reflections," 1967.
"The Happening," 1967.
"Love Child," 1968.
"I'm Gonna Make You Love Me," 1968.
"Someday We'll Be Together," 1969.

Solo singles
"Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)," 1970.
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough," 1970.
"Touch Me in the Morning," 1973.
"Do You Know Where You're Going To (Theme from 'Mahogany')," 1976.
"Love Hangover," 1976.
"Upside Down," 1980.
"Why Do Fools Fall in Love?," 1981.
"Missing You," 1985.
(With Marvin Gaye) "You're a Special Part of Me," 1973.
(With Lionel Richie) "Endless Love," 1982.

Albums with The Supremes
Meet the Supremes, Motown, 1964.
Live at the Apollo, Motown, 1964.
More Hits, Motown, 1965.
The Supremes Sing Motown, Motown, 1967.
Greatest Hits, Motown, 1968.
The Supremes Join the Temptations, Motown, 1969.

Solo albums
Diana Ross, Motown, 1970.
Lady Sings the Blues, Motown, 1972.
Greatest Hits, Motown, 1976.
Why Do Fools Fall in Love?, RCA/Capitol, 1981.
Swept Away, Capitol, 1984.
The Force Behind the Power, Motown, 1991.
Every Day Is A New Day, Motown, 1999.

Life & Love: The Very Best of Diana Ross, EMI, 2000.
The #1's, Motown 2004.

Sources
Books
Clifford, Mike, consultant, The Harmony Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, sixth edition, Harmony Books, 1988.
Rees, Dafydd, and Crampton, Luke VH1 Rock Stars Encyclopedia, new edition, Dorling Kindersley, 1999.
Ross, Diana, Secrets of a Sparrow, Villard, 1993.
Whitburn, Joel, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, seventh edition, Billboard Books, 2000.

Periodicals
Billboard, May 8, 1999; May 22, 1999; July 22, 2000.
Cosmopolitan, November 1989.
Ebony, February 1970.
Essence, October 1989.
Hollywood Reporter, May 18, 1999.
Interview, October 1981.
Jet, July 24, 2000; May 15, 2000.
The Mirror (London, England), September 23, 1999.
New York Daily News, July 9, 1974.
New York Times, July 15, 1976; March 4, 1977; July 25, 1977; February 19, 1989; September 21, 1991; November 17, 1993.
People, January 17, 1994; July 17, 2000.
Publisher's Weekly, November 1, 1993, p. 33.
Rolling Stone, November 23, 1972; September 8, 1988.
South China Morning Post, September 23, 1999.
Woman's Day, March 20, 1990.

Online
"Diana Ross," All Music Guide, http://www.allmusic.com (February 22, 2004).
"Diana Ross," Internet Movie Database, http://www.imdb.com (February 22, 2004).
AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists:

Diana Ross

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Biography

As a solo artist, Diana Ross is one of the most successful female singers of the rock era. If you factor in her work as the lead singer of the Supremes in the 1960s, she may be the most successful. With her friends Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard, and Barbara Martin, Ross formed the Primettes vocal quartet in 1959. In 1960, they were signed to local Motown Records, changing their name to the Supremes in 1961. Martin then left, and the group continued as a trio. Over the next eight years, the Supremes (renamed "Diana Ross and the Supremes" in 1967, when Cindy Birdsong replaced Ballard) scored 12 number one pop hits. After the last one, "Someday We'll Be Together" (October 1969), Ross launched a solo career.

Motown initially paired her with writer/producers Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, who gave her four Top 40 pop hits, including the number one "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (July 1970). Ross branched out into acting, starring in a film biography of Billie Holiday, Lady Sings the Blues (November 1972). The soundtrack went to number one, and Ross was nominated for an Academy Award.

She returned to record-making with the Top Ten album Touch Me in the Morning (June 1973) and its chart-topping title song. This was followed by a duet album with Marvin Gaye, Diana & Marvin (October 1973), that produced three chart hits. Ross acted in her second movie, Mahogany (October 1975), and it brought her another chart-topping single in the theme song, "Do You Know Where You're Going To." That and her next number one, the disco-oriented "Love Hangover" (March 1976), were featured on her second album to be titled simply Diana Ross (February 1976), which rose into the Top Ten.

Ross' third film role came in The Wiz (October 1978). The Boss (May 1979) was a gold-selling album, followed by the platinum-selling Diana (May 1980) (the second of her solo albums with that name, though the other, a 1971 TV soundtrack, had an exclamation mark). It featured the number one single "Upside Down" and the Top Ten hit "I'm Coming Out."

Ross scored a third Top Ten hit in 1980 singing the title theme from the movie It's My Turn. She then scored the biggest hit of her career with another movie theme, duetting with Lionel Richie on "Endless Love" (June 1981). It was her last big hit on Motown; after more than 20 years, she decamped for RCA. She was rewarded immediately with a million-selling album, titled after her remake of the old Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers hit, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," which became her next Top Ten hit. The album also included the Top Ten hit "Mirror, Mirror."

