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Diana Ross

 
Who2 Biography: Diana Ross, Singer / Actor
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Diana Ross
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  • Born: 26 March 1944
  • Birthplace: Detroit, Michigan
  • Best Known As: Motown megastar who was with The Supremes

Name at birth: Diana Earle

Diana Ross started singing in a trio as a teenager, and in 1960 she and her two partners, Florence Ballard (1943-76) and Mary Wilson (b. 1944) were signed to Motown Records as The Supremes. The group had 12 number one hits (1964-70), including "Baby Love" and "Stop! In the Name of Love," and were one of the most successful pop acts of the decade. Ross emerged as a solo artist in the '70s with hits such as "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Touch Me in the Morning," and received an Oscar nomination for her performance as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues (1972). During the '80s she stayed on the charts and continued to tour, performing hits including "Endless Love," "Upside Down" and "Chain Reaction." Like her good friend Michael Jackson, she became a favorite of the tabloids: in 1999 she was arrested for assaulting a security guard at London's Heathrow Airport and in 2002 she interrupted a concert tour to enter a rehabilitation program for drug and alcohol abuse. In December of 2002 she was arrested in Arizona for driving drunk, resulting in jail time and treatment for alcohol abuse. She bounced back in 2005 with a duet with Rod Stewart, "I've Got a Crush on You," and in 2006 she made the jazz charts with her album Blue. She then released I Love You, an album of modern standards by the likes of Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers, Harry Nilsson and The Beatles.

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Biography: 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.

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."

Artist: Diana Ross
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Diana Ross

Similar Artists:

Mary Wilson, Valerie Simpson, Julio Iglesias, Lionel Richie, Marvin Gaye, Chic, Ashford & Simpson, Precious Wilson, Martha Reeves, Chaka Khan, Barbara Mason, Loleatta Holloway, Betty Everett, Donna Summer, The Stylistics, Smokey Robinson, The Main Ingredient, Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, Thelma Houston, Roberta Flack, Nancy Wilson

Influenced By:

The Temptations

Followers:

Beyoncé, Michael Jackson, Jermaine Jackson, Carly Hennessy, Mónica Naranjo, J.C. Lodge, Donna Summer, Deniece Williams, Kreesha Turner, Zukie Joseph, Solange Knowles, Gloria Gaynor, Christina Milian, The Now Time Delegation, Tweet, Kimberley Locke

Performed Songs By:

Ron Miller, Jackey Beavers, Everett Robbins, Irene Higginbotham, Dan Fisher, Malik Pendleton, Lloyd Tolbert, Pam Sawyer, Sharon Robinson, Deke Richards, Freddie Perren, Ronald Dean Miller, Marilyn McLeod, Will Jennings, Brian Holland, Eddie Holland, Arthur Herzog Jr., Lorenz Hart, Porter Grainger, Maurice Gibb, Ira Gershwin, Harvey Fuqua, Arthur Freed, Ervin Drake, Lamont Dozier, Linda Creed, Johnny Bristol, Billie Holiday, John Bettis, Thom Bell, Nickolas Ashford, Gus Arnheim, James Horner, Franne Golde, Barry Gibb, Tom Snow, Nile Rodgers, Gloria Jones, Albert Hammond, Gerry Goffin, Robin Gibb, Bernard Edwards, Richard Rodgers, Abe Lyman, John Lennon, George Gershwin

Worked With:

Paul Riser, Berry Gordy, Jr., Hal Davis

Formal Connection With:

The Delicates, Cyrill Haynes, Benny Benjamin, Michael Masser, Gil Askey, The Jones Girls, Leona Naess
See Diana Ross Lyrics
  • Born: March 26, 1944, Detroit, MI
  • Active: '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, 2000s
  • Genres: Rhythm & Blues
  • Instrument: Vocals
  • Representative Albums: "The Motown Anthology," "Ultimate Diana," "Love & Life: The Very Best of Diana Ross"
  • Representative Songs: "Endless Love," "Upside Down," "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"

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, All Music Guide
Discography: Diana Ross
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Definitive Collection [Motown]

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Greatest

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Anthology [Motown]

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Blue [Bonus Tracks]

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Ultimate Diana

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Silver Collection

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Silk Electric

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One Woman: The Ultimate Collection [Import]

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Diana & Marvin

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I Love You [Bonus Track]

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#1's [2003]

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Forever Diana: Musical Memoirs

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Forever Diana: Musical Memoirs

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I Love You [Special Edition]

