Diana Ross
Diana Ross was born on the 26th of March 1944, in Detroit, Michigan. Her family lived at 635 Belmont Street in the North End section of the city before moving to the Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects when she turned fourteen in 1958. The projects were a working-class neighborhood where her mother contracted tuberculosis and sent the children to live with grandparents in Bessemer, Alabama for several years. Ross attended Cass Technical High School downtown, taking classes in clothing design and millinery while aspiring to become a fashion designer. She worked as Hudson's first African-American bus girl in 1960 and provided hairdressing services to neighbors for extra income. Her neighbor during childhood was Smokey Robinson, who would later help launch her music career.
At fifteen, Ross joined the Primettes, a sister group to the Primes, after Paul Williams brought them to manager Milton Jenkins' attention. Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, and Betty McGlown were other members alongside Ross. They won a talent competition in Windsor, Ontario in 1960, leading to an audition for Tamla Records. Robert Bateman invited them to record songs, but Berry Gordy advised finishing high school first. The group recorded two tracks for Lu Pine Records before signing with Motown on the 15th of January 1961. They changed their name from Primettes to Supremes because Ballard chose it as the only option not ending in "ette". By June 1964, they scored their first number-one hit with "Where Did Our Love Go". Between August 1964 and May 1967, Ross, Wilson, and Ballard sang on ten number-one singles that also made the UK Top 40. Gordy renamed the group Diana Ross & the Supremes in 1967 to charge higher fees for a solo star plus backing group. Florence Ballard was fired in July 1967 due to comportment issues and alcoholism, replaced by Cindy Birdsong.
Ross departed the Supremes in early 1970 after performing her final show at Las Vegas' Frontier Hotel on January 14. Her debut solo album arrived in May 1970, though her second single "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" became her first number-one solo hit on the Billboard Hot 100. This song received her first Grammy nomination despite moderate chart success for subsequent albums like Everything Is Everything and Surrender. In the UK she found greater immediate success with "I'm Still Waiting", scoring five top-20 singles in two years. By November 1972, her film Lady Sings the Blues earned critical acclaim as Billie Holiday, winning a Golden Globe Award while receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. The soundtrack reached number one on the Billboard 200 and sold two million units. In April 1974, Ross became the first African-American woman to co-host the Academy Awards alongside John Huston, Burt Reynolds, and David Niven.
Her second film Mahogany released in 1975 featured costumes designed by Ross herself but faced production troubles when director Tony Richardson was fired mid-shoot. Berry Gordy took over directing, clashing with Ross who left before filming completed, forcing secretary Edna Anderson to serve as body double. Though box-office successful, Time magazine criticized the film for squandering Ross's natural talent. Her third number-one U.S. hit came from the theme song in January 1976. The Wiz followed in October 1978 as a $24 million production that earned only $21 million at the box office, creating a net loss of $10.4 million for Motown and Universal Pictures. This failure ended her major film career and discouraged Hollywood studios from producing all-black musical projects during the blaxploitation era. She later appeared in television films Out of Darkness (1994) earning another Golden Globe nomination, and Double Platinum (1999).
Ross signed with RCA Records on the 18th of May 1981 after receiving only $250,000 severance from Motown despite over twenty years there. The seven-year contract worth $20 million gave her complete production control, making it music history's most expensive recording deal at the time. Her first RCA album Why Do Fools Fall in Love sold over a million copies featuring hits like "Mirror Mirror". In July 1983 she performed a free concert on Central Park's Great Lawn where torrential rain stopped the show after forty-five minutes. Ross handed Mayor Ed Koch a check for $250,000 to cover project costs after storm damage destroyed memorabilia sales. Her 1985 album Eaten Alive produced number-one singles overseas including "Chain Reaction" which topped charts in the U.K., Australia, South Africa, Israel, and Ireland. That same year she participated in USA for Africa's "We Are the World" charity single selling over twenty million copies worldwide.
In August 2002 Ross admitted herself into a thirty-day substance abuse program at Promises Institute in Malibu, California following friends noticing an alcohol problem. She left three weeks early but resumed concerts before re-entering rehabilitation that December. During her stay at Arizona's Canyon Ranch Health Resort she was arrested for driving the wrong way on a one-way street in Tucson, failing a breathalizer test. Sentenced to forty-eight hours in jail in 2004, she served time near her Greenwich, Connecticut home. Her relationships included marriage to Robert Ellis Silberstein from January 1971 until their divorce in 1977, producing daughters Tracee Ellis Ross and Chudney Lane. She married Norwegian shipping magnate Arne Næss Jr. in 1986, becoming stepmother to his three children before divorcing in 2000 when reports revealed he fathered another child. Næss died falling during mountain climbing in South Africa in 2004.
Ross received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama on the 22nd of November 2016, the nation's highest civilian honor. In February 2012 she won her first Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement after thirteen nominations without winning between 1971 and 2022. Eleven years later in 2023 she became the first woman to receive the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award twice, once as solo artist and again with Supremes co-founders Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard. Her album Thank You released in November 2021 debuted at number seven on UK albums charts, her best performance there since 1995. On the 26th of June 2022 she appeared live on Glastonbury Festival's Pyramid Stage performing as finale act. The Diana Ross Playground opened three years after her 1983 Central Park concert following a groundbreaking ceremony in 1986. She has influenced artists including Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, Madonna, and Questlove while her music has been sampled over 754 times according to WhoSampled database records.
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Common questions
When and where was Diana Ross born?
Diana Ross was born on the 26th of March 1944, in Detroit, Michigan. Her family lived at 635 Belmont Street in the North End section of the city before moving to the Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects when she turned fourteen in 1958.
How did Diana Ross start her music career with the Supremes?
At fifteen, Ross joined the Primettes after Paul Williams brought them to manager Milton Jenkins' attention. The group signed with Motown on the 15th of January 1961 and changed their name from Primettes to Supremes because Florence Ballard chose it as the only option not ending in ette.
What major awards has Diana Ross won for her film work?
Her film Lady Sings the Blues earned critical acclaim as Billie Holiday and won a Golden Globe Award while receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She later received another Golden Globe nomination for Out of Darkness in 1994 and became the first African-American woman to co-host the Academy Awards alongside John Huston, Burt Reynolds, and David Niven in April 1974.
Why did Diana Ross leave Motown Records in 1981?
Ross signed with RCA Records on the 18th of May 1981 after receiving only $250,000 severance from Motown despite over twenty years there. The seven-year contract worth $20 million gave her complete production control, making it music history's most expensive recording deal at the time.
When was Diana Ross arrested for driving under the influence?
During her stay at Arizona's Canyon Ranch Health Resort she was arrested for driving the wrong way on a one-way street in Tucson and failing a breathalizer test. She was sentenced to forty-eight hours in jail in 2004 and served time near her Greenwich, Connecticut home.
What significant honor did Diana Ross receive from President Obama in 2016?
Diana Ross received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama on the 22nd of November 2016, which is the nation's highest civilian honor. In February 2012 she won her first Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement after thirteen nominations without winning between 1971 and 2022.