Silk Electric (October 1982) was a gold-seller, featuring the Top Ten hit "Muscles," written and produced by Michael Jackson, and Swept Away (September 1984) was another successful album, containing the hit "Missing You," but Ross had trouble selling records in the second half of the 1980s. By 1989, she had returned to Motown, and by 1993 was turning more to pop standards, notably on the concert album Diana Ross Live: The Lady Sings...Jazz & Blues, Stolen Moments (April 1993).

Motown released a four-CD/cassette box set retrospective, Forever Diana, in October 1993, and the singer published her autobiography in 1994. Take Me Higher followed a year later, and in 1999 she returned with Every Day Is a New Day. 2000's Gift of Love was promoted by a concert tour featuring the Supremes, although neither Mary Wilson nor Cindy Birdsong appeared -- their roles were instead assumed by singers Lynda Laurence and Scherrie Payne, neither of whom had ever performed with Ross during the group's glory days. In 2006 Motown finally released Ross' lost album Blue, a collection of standards originally intended as the follow-up to Lady Sings the Blues. The album I Love You from 2007 featured new interpretations of familiar love songs. That same year the cable television network BET honored Ross with their Lifetime Achievement Award. ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi
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Diana Ross

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For other people named Diana Ross, see Diana Ross (disambiguation).
Diana Ross

Diana Ross performing at the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo
Background information
Birth name Diana Ernestine Earle Ross
Born (1944-03-26) March 26, 1944 (age 68)
Detroit, Michigan
Genres R&B, soul, disco, jazz, pop, dance
Occupations Singer, record producer, actress
Years active 1959-present
Labels Lu Pine, Motown, RCA, EMI
Associated acts The Supremes, The Temptations, The Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie
Website www.dianaross.com

Diana Ernestine Earle Ross (born March 26, 1944[1]) is an American singer, record producer, and actress.

Diana Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that has included successful ventures into film and Broadway. She received a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her role as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues (1972), for which she won a Golden Globe award. She has won seven American Music Awards, was honored with a 2012 Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award,[2] and won a Tony Award for her one-woman show, An Evening with Diana Ross, in 1977.[3]

In 1976, Billboard magazine named her the "Female Entertainer of the Century."[4] In 1993, the Guinness Book of World Records declared Diana Ross the most successful female music artist in history due to her success in the United States and United Kingdom for having more hits than any female artist in the charts with a career total of 18 number one records in the United States. Diana Ross has sold more than 100 million records worldwide.[5]

Ross is one of the few recording artists to have two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame—one as a solo artist and the other as a member of The Supremes. In December 2007, she received the Kennedy Center Honors.

Contents

Early life

Diana Ross, the daughter of Ernestine (née Moten) (January 27, 1916 – October 9, 1984), a schoolteacher, and Fred Ross, Sr. (July 4, 1920 – November 21, 2007), a former United States Army soldier, was born at Hutzel Women's Hospital[6] in Detroit, Michigan. Ross said that she did not see her father until he returned from serving in World War II. Much has been made of whether her first name ends in an "a" or an "e". According to Ross, her mother actually named her "Diane" but a clerical error resulted in her name being recorded as "Diana" on her birth certificate. She always went by "Diane" at home and at school. Her high school yearbook listed her as "Diana" and as early as 1963, when The Supremes released their first album, she was listed in the liner notes as "Diana". At The Supremes' first Copacabana engagement in 1965, she introduced herself to the audience as "Diane", but later that year she started introducing herself as "Diana". Her intimates still call her "Diane".[7][8]

After living on Belmont Road in Detroit's North End for several years, Ross's family settled on St. Antoine Street in the Brewster-Douglass housing projects on Ross' fourteenth birthday in 1958. Ross aspired to be a fashion designer, and studied design, millinery, pattern-making and seamstress skills while attending Cass Technical High School, a four-year college preparatory magnet school, in downtown Detroit. In her late teens, Ross worked at Hudson's Department Store where, it was claimed in biographies, that she was the first black employee "allowed outside the kitchen". Ross graduated in January 1962, one semester earlier than her classmates. Ross' parents had a difficult marriage and separated when Ross was still in her teens.

Career

The Supremes: 1959–1970

Main article: The Supremes

In 1959, Ross was brought to the attention of Milton Jenkins, the manager of the local doo-wop group The Primes, by Mary Wilson. Primes member Paul Williams convinced Jenkins to enlist Ross in the sister group The Primettes, which included Wilson, Florence Ballard and Betty McGlown. Ross, Wilson and Ballard each sang lead during live performances. In 1960, Lu Pine Records signed the group and issued the Ross-led single "Tears of Sorrow" backed with the Wilson-led "Pretty Baby". After winning a singing contest in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Ross approached former neighbor Smokey Robinson for an audition at the label with which he recorded, Motown Records. The group garnered the audition and impressed Motown's CEO, Berry Gordy (who arrived at the audition during the group's performance), but declined to work with the group due to their being underaged. Undeterred, the group would stand outside the label's Hitsville U.S.A. studios hoping to grab attention, eventually providing backing vocals & hand claps for many of Motown's more established artists. Meanwhile during the group's struggling early years, Ross earned pay in the day as Berry Gordy's secretary. She also served at the group's main hair stylist, make-up artist, seamstress & costume designer during this period.