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Chain Reaction

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Colour Collection

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Colour Collection

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Love & Life: The Very Best of Diana Ross [1 Disc Edition]

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Lady Sings the Blues [Original Soundtrack]

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I Love You [UK]

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40 Golden Motown Greats

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Workin' Overtime

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Love From Diana Ross

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Love From Diana Ross

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Diana

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Diana

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Diana

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Boss

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Boss

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20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Diana Ross & Supremes,V 2

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Live at Caesar's Palace

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Every Day Is a New Day

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Motown Anthology

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Diana Ross [1970] [Bonus Tracks]

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Greatest Hits: The RCA Years

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Free Soul

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Best 1200

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20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Diana Ross

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Touch Me in the Morning

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Touch Me in the Morning

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Blue

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Diana Ross [1970]

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Everything Is Everything [Bonus Tracks]

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Red Hot Rhythm & Blues

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Diana [Deluxe Edition]

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Soul Legends

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Diana Ross' Greatest Hits

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Legends

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Love Songs [Motown]

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Evening with Diana Ross

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I Love You

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I Love You [CD/DVD]

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Love Is in Our Hearts: The Love Collection

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To Love Again [Bonus Tracks]

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Best of the Best: Love Songs

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Ultimate Collection

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Red Hot Rhythm & Blues [EMI]

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Working Overtime [Bonus Track]

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To Love Again

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Diana Ross [1976]

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Diana & Marvin [Bonus Tracks]

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Early Classics

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Classic Diana Ross & the Supremes: The Universal Masters Collection

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Best of Diana Ross [Import]

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Masters Collection

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Not Over You Yet [Germany CD Single]

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Surrender [Expanded Edition]

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Greatest Collection: Diana Ross & The Supremes/Four Tops/Martha Reeves & The Vandellas/

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Not Over You Yet [Germany Vinyl Single]

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Last Time I Saw Him [Expanded Edition]

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Millennium Edition

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Love & Life: The Very Best of Diana Ross

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Very Special Season

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20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Diana Ross & the Supremes

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Definitive Collection [Hip-O]

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Eaten Alive [Bonus Track]

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Eaten Alive

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Playlist Your Way

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Swept Away

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Best of Diana Ross: Green Series

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Take Me Higher [Import Bonus Tracks]

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Gift of Love

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Sing Motown

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Voice of Love

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Stop! In the Name of Love

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Reach Out and Touch: The Very Best of Diana Ross

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#1's [2004]

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Classic: The Universal Master Collection

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Grandes Mitos

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Magic of Diana Ross

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Take Me Higher

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Diana Extended: The Remixes

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Diana Extended: The Remixes

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One Woman: The Ultimate Collection

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One Woman: The Ultimate Collection

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Stolen Moments: The Lady Sings...Jazz & Blues

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Stolen Moments: The Lady Sings...Jazz & Blues

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Christmas in Vienna

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Stolen Moments: The Lady Sings...Jazz & Blues [Bonus Track]

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Motown's Greatest Hits

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Force Behind the Power

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Force Behind the Power [Bonus Tracks]

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Merry Christmas [Duchesse]

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Greatest Hits Live

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All the Great Love Songs

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Visions of Diana Ross

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Visions Of [DVD]

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14 Greatest Hits

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Diana Ross & the Supremes: 20 Greatest Hits - Compact Command Performances

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Ross [1983]

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Diana's Duets

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Why Do Fools Fall in Love?

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All the Great Hits

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Endless Love

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Ross [1978]

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Mahogany

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Ain't No Mountain High Enough

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Best of Diana Ross

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25th Anniversary, Vol. 2

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Actor: Diana Ross
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Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Mar 26, 1944 in Detroit, Michigan
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '70s-'90s
  • Major Genres: Music, Drama
  • Career Highlights: Lady Sings the Blues, It's My Turn, The Wiz
  • First Major Screen Credit: Lady Sings the Blues (1972)

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, All Movie Guide
Wikipedia: Diana Ross
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
For other persons named Diana Ross, see Diana Ross (disambiguation).
Diana Ross

Diana Ross performing at the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo
Photo: Harry Wad
Background information
Birth name Diane Ernestine Earle Ross
Born March 26, 1944 (1944-03-26) (age 65)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Genres R&B, soul, disco, jazz
Occupations Singer, record producer, actress
Years active 1959–1970, 2000 (Groups)
1970–present (Solo)
Labels Motown (1961-1980; US, 1989-2002)
RCA (US, 1981-1988)
EMI (International, 1981-present)
Associated acts The Supremes, Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Marvin Gaye, The Jackson 5, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Chic, Julio Iglesias, The Temptations, Ashford and Simpson, Al B. Sure, Rod Stewart, Westlife
Website www.dianaross.com

Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross; March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. During the 1960s, she helped shape the Motown Sound as lead singer of The Supremes, before leaving the group for a solo career on January 14, 1970. Since the beginning of her career with The Supremes and as a solo artist, Ross has sold more than 100 million records.[1]

During the 1970s and through the mid 1980s, Ross was among the most successful female artists, crossing over into film, television and Broadway. She received a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her 1972 role as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues. She won a Golden Globe award for Lady Sings the Blues. She won American Music Awards, garnered twelve Grammy Award nominations, and won a Tony Award for her one-woman show, An Evening with Diana Ross, in 1977.

In 1976, Billboard magazine named her the "Female Entertainer of the Century." In 1993, the Guinness Book Of World Records declared Diana Ross the most successful female music artist in history with a total of eighteen American number-one singles: twelve as lead singer of The Supremes and six as a soloist. Ross was the first female solo artist to score six number-ones. This feat puts her in a tie for fifth place among solo female artists with the most number-ones on the Hot 100.[2] She is also 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 a John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Honors Award.

Including her work with The Supremes, Ross has recorded 61 studio albums. Ross is a soprano.

Contents

Early Life & Career

Diana Ross, the daughter of a former United States Army soldier from Bluefield, West Virginia and a schoolteacher from Bessemer, Alabama, was born at Hutzel Women's Hospital[3], in Detroit, Michigan. Her parents intended to name her "Diane", but a clerical error on her birth certificate recorded her as Diana Ross. After living at 635 Belmont Avenue in Detroit's North End for several years, Ross's family settled on St. Antoinne Street in the Brewster-Douglass housing projects on her fourteenth birthday in 1958. Ross aspired to be a fashion designer, and studied design and seamstress skills while attending Cass Technical High School in Downtown Detroit. She was subsequently voted Best Dressed Girl in her senior year. She graduated in 1962.

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 and, in 1960, signed with Lupine Records where the label issued the Ross-led single "Tears of Sorrow" backed with the Wilson-led "Pretty Baby".

The Supremes (1959–1970)

Main article: The Supremes
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 auditioned for and eventually signed with Motown Records under their new moniker, The Supremes.

Following Martin's exit in 1962, the group remained a trio. In 1963, Motown CEO Berry Gordy made Ross the lead singer of the group, as he felt the group could "cross over" to the pop charts with Ross's unique vocal quality. After The Supremes hit number one with "Where Did Our Love Go", the group found 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 United Kingdom Top 40.

Following Florence Ballard's departure from the group in July 1967, Gordy chose Cindy Birdsong, a member of Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles, as her replacement. Shortly thereafter, he changed the group's name to Diana Ross & the Supremes to build name recognition before the planned future departure of Ross as a solo performer.

Recording a total of 12 number-one singles, The Supremes became the most successful American vocal group of the 1960s, and, after The Beatles, the second most successful group worldwide.

Leaving The Supremes

Motown initially conceived of a solo career for Ross in 1966, but did not act on this until 1968. Television specials such as TCB (1968) and G.I.T. on Broadway (1969) were designed to spotlight Diana Ross 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 the 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

Ross's first solo LP, Diana Ross, featured her first solo number-one hit, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".

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 May 1970, Diana Ross was released on Motown. The first single, the gospel-influenced "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 number-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.

By then, Motown Records had relocated to Hollywood. Berry Gordy had decided it was time the company ventured again into new territory, focusing much of his attention on developing a motion picture corporation, with Diana Ross as its first star.

Lady Sings The Blues

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. Immediately, critics ridiculed Ross's casting in the role. Ross and Holiday were considered to be "miles apart" in vocal styling and appearance. Undaunted, Ross immersed herself in Holiday's music and life story. Ross actually knew little about Holiday and was not a big fan of jazz in general. Instead of imitating Holiday's voice, Ross focused on Holiday's vocal phrasing.

