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The Supremes: the story on HearLore | HearLore
The Supremes
Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Diana Ross, and Betty McGlown were four young women from the Brewster-Douglass public housing projects in Detroit who would change the course of American music history. In 1958, Ballard met Paul Williams and Eddie Kendricks, members of a local group called the Primes. When Williams' girlfriend Betty McGlown began singing, the group's manager Milton Jenkins decided to create a sister act. Ballard recruited her best friend Mary Wilson, and Williams recruited Diana Ross. The quartet, initially named the Primettes, performed at sock hops and talent shows, crafting a style inspired by the collegiate dress of Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers. They were mentored by Jenkins and later by songwriter Jesse Greer, quickly earning a local following. By 1960, they had won the Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival, but their path to stardom was not immediate. They auditioned for Motown Records executive Berry Gordy, who felt they were too young and inexperienced. Undaunted, they recorded a single for Lu Pine Records titled Tears of Sorrow, which failed to find an audience. McGlown left the group after becoming engaged, and Barbara Martin replaced her. In January 1961, Gordy finally signed them, but only after they changed their name to the Supremes. Martin left in 1962, leaving Ross, Ballard, and Wilson as a trio. Between 1961 and 1963, they released six singles that failed to chart in the Top 40, earning them the joking nickname the no-hit Supremes within Motown's offices. They compensated by providing hand claps and background vocals for other artists like Marvin Gaye and the Temptations.
The Holland-Dozier-Holland Breakthrough
In the spring of 1964, the Supremes recorded Where Did Our Love Go, a song originally intended for the Marvelettes who had rejected it. Although the group disliked the song, producers Holland-Dozier-Holland coerced them into recording it. The single reached number 1 on the US pop charts in August 1964, marking the beginning of an unprecedented run of success. It was followed by four consecutive US number 1 hits: Baby Love, Come See About Me, Stop! In the Name of Love, and Back in My Arms Again. Baby Love was nominated for the 1965 Grammy Award for Best R&B Song. By January 1965, each member received a check for $100,000 in earnings from the previous year, allowing them to purchase new homes on the same street and leave the projects. The group deliberately embraced a more glamorous image than previous black performers, a strategy orchestrated by Motown chief Berry Gordy and Maxine Powell, who ran the Artist Development department. Unlike many contemporaries, Ross sang in a thin, calm voice, and the group embellished their femininity with detailed make-up, high-fashion gowns, and wigs. They performed graceful choreography created by Cholly Atkins, eschewing the plain appearances and basic dance routines of the past. By 1965, they were international stars, touring the world and appearing in the 1965 film Beach Ball. They endorsed dozens of products, at one point having their own brand of bread. The Supremes became one of the first black musical acts to achieve complete and sustained crossover success, breaking down racial barriers with rock-and-roll songs underpinned by R&B stylings. They appeared regularly on television programs such as The Ed Sullivan Show, making 17 appearances. In 1966, their album The Supremes A' Go-Go became the first album by an all-female group to reach number 1 on the US Billboard 200, knocking the Beatles' Revolver out of the top spot.
Who were the original members of The Supremes and how did the group form?
The original members were Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Diana Ross, and Betty McGlown, who met in 1958 at the Brewster-Douglass public housing projects in Detroit. The group formed when manager Milton Jenkins decided to create a sister act after McGlown began singing with the Primes, leading Ballard to recruit Wilson and Williams to recruit Ross.
When did The Supremes achieve their first number one hit and what was the song?
The Supremes reached number one on the US pop charts in August 1964 with the song Where Did Our Love Go. This single marked the beginning of an unprecedented run of success that included four consecutive US number one hits.
Why was Florence Ballard removed from The Supremes and when did it happen?
Florence Ballard was dismissed from the group in 1967 due to excessive drinking and depression that led to embarrassing on-stage incidents. She was permanently removed after a concert on the 1st of July 1967, and her release from Motown was made final on the 22nd of February 1968.
When did Diana Ross officially leave The Supremes and who replaced her?
Diana Ross officially left The Supremes on the 14th of January 1970 after their final performance at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas. Jean Terrell was signed to Motown and became her replacement, leading the group through the early 1970s.
When did The Supremes disband and what happened to the name rights?
The Supremes were disbanded in 1977 when Motown decided to end the group without any original members. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 1999 that Motown owns the name and had allowed other groups to use it.
When did The Supremes receive their Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction?
The Ross-Wilson-Ballard lineup was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in 2023.