The Supremes in 1965. Left to right: Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson and Diana Ross.

In 1961, having already replaced McGlown with Barbara Martin, the quartet signed with Motown Records under their new moniker, The Supremes, chosen by Florence Ballard, who was the only member to be present when the group was offered a name change. Both Ross and Wilson initially disliked the name, afraid they would be mistaken for a men's group (Ruby & the Romantics' original name was The Supremes) but the name stuck regardless.

Following Martin's exit in 1962, the group remained a trio. In 1963, Ross became the group's lead singer, as Berry Gordy felt the group could "cross over" to the pop charts with Ross' unique vocal quality, and the Ross-led "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes" became the group's first Billboard Top 40 Pop single. The Supremes hit number one with "Where Did Our Love Go", a song rejected by The Marvelettes, and then achieved unprecedented success: between August 1964 and May 1967, Ross, Wilson and Ballard sang on ten number-one hit singles, all of which also made the UK Top 40.

Gordy removed Florence Ballard from the group in July 1967 and chose Cindy Birdsong, a member of Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles, as her replacement. At about the same time, he changed the group's name to Diana Ross & the Supremes.

Motown initially conceived of a solo career for Diana Ross in 1966, but did not act on it until 1968. Television specials such as TCB (1968) and G.I.T. on Broadway (1969) were designed to spotlight her as a star in her own right, and much of the later Ross-led Supremes material was recorded by Ross with session singers The Andantes, not Wilson and Birdsong, on backing vocals. By the summer of 1969, Ross began her first solo recordings. In November of the same year, three years after it was first rumored, Billboard magazine confirmed Ross's departure from the group to begin her solo career. That same year, Ross introduced Motown's newest act, The Jackson 5, to national audiences on The Hollywood Palace television variety program.

Ross recorded her initial solo sessions with a number of producers, including Bones Howe and Johnny Bristol. Her first track with Bristol, "Someday We'll Be Together", was tagged as a potential solo single, but it instead was issued as the final Diana Ross & the Supremes release. "Someday We'll Be Together" was the 12th and final number-one hit for the Supremes and the last American number-one hit of the 1960s. Ross made her final appearance with the Supremes at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas on January 14, 1970.

Early solo career: 1970–1981

After a half-year of recording material with various producers, Ross settled with the production team of Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, the creative force behind Marvin Gaye's and Tammi Terrell's hit duets and Diana Ross & the Supremes' "Some Things You Never Get Used To". Ashford and Simpson helmed most of Ross's first album, Diana Ross, and continued to write and produce for her for the next decade.

In 1994, The Supremes were recognized with a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7060 Hollywood Blvd.

In May 1970, Diana Ross was released on Motown. The first single, the gospel-influenced waltz, "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)", peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album's second single, a fully rearranged cover of Gaye's and Terrell's 1967 hit, and another Ashford and Simpson composition, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", was an international hit, and gave Ross her first #1 pop single and gold record award as a solo artist. "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female. In 1971, Motown released Ross's second album Everything Is Everything, which produced Ross's first UK number-one solo single, "I'm Still Waiting". Several months later, Ross released Surrender, which included the top-20 pop hit, "Remember Me". That year, she hosted her first solo television special, Diana!, featuring guest appearances by The Jackson 5, Bill Cosby and Danny Thomas.

In 1973 Ross returned to number-one with the single "Touch Me in the Morning". The album of the same name became her first top five charted pop release. Later that same year, Ross and fellow Motown star Marvin Gaye released a duet album, Diana & Marvin. The duo scored an international hit with their cover of The Stylistics' "You Are Everything". Also in 1973, she was the first entertainer in Japan's history to receive an invitation to the Imperial Palace for a private audience with the Empress Nagako, wife of Emperor Hirohito.

Ross' 1974 follow-up album, Last Time I Saw Him, wasn't as successful despite the success of its country-tinged title track. Two years later Ross ventured into disco with "Love Hangover", which returned her to number-one. The self-titled parent album became another top five hit and included her previous number-one, the movie theme, "Do You Know Where You're Going To (Theme from Mahogany)". Ross' subsequent follow-ups, including Baby It's Me (1977) and Ross (1978) fell off the charts soon after they appeared. Ross did have success with her first Broadway one-woman show, An Evening with Diana Ross. Her performance later won her a Tony. She was featured in TV special with the same name.