Opening in October 1972, Lady Sings the Blues was a phenomenal success, and Ross's performance drew universally favorable reviews. The movie co-starred Brian's Song star Billy Dee Williams as Holiday's lover, Louis McKay. The cast also included comedian Richard Pryor as the "Piano Man". In 1973, Ross was nominated for both a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award for "Best Actress". Winning a Golden Globe for Best Newcomer, Ross 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 shipped 300,000 copies during its first eight days of release. After several of the soundtrack's recording sessions, many of the musicians (some of whom had played with Billie Holiday) spontaneously erupted into applause, in praise of Ross's performances. The double-pocket custom label record is one of Ross's best-selling albums of all time, with total sales to date of nearly 2 million US units.

Ross' second self-titled release, Diana Ross (1976), featured the number-1 hits "Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" and the Grammy-nominated "Love Hangover".

In 1972, shortly after filming Lady Sings the Blues, Ross recorded an all-jazz album entitled Blue, which was shelved by Motown Records, who wanted Ross to return to pop music. The following year, Ross responded with Touch Me in the Morning. The title track became Ross's second US number-one hit. Later in 1973, Ross and label mate Marvin Gaye released their successful duets album, Diana & Marvin, which included the top-twenty US hit, "My Mistake (Was to Love You)" and the top-five UK hit cover of The Stylistics' "You Are Everything".

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".[4]

Ross hit the top spot on the pop charts twice in 1976 with "Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)", and the disco single "Love Hangover". A third single release, "I Thought It Took A Little Time", also was a sizable hit from that album. The success of these singles made her 1976 album, Diana Ross, her fourth LP to reach the Top 10. In 1977, her one-woman show, "An Evening With Diana Ross", earned her a special Tony Award for its performances at Broadway's Palace Theater. The Los Angeles performances were recorded at the Ahmanson Theater and released as a live album of the same name. A reimagined version of the show became a television special on NBC, including a dramatic scene in which Ross portrayed Josephine Baker, Ethel Waters and Bessie Smith.

That same year, Motown acquired the film rights to the popular 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. As a result, the eleven-year-old protagonist of the story became a shy twenty-four year old schoolteacher from Harlem, New York. Among Ross's costars in the film were Lena Horne, Richard Pryor, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross (no relation), and her former label mate and protégé Michael Jackson from the Jackson 5. Upon its October 1978 release, the film adaptation of The Wiz, a $24 million production, earned $13.6 million at the box office.[5][6][7] 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.[6][7] At the time, it was the most expensive film musical ever made.[8] The film's failure 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.[9][10][11] The Wiz was Ross's final film for Motown. The accompanying Quincy Jones-produced soundtrack album sold over 850,000 copies in its initial release. Since its initial release, the film has become a cult classic and, in 2008, was re-released in an Anniversary Edition DVD set.

Diana Ross's landmark 1980 album, diana, was her final LP for Motown Records before leaving for RCA the following year.

In 1979, Ross reunited with Nicholas Ashford and Valerie Simpson for the album The Boss, which became Ross's first recognized gold-certified album (Motown sales records before 1979 were not audited by the RIAA, and therefore none of Motown's pre-1979 releases was awarded certification). That album became Diana Ross's best-selling album since her disco success four years earlier, and set the stage for her biggest-selling Motown album of all time. It was no mistake that the writing team of Ashford and Simpson was brought in, as they were a top-selling disco act themselves during this period, having had three gold-selling albums in a row to their credit. Two disco hits, "The Boss" and "No One Gets The Prize", and lesser-known but as important single, "It's My House" made the 1979 release a quick gold seller. In 1980, Ross released her first RIAA platinum-certified disc, "diana", produced by Chic's front men Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards. The album included two of Ross's most successful solo hits, her fifth number-one solo single, "Upside Down", and the Top-5 single "I'm Coming Out". diana was the singer's most successful studio album to date, peaking at number two on the Billboard Album Chart chart for three weeks and selling over a million copies in the United States with close to three million sales globally.

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. Feeling that Motown, and in particular Gordy, were keeping her from freely expressing herself and not according her financial parity, Ross left Motown, signing a $20 million contract with RCA Records in the US and Canada and Capitol/EMI elsewhere, ending her twenty-year tenure with the label. At the time, the Ross-RCA deal was the most money ever paid to a recording artist. When the duet with Lionel Richie "Endless Love" hit number one in 1981, Ross became the first female artist in music history to have six singles at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. That single, the last of her Motown career up to that time, was her first (and to date, only) platinum single, selling in excess of two million copies.

1980s & 1990s

Why Do Fools Fall in Love was Ross's debut LP for Ross Records distributed by RCA Records.

Diana Ross's RCA Records debut, Why Do Fools Fall in Love, was issued in October 1981. The album yielded 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.