As Ross became the focal point of the Supremes, tension grew within the group and within Motown Records. Many other Motown performers felt that Berry Gordy was lavishing too much attention upon the group and Ross in particular. In early 1967, the name of the act was officially changed to Diana Ross & the Supremes. Ballard suffered from depression and began to drink excessively, gaining weight until she could no longer comfortably wear many of her stage outfits. She relied heavily on Mary Wilson, who privately advised her that Ross and Gordy were eager to oust her. By 1967, Ballard would not show up for recording dates or would arrive at shows too inebriated to perform. For some early 1967 shows, she was replaced by Marlene Barrow. Gordy contacted Cindy Birdsong, a member of Patti LaBelle & the Blue Belles who superficially resembled Ballard, to bring her in as Ballard's replacement. Birdsong first appeared with the Supremes at a benefit concert at the Hollywood Bowl on the 29th of April 1967. On the 29th of June 1967, the group returned to the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas as Diana Ross & the Supremes. On July 1, Ballard discovered an extra set of gowns and costumes brought along for Birdsong. Enraged, she performed the first concert of the night inebriated, leading to an embarrassing on-stage incident where her stomach was revealed when she purposely thrust it forward during a dance routine. Gordy ordered her back to Detroit and permanently dismissed her from the group. Birdsong officially assumed her place during the second July 1 show. Ballard's release from Motown was made final on the 22nd of February 1968, when she received a one-time payment of US$139,804.94 in royalties and earnings. She attempted a solo career with ABC Records, but her two 1968 singles failed to chart. In 1971, Ballard sued Motown for $8.7 million, claiming that Gordy and Diana Ross had conspired to force her out of the group; the judge ruled in favor of Motown. Ballard eventually sank into poverty and died abruptly on the 22nd of February 1976, from a cardiac arrest caused by a coronary thrombosis at the age of 32.
The Final Number One
Holland-Dozier-Holland left Motown in early 1968 after a dispute with the label over royalties and profit sharing. From Reflections in 1967 to The Weight in 1969, only six out of the eleven released singles reached the Top 20. 1968's Love Child made it to number 1. Due to the tension within the group and stringent touring schedules, neither Mary Wilson nor Cindy Birdsong appear on many of these singles; they were replaced on these recordings by session singers such as the Andantes. In mid-1968, Motown initiated high-profile collaborations for the Supremes with the Temptations. By 1969, the label began plans for a Diana Ross solo career. A number of candidates were considered to replace Ross, including Syreeta Wright. After seeing 24-year-old Jean Terrell perform with her brother Ernie in Florida, Berry Gordy decided on Ross' replacement. Terrell was signed to Motown and began recording the first post-Ross Supremes songs with Wilson and Birdsong during the day, while Wilson and Birdsong toured with Ross at night. On the 2nd of November 1969, Ross's solo career was first reported by the Detroit Free Press. Someday We'll Be Together was recorded with the intent of releasing it as the first solo single for Diana Ross. Desiring a final Supremes number 1 record, Gordy instead had the song released as a Diana Ross & the Supremes single, despite the fact that neither Wilson nor Birdsong sang on the record. Someday We'll Be Together hit number 1 on the American pop charts, becoming not only the Supremes' twelfth and final number 1 hit, but also the final number 1 hit of the 1960s. This single also marked the Supremes' final television appearance together with Ross, performing on The Ed Sullivan Show on the 21st of December 1969. Diana Ross & the Supremes gave their final performance on the 14th of January 1970, at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas. A live recording of the performance was released later that year in a double-LP box set titled Farewell. At the final performance, Jean Terrell was introduced. According to Mary Wilson, after this performance, Berry Gordy wanted to replace Terrell with Syreeta Wright. Wilson refused, leading to Gordy stating that he was washing his hands of the group thereafter. After the Frontier Hotel performance, Ross officially began her career as a solo performer.
The New Supremes Era
Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong continued working with Jean Terrell on the first post-Ross Supremes album, Right On. The Terrell-led Supremes, now rebranded as the Supremes and known unofficially at first as the New Supremes, scored hits including Up the Ladder to the Roof, Stoned Love, and Nathan Jones, all of which were produced by Frank Wilson. These three singles were also R&B Top Ten hits, with Stoned Love becoming their last No.1 R&B hit in December 1970. Songwriting/production team Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson produced another Top 20 hit for the group, a Supremes/Four Tops duet version of Ike & Tina Turner's River Deep , Mountain High. In 1972, the Supremes had their last Top 20 hit single release, Floy Joy, written and produced by Smokey Robinson, followed by the final US Top 40 hit for the Jean Terrell-led version of the group, Automatically Sunshine. Motown, by then moving from Detroit to Los Angeles to break into motion pictures, put only limited effort into promoting the Supremes' new material, and their popularity and sales began to wane. Cindy Birdsong left the group in April 1972 to start a family; her replacement was Lynda Laurence, a former member of Stevie Wonder's backup group, Third Generation. Jimmy Webb was hired to produce the group's next LP, The Supremes Produced and Arranged by Jimmy Webb, but the album and its only single I Guess I'll Miss the Man failed to make an impact on the Billboard pop chart. In early 1973, the Stevie Wonder-produced Bad Weather peaked at number 87 on the US pop charts. Laurence left to start a family, so Cindy Birdsong returned to the group. Dismayed by this poor-performing record and the lack of promotional support from Motown, Jean Terrell left the group and was replaced by Scherrie Payne, the sister of Invictus Records recording artist Freda Payne. Between the 1973 departures of Laurence and Terrell and the first Supremes single with Scherrie Payne, He's My Man, a disco single on which Payne and Wilson shared lead vocal, Motown was slow in producing contracts for Payne and the returning Birdsong. In 1976, Birdsong left again and was replaced by Susaye Greene, another former member of Wonderlove. This final version of the Supremes released two albums, both of which reunited the Supremes with Holland-Dozier-Holland: High Energy and Mary, Scherrie & Susaye. In 1976, the Supremes released I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking, their final Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