In 1979 Ross hired former collaborators Ashford & Simpson, who had left Motown in 1973 due to contractual issues with Berry Gordy, to overlook the production of her next album, The Boss. That album produced the hit title track and the modestly successful "It's My House". Ross' working relationship with Berry Gordy had deteriorated at that point as Gordy refused to be an executive producer of the project. In 1980, Ross hired Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of the group CHIC to overlook production of her final contractual Motown album, diana. That album led to major success with "Upside Down" returning Ross to number-one on the pop charts for the first time since "Love Hangover". Its follow-up, "I'm Coming Out", was as successful and both songs found major success overseas.

In 1981, Ross decided not to renew her Motown contract only to discover that everything she thought she had owned was only leased to her by Berry Gordy. Ross accepted a $20 million deal with RCA in 1981, then the most lucrative contract in music. To complete contractual obligations to Motown, Ross recorded several songs with Lionel Richie, one of which, "Endless Love", led to the duo having an international number-one hit. The song was the theme song of the movie of the same name. When "Endless Love" hit #1 in 1981, Diana Ross became the first woman in music history to chart six #1 records. Combining her 12 as lead singer of The Supremes, Diana Ross' career total of number one records is 18, the most for any female recording artist in music history. Mariah Carey tied Ross' record in 2007. Motown issued a compilation album, To Love Again, to compete with Ross' RCA debut.

Film career: 1972–1999

Main articles: Lady Sings the Blues (film), Mahogany (film), The Wiz (film), Out of Darkness, and Double Platinum

Though Ross had previously appeared in two films while a member of The Supremes, it wasn't until the early 1970s when Berry Gordy began to focus on making Ross an actress. In late 1971, Motown announced that Diana Ross was going to portray jazz icon Billie Holiday in a Motown-produced film loosely based on Holiday's autobiography Lady Sings the Blues (1956) written by Holiday and William Dufty. The movie co-starred Billy Dee Williams as Holiday's lover, Louis McKay. The cast also included comedian Richard Pryor as the "Piano Man".

Some critics ridiculed Ross's casting in the role. Ross and Holiday were considered to be "miles apart" in vocal styling and appearance. Undeterred, Ross immersed herself in Holiday's music and life story. She went to drug clinics and talked with doctors as research for the role. Ross made a crucial decision when it came to interpreting Holiday's music. Instead of imitating Billie Holiday's voice, Ross focused on Holiday's seemingly inimitable vocal phrasing.

Opening in October 1972, Lady Sings the Blues was a major success, and Ross's performance was lauded and well received. Jazz critic Leonard Feather, a friend of Billie Holiday, praised Ross for "expertly capturing the essence of Lady Day." In 1973, Ross was nominated for both a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award for "Best Actress". Ross along with fellow nominee that year Cicely Tyson, were the second African American actresses to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress after Dorothy Dandridge. Ross won the Golden Globe for Best Newcomer, but lost the Best Actress Oscar to her friend Liza Minnelli for her role in Cabaret. The soundtrack album for Lady Sings the Blues reached number one on the Billboard 200 for two weeks and broke then industry records by shipping 300,000 copies during its first eight days of release. The double-pocket custom label record is one of Ross's best-selling albums of all time, with total sales to date of nearly two million copies.

In 1975, Ross again co-starred with Billy Dee Williams in the Motown film Mahogany. The story of an aspiring fashion designer who becomes a runway model and the toast of the industry, Mahogany was a troubled production from its inception. The film's original director, Tony Richardson, was fired during production and Berry Gordy assumed the director's chair himself. In addition, Gordy and Ross clashed during filming, with Ross leaving the production before shooting was completed, forcing Gordy to use secretary Edna Anderson as a body double for Ross. While a box office success, the film was not well received by the critics: Time magazine's review of the film chastised Gordy for "squandering one of America's most natural resources: Diana Ross".[9]

In 1977, Motown acquired the film rights to the Broadway play The Wiz, an African-American reinterpretation of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Although teenage Stephanie Mills, a veteran of the play, was originally cast as Dorothy, Ross convinced Universal Pictures producer Rob Cohen to have Ross cast as Dorothy. Because of Ross' age, the script was modified to make the protagonist a school teacher rather than a schoolgirl. Among Ross's costars were Lena Horne, Michael Jackson, Richard Pryor, Nipsey Russell and Ted Ross. Upon its October 1978 release, the film adaptation of The Wiz, a $24 million production, earned $21,049,053 at the box office.[10][11][12] Though pre-release television broadcast rights had been sold to CBS for over $10 million, the film produced a net loss of $10.4 million for Motown and Universal.[11][12] At the time, it was the most expensive film musical ever made.[13] The film's failure ended Ross' short career on the big screen and contributed to the Hollywood studios' reluctance to produce the all-black film projects which had become popular during the blaxploitation era of the early-to-mid 1970s for several years.[14][15][16] The Wiz was Ross' final film for Motown.