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,[12] at which point Ross pushed down Wilson's hand-held microphone, stating "It's been taken care of." Ross, then, introduced Gordy.[13] 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."[14]

On July 21, 1983, Ross held a concert in Central Park, the proceeds of which were to go towards building a playground in the singer's name. Fifteen minutes into the concert, which was being filmed for Showtime cable television and televised worldwide, a torrential downpour began. As she urged the crowd of over 800,000 to safely exit the venue, Ross announced that she would continue the performance the next day. Her actions drew praise from the mainstream press. That next day, over 500,000 people came back for one of the largest free concerts in the park's history. However, the second show generated controversy. During and after the concert, groups of young men began a rampage through Central Park, assaulting and robbing more than one hundred people. Some of the victims of the attacks subsequently filed lawsuits against New York City for failing to provide adequate security at the concert. The suits were eventually settled at a cost of millions of dollars. 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 US$250,000.00 required to build the park. The Diana Ross Playground was finally built three years later.[15]

Other hit singles recorded by Ross for RCA included the Top 10 Grammy-nominated "Muscles" (1982), "So Close" (1983), "Pieces of Ice" (1983), "All of You" (1984), the no. 1 dance hit "Swept Away" (1984), the no. 1 R&B Marvin Gaye tribute "Missing You" (1985), "Eaten Alive" (1985) and the UK number-1 single, "Chain Reaction", which was Diana's final appearance on the Hot 100 (1986). Ross also sang part of the lead vocal on the 1985 worldwide number-1 "We Are The World". Albums during this period included the gold-certified release, All The Great Hits, Silk Electric (also Gold-certified), Diana Ross Anthology and Swept Away which sold over 900,000 copies in the US by the time it was taken out of print. Ross hosted The American Music Awards in 1986 and 1987, delighting the fashion press by changing evening gowns during each commercial break. However, while Ross continued to have success overseas, she began to struggle with record sales in the US as the 1980s drew to a close. The 1987 album Red Hot Rhythm & Blues sold fewer than 300,000 copies in the United States. "If We Hold On Together", the theme to the Don Bluth animated film "The Land Before Time" in 1988 was a number-1 single in Japan, later making the UK Top 20 in 1992. In 1989, after leaving RCA, Diana Ross returned to Motown, where she was now both a part-owner and a recording artist.

In 1989, Diana Ross released her first Motown album in eight years, the Nile Rodgers-produced Workin' Overtime. Despite a number-3 R&B hit with the title track, the album failed to find a pop audience in America - selling only slightly over 100,000 copies. Subsequent follow-up albums such as 1991's The Force Behind the Power, 1995's Take Me Higher and 1999's Every Day is a New Day produced similar disappointing results in the US. Her last major R&B hit single was "No Matter What You Do", a duet with Al B. Sure!, which peaked at number 4 in early 1991. She continued having minor R&B chart entries throughout the 1990s with only the title track of her album Take Me Higher making the 'Bubbling Under The Hot 100' chart at number 114.

Ross co-starred with R&B singer Brandy in the ABC television movie Double Platinum in 1999.

Ross had success with her latter-day Motown albums and singles in the United Kingdom and Europe, however, scoring Top 10 UK hits with "When You Tell Me That You Love Me" (1991), "One Shining Moment" (1992), and "Not Over You Yet" (1999). Additionally, "Force Behind The Power", "Heart (Don't Change My Mind)" (1992), "Your Love" (1994), "The Best Years of My Life" (1994), "Take Me Higher" (1995), "Gone" (1995), "I Will Survive" (1996) and "In the Ones You Love" (1996) all reached either the UK Top 20 or Top 40, proving that while her domestic chart performance waned, she was still a viable recording artist internationally. Ross headlined the 1991 UK Royal Variety Performance and was a halftime performer at Super Bowl XXX in 1996. She also performed in London, England in 1995, delivering an outstanding set at Wembley Stadium as the pre-game attraction in the opening game of the Rugby League world cup between Great Britain and Australia. Having announced to the capacity crowd that "I love the game of Rugby League", Ross is known to be a major fan of the game, with a particular fondness for the Yorkshire team Batley. 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. Fellow Michigan singer Madonna would eventually succeed Ross as the most successful female artist in the UK.

Diana Ross returned to acting in the ABC telefilm, Out of Darkness (1994), in which she played a woman suffering from schizophrenia. Ross drew critical acclaim for her acting, and scored her third Golden Globe nomination. In 1999, Ross co-starred with young R&B singer Brandy for the ABC television movie Double Platinum playing a singer who neglected her daughter while concentrating on her career.

