Diana Ross (born 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, for which she won a Golden Globe award. She won awards at the 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 18 American number-one singles: 12 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 Fameâ??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 released 67 albums.
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Early life and 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. 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, one full semester earlier than her classmates.
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 Lu Pine Records where the label issued the Ross-led single "Tears of Sorrow" backed with the Wilson-led "Pretty Baby".
The Supremes (1959â??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, 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. After The Suprem 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.