Ross had success with movie-themed songs. While her version of Holiday's "Good Morning Heartache" only performed modestly well in early 1973, her recording of "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" gave Ross her third number-one hit, in late 1975. Three years later, Ross and Michael Jackson had a modest dance hit with their recording of "Ease on Down the Road". Their second duet, actually as part of the ensemble of The Wiz, "Brand New Day", found some success overseas. Ross scored a Top 10 hit in late 1980 with the theme song to the 1980 film It's My Turn. The following year, she collaborated with former Commodores singer-songwriter Lionel Richie on the theme song for the film Endless Love. The Academy Award-nominated "Endless Love" single became her final hit on Motown Records, and the number one record of the year. Several years later, in 1988, Ross recorded the theme song to The Land Before Time. "If We Hold On Together" became an international hit reaching number-one in Japan.

Ross would be given movie offers over the years but reportedly turned them down because of either contractual obligations or fears of being typecast. Ross had campaigned to portray pioneering entertainer Josephine Baker in a feature film even during her later years in Motown. However, in 1991, the feature film turned into a TV film with Lynn Whitfield playing Baker instead of Ross. Ross was also offered a role in an early adaptation of The Bodyguard with Ryan O'Neal. However, plans of this adaptation fell through. Years later, Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner assumed the roles of Ross and O'Neal in the 1992 film. In 1993, Ross returned to making movies with a dramatic role in the TV film, Out of Darkness. Ross won acclaim for her role in the film and a well earned third Golden Globe nomination. In 1999, she and Brandy Norwood co-starred in the film, Double Platinum, which was released prior to the release of Ross' album, Every Day Is a New Day.

Later solo career: 1981–1999

Diana Ross's RCA Records debut, Why Do Fools Fall in Love, was issued in October 1981. The album yielded three Top 10 hits including the title track "Why Do Fools Fall in Love", a remake of the 1956 Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers classic of the same name, and the single "Mirror Mirror". A third single, "Work That Body", hit the Top Ten in the UK. That success was repeated if only more modestly with the 1982 album, Silk Electric. Ross' recording of Michael Jackson's "Muscles" gave Ross another top ten hit. Ross' 1983 album, Ross, failed to produce any major success. It's single "Pieces Of Ice" peaked at #31 on the Hot 100 and was more popular as a music video than a Pop hit.

On January 24, 1982, Diana Ross sang the National Anthem at Super Bowl XVI.

On July 21, 1983, Ross performed a concert in Central Park for a taped Showtime special. Proceeds of the concert would be donated to build a playground in the singer's name. Midway through the beginning of the show, a torrential downpour occurred. Ross tried to keep on performing, but the severe weather required that the show be stopped. Ross urged the large crowd to exit the venue safely, promising to perform the next day. The second concert held the very next day was without rain. The funds for the playground were to be derived from sales of different items at the concert; however, all profits earned from the first concert were spent on the second. When the mainstream media discovered the exorbitant costs of the two concerts, Diana Ross faced criticism and poor publicity. Although representatives of Diana Ross originally refused to pay anything for the proposed playground, Ross later paid the $250,000 required to build the park. The Diana Ross Playground was finally built three years later.[17] The Diana Ross Playground at 83rd and Central Park West is a beautiful assortment of wood structures and classic outdoor children's gym obstacles making it a lovely addition to the park.

In 1984, Ross' career spiked yet again with the release of the million-selling Swept Away. The title track became an international hit as did the chart-topping ballad, "Missing You", which was a tribute to Marvin Gaye, who had died earlier that year. Her 1985 album, Eaten Alive, found major success overseas with the title track and "Chain Reaction", although neither of the songs became the best-sellers she was once accustomed to in America. Earlier in 1985, she appeared as part of the supergroup USA for Africa on the "'We Are the World'" charity single, which sold over 20 million copies world wide. Ross' 1987 follow up to Eaten Alive, Red Hot Rhythm & Blues, found less success than the prior album. In 1988, Ross chose to not renew her RCA contract.

Motown Records was being sold by Berry Gordy for $60 million. Ross advised Gordy not to make the move. Before leaving Motown, Gordy offered Ross a contract back to Motown. Ross was at first hesitant to return to the label but agreed after Gordy offered her part-ownership of the label. Despite initial promotion, Ross' next album, Workin' Overtime, bombed. Subsequent follow-ups including The Force Behind the Power (1991), Take Me Higher (1995) and Every Day Is a New Day (1999) produced similarly disappointing sales. Ross had more success overseas with the albums than she did in America. In 1994, Ross performed at the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup, hosted in the USA. Her performance has become a running joke in football circles due to her obvious miming and for missing the goal from close range.[18][19]

On January 28, 1996, Diana Ross performed the Halftime Show at Super Bowl XXX.

In 1999, she was named the most successful female singer in the history of the United Kingdom charts, based upon a tally of her career hits. Madonna would eventually succeed Ross as the most successful female artist in the UK.