1999-2003

Diana Ross was a presenter at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, held that September. She shocked television viewers when she touched rapper Lil' Kim's exposed, pasty-covered breast, amazed at the young rapper's brashness.[16] A month after the Lil Kim incident, authorities at London's Heathrow Airport detained Ross for "assaulting" a female security guard. The singer claimed that she had felt "violated as a woman" by the full-body search to which she was subjected. In retaliation, she was alleged to have touched the female airport security guard in a similar manner. The singer was detained but later released.[17]

In 2000, Ross announced a Supremes reunion tour with former group-mates Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong, entitled Return to Love. Wilson and Birdsong declined the tour because of a reported difference in pay offered to each member: as performer and producer, Ross was offered a percentage of the tour's profits, while Wilson was offered $2 million (later increased to $3 million by Ross herself) and Birdsong, $1 million.[18] They were replaced by latter-day Supremes Lynda Laurence and Scherrie Payne, both of whom were members of the group after Diana Ross's departure. Despite a respectable opening in Philadelphia and sold-out performance at Madison Square Garden in New York (ironically, the final show they would play), the Return to Love tour was canceled after nine dates because of slow ticket sales, most of which cost double, and in some cases, triple what is charged for Diana Ross (as a solo performer) tickets.

In December 2002, Ross was arrested in Tucson, Arizona for drunk driving. She pleaded "no contest", and later served a two-day jail sentence near her home in Greenwich, Connecticut.[19] Following the arrest and jail sentence, Ross stayed out of the public eye during much of the following year, and would not return to touring again until 2004.

Current Work

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Following successful European and American tours in 2004, Diana Ross returned to the Billboard music charts with a 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 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.[20] The new album earned the coveted Hot Shot Debut by Billboard magazine when it debuted at number 32 on Billboard's Hot100 pop albums chart and number 16 on its R&B chart, making it Ross's first top-forty US pop album since 1984's Swept Away. 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 then-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; 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[21] Ross's United States "I Love You" tour garnered positive reviews,[22] as did her European tour of the same year.[23]

At the 2007 BET Awards, Ross was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by singer Alicia Keys and her five children. Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu and Chaka Khan performed a tribute to Ross, covering several of her hits. During her acceptance speech, she 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 Terence 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.

In February 2008, Diana Ross was guest speaker at the Houston-based Brilliant Lecture series, at The Hobby Center, Houston. 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's Radio City Music Hall at the 'Divas with Heart' event, which also featured fellow R&B legends 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.

Ross's 1970 album Everything Is Everything was released in the United States for the first time on CD on April 18, 2008, as an expanded edition with bonus tracks and alternate versions of the songs. On December 9, 2008, the expanded edition of her third solo album, Surrender, was released.

In early December 2008, Motown announced the result of an international poll of the greatest Motown recordings. The winner, worldwide, was Marvin Gaye's "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" while Ross's version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" was No. 2. This track was the top choice by British voters. The poll determined the track listing for a Motown fiftieth anniversary album to be released in December. A significant number of Supremes and Diana Ross songs finished in the top 50 of the poll, requiring the elimination of some of these songs from the final track listing to prevent an unbalanced track selection.

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. She was accompanied by a 40-piece orchestra.

Personal life

Diana was the second of six children born to a Baptist family by Fred Ross (July 4, 1920 - November 21, 2007) and Ernestine Ross (January 27, 1916 - October 9, 1984) in Detroit's Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects. During Diana's later teenage years, her parents separated, divorcing in 1973. Diana's mother later married John Jordan in 1977. Fred Ross never remarried. Her older sister, Barbara, became a doctor. In 1993, Dr. Ross-Lee was appointed Dean of the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, becoming the first African-American woman to administer a medical school in the United States. Younger sister, Rita, became a teacher. Brothers Arthur and Chico Ross followed their sister into the recording industry and entertainment business, respectively.

Diana Ross attended Detroit's Cass Technical High School, graduating in January, 1962, at the age of seventeen, one semester before the rest of her classmates.

Ross is the mother of five children. She married music business manager Robert Ellis Silberstein in January, 1971. Daughter Rhonda Suzanne Silberstein was born on August 8, 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 Chutney Lane Silberstein, born November 4, 1975 (now known as Chudney Ross). Ross and Robert Silberstein divorced in March 1977.