The Final Curtain
On the 12th of June 1977, the Supremes performed their farewell concert at the Drury Lane Theater in London as Wilson made her exit for a solo career, with Payne and Greene selecting Joyce Vincent to round out the trio as a new third member. Instead, Motown decided that without any original members, the Supremes would be disbanded. Fan interest made the idea of a Supremes reunion tour a very profitable one during the 1980s. In 1982, it was rumored that Motown would reunite the Supremes. Under advisement from Berry Gordy, Wilson declined to reunite, and the idea was scrapped. Ross briefly reunited with Wilson and Birdsong to perform Someday We'll Be Together on the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever television special, taped on the 25th of March 1983, and broadcast on NBC on the 16th of May 1983. In 2000, plans were made for Ross to join Wilson and Birdsong for a planned Diana Ross & the Supremes: Return to Love reunion tour. However, Wilson passed on the idea, because while the promoters offered Ross $15 million to perform, Wilson was offered $4 million and Birdsong less than $1 million. Ross herself offered to double the amounts both Wilson and Birdsong had originally been offered, but while Birdsong accepted, Wilson remained adamant, and as a result the deal fell through with both former Supremes. Eventually, the Return to Love tour went on as scheduled, but with Payne and Laurence joining Ross, although none of the three had ever been in the group at the same time and neither Payne nor Laurence had sung on any of the original hit recordings that they were now singing live. The tour was canceled after playing only half of the dates on itinerary. With the death of Florence Ballard in 1976 and the death of Mary Wilson on the 8th of February 2021, there is no longer any possible reunion of the original classic lineup. In 1986, Jean Terrell, Scherrie Payne and Lynda Laurence began to perform as the Former Ladies of the Supremes, or FLOS. In 1977, last original and founding member Mary Wilson decided to disband The Supremes and forge a solo career. Wilson hired Kaaren Ragland, Karen Jackson, and Debbie Sharpe, to perform as background singers during concert tours in the United Kingdom, Europe, South East Asia, and Australia. They performed with Wilson from 1978 through the mid-1980s, aiding her in fulfilling contractual obligations related to The Supremes and avoiding potential legal action from Motown. In 1989, Kaaren Ragland founded a group known as The Sounds of the Supremes. Ragland asserts her affiliation with the Supremes based on her performances alongside Mary Wilson. However, she was never signed by Motown, her performances with Wilson occurred after the Supremes' disbandment in 1977, and she is not recognized as an official member of the Supremes. In 1996, Mary Wilson sued former group mates Kaaren Ragland, Hollis Paysuer, Scherrie Payne, Lynda Laurence, and their managers for trademark infringement of the Supremes name. In 1999, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Wilson, stating that Motown owns the name and had allowed Former Ladies of the Supremes and Sounds of the Supremes to use the name.
A Legacy Of Sound
The Supremes were twice nominated for a Grammy Award, for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording (Baby Love, 1965) and Best Contemporary Rock & Roll Group Vocal Performance (Stop! In the Name of Love, 1966), but never won an award in competition. Three of their songs were added to the Grammy Hall of Fame: Where Did Our Love Go and You Keep Me Hangin' On (both 1999) and Stop! In the Name of Love (2001). The group (Ross, Wilson and Ballard) was named as one of eight recipients to receive a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in 2023. Stop! In the Name of Love and You Can't Hurry Love are among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. The Ross-Wilson-Ballard lineup was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994, and entered into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2004, Rolling Stone placed the group at number 97 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. The Supremes are notable for the influences they have had on black girl groups who have succeeded them in popular music, such as The Three Degrees, The Emotions, The Pointer Sisters, En Vogue, TLC, Destiny's Child and Cleopatra. Several fictional works have been published and produced that are based in part on the career of the group. The 1976 film Sparkle features the story of a Supremes-like singing trio called Sister & the Sisters from Harlem, New York. The film's score was composed by Curtis Mayfield, and the soundtrack album by Aretha Franklin was a commercial success. On the 21st of December 1981, the Tony Award-winning musical Dreamgirls opened at the Imperial Theatre on Broadway and ran for 1,522 performances. The musical, loosely based on the history of the Supremes, follows the story of the Dreams, an all-female singing trio from Chicago who become music superstars. Several of the characters in the play are analogues of real-life Supremes/Motown counterparts, with the story focusing upon the Florence Ballard doppelgänger Effie White. While influenced by the Supremes' and Motown's music, the songs in the play are a broader mix of R&B/soul and Broadway music. Mary Wilson loved the musical, but Diana Ross was reportedly angered by it and refused to see it. The group's breakthrough is considered to have made it possible for future African-American R&B and soul musicians to find mainstream success. Billboard ranked the Supremes as the 16th greatest Hot 100 artist of all time.