Later that year, Ross presented at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards in September of the year and shocked the audience by touching rapper Lil' Kim's exposed breast, pasty-covered nipple, amazed at the young rapper's brashness.[20]

Supremes reunions and Return to Love

Main articles: Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever and Return to Love Tour

In 1983, Ross reunited with former Supremes Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong for the television special Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever. The three performed their 1969 number-one hit "Someday We'll Be Together", although alleged onstage altercations between Ross and Wilson became an issue during and after the taping of the special. A four-song Supremes set was planned but Ross, suffering from influenza, declined to rehearse with "The Girls" and stated that they would have to be happy just doing "Someday We'll Be Together". Before the special was taped later that evening, Wilson allegedly planned with Birdsong to take a step forward every time Ross did the same. This appeared to frustrate Ross, causing her to push Wilson's shoulder. Later, Wilson was not aware of the script set by producer Suzanne DePasse, in which Ross was to introduce Berry Gordy. Wilson took it upon herself to do so,[21] at which point Ross pushed down Wilson's hand-held microphone, stating "It's been taken care of." Ross, then, introduced Gordy.[22] These incidents were excised from the final edit of the taped special, but still made their way into the news media; People magazine reported that "Ross [did] some elbowing to get Wilson out of the spotlight."[23]

The original Supremes were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. Original member Florence Ballard had died twelve years earlier. Ross was performing around the time of the induction ceremony and was unable to attend; Mary Wilson accepted the award.[citation needed] In 1999, Ross, Wilson, Cindy Birdsong & mega-tour promoter SFX(Now LiveNation began negotiations regarding a Supremes tour in which all living former Supremes would participate(See Barbra Walters interview video below.). The negotiations failed, however, and Ross and SFX hired 1970s Supremes members Lynda Laurence and Scherrie Payne, who were touring as the Former Ladies of the Supremes, to participate. The Return to Love tour was launched in June 2000. The tour performed well in large markets, but, struggled in medium markets. Despite selling out its final performance, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, the tour ended abruptly after fourteen performances.[citation needed]

Current work

Wikinews has related news: Kennedy Center names 2007 honors recipients

Following successful European and American tours in 2004, Diana Ross returned to the Billboard music charts with two duets in 2005. "I've Got a Crush on You", recorded with Rod Stewart for his album The Great American Songbook, reached number 19 on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary chart. The second, recorded with Westlife, was a remake of Ross's 1991 number-2 UK single, "When You Tell Me You Love Me", and reached number 2 in the UK, just as the original had, and number 1 in Ireland. In January, 2005, M.A.C. Cosmetics named Diana Ross its beauty icon for 2005. In June 2006, Motown released the shelved Blue album, which peaked at number 2 on Billboard's Jazz Albums chart. Ross' new studio album, I Love You, was released worldwide on October 2, 2006 and January 16, 2007, in North America, on the Manhattan Records/EMI label.[24] Since its release in 2007, EMI Inside reports that I Love You has sold more than 622,000 copies worldwide.

Diana Ross is applauded by her fellow Kennedy Center honorees as she is recognized for her career achievements by President George W. Bush in the East Room of the White House Sunday, Dec. 2, 2007, during the Kennedy Center Gala Reception. From left are singer-songwriter Brian Wilson; filmmaker Martin Scorsese; Ross; comedian, actor and author Steve Martin and pianist Leon Fleisher.

In January 2007, Ross appeared on a number of television shows across the U.S. to promote her new album and began touring in the spring. She appeared on American Idol as a mentor to the contestants[25] Ross's United States "I Love You" tour garnered positive reviews,[26] as did her European tour of the same year.[27]

At the 2007 BET Awards, Ross was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by her five children and singer Alicia Keys. Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu and Chaka Khan performed musical tributes to Ross, covering several of her most popular recordings. During her acceptance speech, Ross lambasted the declining level of professional standards among the younger generation's musicians, as well as their overabundant use of vulgarity and profanity to garner press attention and record sales. Later that year, the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors committee, which recognizes career excellence, cultural influence and contributions to American culture, named Diana Ross as one of its honorees. Past honoree and fellow Motown alumni Smokey Robinson and actor Terrence Howard spoke on her behalf at the official ceremony that December, and singers Ciara, Vanessa L. Williams, Yolanda Adams and American Idol winner Jordin Sparks performed musical tributes.

The lectures are designed to present prolific and influential characters to speak about their life and inspirations. During her lecture Ross stated that it is "unlikely" that she would undertake any further movie projects.