In January 1986 she married Norwegian shipping magnate Arne Næss Jr.. Their sons are Ross Arne Næss (born October 7, 1987) and Evan Olav Næss (born August 26, 1988), now known as Evan Ross). After several years of legal separation, Ross and Næss were officially divorced in late 2000. Næss was killed in a mountain-climbing accident in South Africa in 2004.

Rhonda and Tracee graduated from Brown University, and Chutney from Georgetown University. All have followed their mother to show business. Rhonda gained success as an actress in television movies and daytime soap operas. Tracee was a co-star of the hit UPN sitcom "Girlfriends." Chudney is active in behind-the-scenes work and is also a model. Son Ross currently attends New York's Marist College, where he is a ski club member[24], and has not followed his siblings into show business. Youngest son Evan Ross is a successful actor, starring in the successful major motion pictures, "ATL" and "Pride" (co-starring Terrance Howard) and the HBO film, "Life Support", co-starring Dana Owens (Queen Latifah) and his older sister, Tracee Ellis-Ross.

Ross’s brother, Arthur "T-Boy" Ross, was a songwriter for Motown; he co-wrote, “I Want You”, recorded by Marvin Gaye in 1976. Arthur and his wife, Patricia Ann Robinson, were murdered in April 1996. They were discovered in a dank basement, bound and gagged, after next-door neighbors contacted police regarding a foul odor coming from a run-down house in Oak Park, Michigan - a small, impoverished town bordering Detroit. Police estimated that the bodies had been there for several days. The Ross family posted a $25,000 reward for any information related to the murders, but to date, the crime is unsolved. Diana Ross covered the song “I Want You” on her 2007 album I Love You.

Ross was a close friend and longtime mentor of Michael Jackson, with whom she co-starred in the 1978 film version of the Broadway musical, The Wiz (a remake of The Wizard of Oz). After Jackson's sudden death on June 25, 2009, Ross was named in his will as the custodian of his children in the event of the death of his mother, Katherine Jackson.[25] Ross was invited to speak at the memorial held in Los Angeles on Tuesday July 7, 2009, but declined in a letter read by Smokey Robinson at the ceremony. Like Jackson's other close friends, Elizabeth Taylor, Quincy Jones, and Liza Minnelli, Ross stated that she wanted to grieve in private.

In Popular Culture

Solo Discography

Further information: Diana Ross discography

Top Ten Singles

The following singles reached the Top Ten on either the United States Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart or the United Kingdom UK Singles chart.

Top Ten Albums

The following albums reached the Top Ten on either the United States albums chart, including the R&B charts or the United Kingdom pop albums chart.

Filmography

Television

Autobiographies

  • Ross, Diana (October 1993). Secrets of a Sparrow. Random House. ISBN 0679428747. 
  • Ross, Diana; Rosanne Shelnutt (ed.) (December 2002). Diana Ross: Going Back. New York: Universe. ISBN 0789307979.  (A scrapbook-style collection of photographs)

See also

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/chart_beat/bonus_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003872634
  3. ^ Whitburn, Joel; The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, p. 207
  4. ^ Posner, Gerald. Motown : Music, Money, Sex, and Power, pg. 286.
  5. ^ Sharp, Kathleen (2003). Mr. and Mrs. Hollywood: Edie and Lew Wasserman and Their Entertainment Empire. Carroll & Graf Publishers. pp. 357–358. ISBN 0786712201. 
  6. ^ a b Harpole, Charles (2003). History of the American Cinema. Simon and Schuster. pp. 64, 65, 219, 220, 290. ISBN 0684804638. 
  7. ^ a b Adrahtas, Thomas (2006). A Lifetime to Get Here: Diana Ross: The American Dreamgirl. AuthorHouse. pp. 163–167. ISBN 1425971407. 
  8. ^ 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. 
  9. ^ Moon, Spencer; George Hill (1997). Reel Black Talk: A Sourcebook of 50 American Filmmakers. Greenwood Press. xii. ISBN 0313298300. 
  10. ^ Benshoff, Harry M.; Sean Griffin (2004). America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality at the Movies. Blackwell Publishing. p. 88. ISBN 0631225838. 
  11. ^ George, Nelson (1985). Where Did Our Love Go? The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound. St. Martin's Press. p. 193. 
  12. ^ 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
  13. ^ Posner, Gerald. Motown : Music, Money, Sex, and Power, pg. 308 - 309. and Taraborrelli, Randy, "The Unauthorized Biography of Diana Ross.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ Anderson, Susan Heller and Deirdre Carmody (September 12, 1986). "NEW YORK DAY BY DAY; Start at Ross Playground." New York Times. [2]
  16. ^ "Diana Ross and Lil' Kim's wild VMA moment", Lisa Costantini, August 21, 2002, Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 26, 2007.
  17. ^ "Diana Ross: 'Mother's touch'", September 24, 1999, BBC News. Retrieved March 26, 2007.
  18. ^ Supremes return for tour. (Apr. 5, 2000). BBC News. Retrieved on December 28, 2006
  19. ^ News 13 Newsroom. (Apr. 5, 2004). Ruling On Diana Ross's DUI. KOLD.com. Retrieved on October 13, 2007
  20. ^ 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. 
  21. ^ ourdailyripa (2007-01-16). "Diana Ross on Live with Regis and Kelly". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyBuWrAGAsU. 
  22. ^ 2007 Tour: Diana Ross is divine in Oakland, California
  23. ^ 2007 European Tour
  24. ^ http://clubs.marist.edu/ski/
  25. ^ "Jackson shared bond with 'very dear friend Diana Ross'". CNN. July 3, 2009. http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/03/michael.jackson.diana.ross/index.html. Retrieved July 24, 2009. 

Further reading

  • Taraborrelli, J. Randy (2007-05-01). Diana Ross: A Biography. Citadel. ISBN 0806528494. 

External links

v • d • e
Hosts of the Academy Awards ceremonies

Bob Hope (1961) · Bob Hope (1962) · Frank Sinatra (1963) · Jack Lemmon (1964) · Bob Hope (1965) · Bob Hope (1966) · Bob Hope (1967) · Bob Hope (1968) · None (1969) · None (1970) · None (1971) · Helen Hayes / Alan King / Sammy Davis, Jr. / Jack Lemmon (1972) · Carol Burnett / Michael Caine / Charlton Heston / Rock Hudson (1973) · John Huston / Burt Reynolds / David Niven / Diana Ross (1974) · Sammy Davis, Jr. / Bob Hope / Shirley MacLaine / Frank Sinatra (1975) · Goldie Hawn / Gene Kelly / Walter Matthau / George Segal / Robert Shaw (1976) · Warren Beatty / Ellen Burstyn / Jane Fonda / Richard Pryor (1977) · Bob Hope (1978) · Johnny Carson (1979) · Johnny Carson (1980)
v • d • e
The Supremes
Diana Ross · Florence Ballard · Mary Wilson · Cindy Birdsong · Jean Terrell · Susaye Greene · Lynda Laurence · Barbara Martin · Scherrie Payne
Betty McGlown
Studio albums
Duet albums
Live albums
Other albums

A Bit of Liverpool (1964) · The Supremes Sing Country, Western and Pop (1965) · We Remember Sam Cooke (1965) · The Supremes Sing Rodgers & Hart (1967) · Diana Ross & the Supremes Sing and Perform "Funny Girl" (1968)
Singles
(US/UK Top Ten singles)
Related topics
v • d • e
Diana Ross
Studio albums
Diana Ross (1970) · Everything Is Everything (1970) · Surrender (1971) · Touch Me in the Morning (1973) · Last Time I Saw Him (1973) · Diana Ross (1976) · Baby It's Me (1977) · Ross (1978) · The Boss (1979) · Diana (1980) · Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1981) · Silk Electric (1982) · Ross (1983) · Swept Away (1984) · Eaten Alive (1985) · Red Hot Rhythm & Blues (1987) · Workin' Overtime (1989) · The Force Behind the Power (1991) · Take Me Higher (1995) · Every Day is a New Day (1999) · Blue (2006) · I Love You (2006)
Compilations
Live albums
Soundtrack albums
Lady Sings the Blues (1972) · The Wiz (1978)
Other albums
Singles
(US/UK Top Ten singles)

"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" · "Remember Me" · "I'm Still Waiting" · "Surrender" · "Touch Me in the Morning" · "All of My Life" · "You Are Everything" · "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" · "Love Hangover" · "Upside Down" · "I'm Coming Out" · "My Old Piano" · "It's My Turn" · "Endless Love" · "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" · "Mirror, Mirror" · "Work That Body" · "Muscles" · "Missing You" · "Chain Reaction" · "When You Tell Me That You Love Me" · "One Shining Moment" · "Not Over You Yet"
Films

Lady Sings the Blues (1972) · Mahogany (1975) · The Wiz (1978) · Out of Darkness (1994) · Double Platinum (1999)
Related topics

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