In May 2008, Ross headlined at New York City's Radio City Music Hall's 'Divas with Heart' concert event, which also featured fellow performers Gladys Knight, Chaka Khan and Patti LaBelle. The following month she was a headliner at the City Stages music festival in Birmingham, AL, next to The Flaming Lips. The New York Times said about the duo, "the most incongruous headliners at an outdoor urban concert series, with the once-in-a-lifetime-at-most combination of Diana Ross and the Flaming Lips. Something for everyone, surely." She performed at two major events in the UK in July 2008: the famous Liverpool Pops Festival and the National Trust Summer Festival at Petworth House, West Sussex. In June 2009, Diana Ross' recording of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" was voted a Legendary Michigan Song.[28] On October 16–17, 2009, Diana Ross headlined the annual Dutch concert event, Symphonica in Rosso, in the 34,000-seat Gelredome Stadium, in Arnhem, The Netherlands. She was accompanied by a 40-piece orchestra. Each of the two concerts was sold out.

Ross performed a cross-country tour in the summer of 2010. The More Today Than Yesterday: The Greatest Hits Tour featured an all-new set list, stage design, and costumes galore, and was dedicated to her friend Michael Jackson who died in June 2009. The tour, which commenced on May 15, 2010, in Boston, Massachusetts, earned Ross excellent reviews in every city in which she performed, and concluded in Saratoga, California. An extended American leg of the tour began in September, 2010, and is scheduled to continue until March 2011, in Stamford, Connecticut, after which, another American leg of her tour will begin on September 11, 2011, at Temecula, CA's Pechanga Resort and Casino, & continuing throughout autumn, 2011. It is rumored that Ross will mount European & Asian legs of the tour. In June 2011, Diana Ross was voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends online Hall of Fame.[29] On December 21, 2011, The Recording Academy has announced, along with several legendary artists, including bossa nova originator Antonio Carlos Jobim & late Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Diana Ross received a Grammy Special Merit Lifetime Achievement Award on February 11, 2012. On February 23, 2012, Ross will begin the fifth US leg of her highly successful More Today Than Yesterday: The Greatest Hits Tour at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, in Hollywood, Fla. On May 15, 2012, television studio Shout Out Factory! released an official DVD version of Ross' seminal July 22, 1983 Central Park concert, "For One & For All". Featuring commentary by director Steve Binder, the DVD also features both days' concerts in their entirety. As of May 23, 2012, the DVD is #5 on Amazon's Music Videos & Concerts Best Sellers List.

Personal life

While Ross' mother was supportive of her career, her father was disappointed in her choice to be an entertainer rather than attend college like her other siblings. Biographies later stated Ross' drive was inspired by a lack of a support she felt from her father. Ross and her father's relationship repaired over the years until Fred Ross died in 2007. Ross' mother died in 1984.

Ross' elder sister Barbara found success as a doctor and in 1993, was appointed as dean of the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, becoming the first black American woman to administer a medical school in the United States. Rita Ross, Diana's younger sister, became a teacher. Brothers Arthur and Wilbert "Chico" Ross followed their sister into the recording industry and entertainment business, respectively. Arthur became a songwriter for Motown writing hits for Michael Jackson, The Miracles and Marvin Gaye while Chico became a professional dancer and choreographer joining his elder sister as a choreographer on her shows during the 1970s and 1980s. Eldest brother Fred Ross, Jr., a veteran of the Vietnam War, never followed his sister into show business settling for civilian life in his native Detroit. Brother Arthur and his wife, Patricia Robinson, were murdered in 1996 in the northern Detroit suburb of Oak Park, Michigan. Their bodies were found bound and gagged in their basement. As of this writing, no one has been convicted of the murders. A state's witness disappeared before the case's primary suspect could be tried.

Ross married twice. Her first husband was music business manager Robert Ellis Silberstein, whom she married in January 1971. They divorced in March 1977. In January 1986, after a romantic courtship, Ross married billionaire Norwegian shipping magnate Arne Næss, Jr.. After several years of legal separation, the couple were officially divorced in 2000. Næss was later killed in a mountain climbing accident in 2004. Ross attended his funeral.

Ross is the mother of five children. Daughter Rhonda Suzanne Silberstein was born on August 14, 1971, Rhonda's biological father is Berry Gordy. She is now married; her married name is Rhonda Ross Kendrick. Ross and Silberstein had two daughters: Tracee Joy Silberstein, born October 29, 1972 (now known as Tracee Ellis Ross) and Chudney Lane Silberstein, born November 4, 1975 (now known as Chudney Ross). Ross had two sons with Næss. Their sons are Ross Arne Næss (born October 7, 1987) and Evan Olav Næss (born August 26, 1988), now known as Evan Ross). Ross became a grandmother when daughter Rhonda gave birth to a boy, Raif-Henok Emmanuel Kendrick, on August 7, 2009.

Solo discography

Main article: Diana Ross discography

Filmography

Television

Autobiographies

See also

Book icon Book: Diana Ross
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.
Portal icon The Supremes portal

References

  1. ^ "Diana Ross Was Born On March 26, 1944 | Music Trivia". Musicbyday.com. http://www.musicbyday.com/diana-ross-was-born-on-march-26-1944/425/. Retrieved 2012-04-10. 
  2. ^ "Ross awarded life time achievement - The West Australian". Au.news.yahoo.com. 2012-02-13. http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/entertainment/a/-/music/12885993/ross-awarded-life-time-achievement/. Retrieved 2012-04-10. 
  3. ^ Pynk, Mizz (2010-05-31). "Diana Ross Tour Getting Rave Reviews!! « Pink Celebrity". Pynkcelebrity.com. http://www.pynkcelebrity.com/archives/47119. Retrieved 2012-04-10. 
  4. ^ "A DIANA ROSS' Fan'Site ♥ Celebrating DIANA ROSS's Artistic Achievement ♥ A DIANA ROSS' Fan'Site". Dianaross.awardspace.com. 2012-02-05. http://dianaross.awardspace.com/. Retrieved 2012-04-10. 
  5. ^ "Diana Ross". ACL Live. http://www.acl-live.com/calendar/2011/2/diana-ross. Retrieved 2012-04-10. 
  6. ^ Whitburn, Joel; The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, p. 207
  7. ^ Wilson, Mary (1986). Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme. Cooper Square Press. pp. 169–170. ISBN 0-8154-1000-X. 
  8. ^ George, Nelson (1985). Where Did Our Love Go? The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound. St. Martin's Press. pp. 80–81, 87. ISBN 0-312-01109-1. 
  9. ^ Posner, Gerald. Motown : Music, Money, Sex, and Power, pg. 286.
  10. ^ Sharp, Kathleen (2003). Mr. and Mrs. Hollywood: Edie and Lew Wasserman and Their Entertainment Empire. Carroll & Graf Publishers. pp. 357–358. ISBN 0-7867-1220-1. 
  11. ^ a b Harpole, Charles (2003). History of the American Cinema. Simon and Schuster. pp. 64, 65, 219, 220, 290. ISBN 0-684-80463-8. 
  12. ^ a b Adrahtas, Thomas (2006). A Lifetime to Get Here: Diana Ross: The American Dreamgirl. AuthorHouse. pp. 163–167. ISBN 1-4259-7140-7. 
  13. ^ Skow, John (October 30, 1978). "Nowhere Over the Rainbow". TIME (Time Warner). http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,912236,00.html. Retrieved 2007-11-06. 
  14. ^ Moon, Spencer; George Hill (1997). Reel Black Talk: A Sourcebook of 50 American Filmmakers. Greenwood Press. xii. ISBN 0-313-29830-0. 
  15. ^ Benshoff, Harry M.; Sean Griffin (2004). America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality at the Movies. Blackwell Publishing. p. 88. ISBN 0-631-22583-8. 
  16. ^ George, Nelson (1985). Where Did Our Love Go? The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound. St. Martin's Press. p. 193. 
  17. ^ Anderson, Susan Heller and Deirdre Carmody (September 12, 1986). "NEW YORK DAY BY DAY; Start at Ross Playground." New York Times. [1]
  18. ^ Ben Blackmore (2010-06-09). "World Cup Preview | Football Features". ESPN.co.uk. http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/26075.html. Retrieved 2010-06-30. 
  19. ^ "The Top 10 Funniest World Cup Moments". MarketWatch. 2010-05-27. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-top-10-funniest-world-cup-moments-2010-05-27?reflink=MW_news_stmp. Retrieved 2010-06-30. 
  20. ^ "Diana Ross and Lil' Kim's wild VMA moment", Lisa Costantini, August 21, 2002, Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 26, 2007.
  21. ^ Wilson, Mary. Dreamgirl, My Life As A Supreme and Taraborrelli, Randy, "Call Her Miss Ross, George, Nelson " Where Did Our Love Go?, The Rise & Fall Of Motown
  22. ^ Posner, Gerald. Motown : Music, Money, Sex, and Power, pg. 308–309. and Taraborrelli, Randy, "The Unauthorized Biography of Diana Ross.
  23. ^ Wilson, Mary. Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme., pg. 1–5. Taken from Wilson, Mary and Romanowski, Patricia (1986, 1990, 2000). Dreamgirl & Supreme Faith: My Life as a Supreme. New York: Cooper Square Publishers. ISBN 0-8154-1000-X.
  24. ^ Cohen, Jonathan (2006-12-13). "New Diana Ross Album To Get U.S. Release". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003520936. 
  25. ^ ourdailyripa (2007-01-16). "Diana Ross on Live with Regis and Kelly". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyBuWrAGAsU. 
  26. ^ 2007 Tour: Diana Ross is divine in Oakland, California
  27. ^ 2007 European Tour
  28. ^ [http://www.michiganrockandrolllegends.com/legendary-michigan-songs-inductees
  29. ^ [http://www.michiganrockandrolllegends.com/mrrl-hall-of-fame/190-diana-ross

Further reading

  • Taraborrelli, J. Randy (2007-05-01). Diana Ross: A Biography. Citadel. ISBN 0-8065-2849-4. 

External links

 This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (April 2012)
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