The Supremes

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  Twelve times, a record by the Supremes climbed to the very top of the Billboard Hot 100. No other American vocal group has matched that run. The trio at the center of it began as four teenage girls from the Brewster-Douglass public housing project in Detroit, singing other people's hits at sock hops and talent shows in 1959. They called themselves the Primettes. Within a few years they would knock the Beatles off the top of the album chart and perform for audiences who had never seen black performers presented quite this way. How did a group jokingly dismissed inside its own label as the no-hit Supremes become the most commercially successful act in Motown's history? What did it cost the women who made it happen? And why, eighteen years after they formed, did the group simply cease to exist while two of its founders watched from outside? The answers run through finishing schools and supper clubs, a $139,804.94 settlement, a name change that split a friendship, and a lineup that never stopped turning over.

• 2. From Primettes To Supremes

  ›

  In Detroit in 1958, Florence Ballard was a junior high school student living in the Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects when she met Paul Williams and Eddie Kendricks of a singing group called the Primes. Their manager, Milton Jenkins, decided to build a sister group, the Primettes. Ballard recruited her best friend Mary Wilson, Paul Williams recruited Diana Ross, and Betty McGlown, Williams's girlfriend, rounded out the quartet. They learned songs by artists such as Ray Charles and the Drifters and modeled their look on the collegiate dress of Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers.

  Guitarist Marvin Tarplin joined within a few months, letting the Primettes sing live instead of lip-synching. After winning the Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival on the 4th of July 1960, the group wanted a record. Ross asked an old neighbor, Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson, to land them an audition with Berry Gordy. Robinson liked the girls but liked Tarplin more, and with their permission he hired the guitarist for the Miracles.

  Gordy thought the Primettes too young and told them to come back after high school. Undaunted, they cut a single for Lu Pine Records, "Tears of Sorrow" backed with "Pretty Baby", which found no audience. McGlown became engaged and left, and Barbara Martin replaced her. The group haunted Gordy's Hitsville U.S.A. studio, adding hand claps and background vocals for artists including Marvin Gaye and Mary Wells. In January 1961 Gordy agreed to sign them on one condition: a new name. From a list that included "the Darleens" and "the Jewelettes", Ballard chose the Supremes. In the spring of 1962, Martin left to start a family, and the Supremes carried on as a trio.

• 3. The No-Hit Years

  ›

  Between 1961 and 1963 the Supremes released six singles, starting with "I Want a Guy" and "Buttered Popcorn" on the Tamla subsidiary, and not one cracked the Top 40. Around Hitsville they were called the no-hit Supremes. To stay useful they took any work at the studio, clapping hands and singing backup for acts such as Marvin Gaye and the Temptations. In these years all three members traded leads. Wilson favored soft ballads, Ballard favored soulful hard-driving songs, and Ross favored mainstream pop.

  In December 1963 "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes" peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the first Supremes song from the writing and production team Holland-Dozier-Holland. Late that year Gordy named Ross the official lead singer; she began going by Diana in 1965. Ballard and Wilson still got occasional solos, and Ballard kept singing her number "People" in concert for two more years.

  In the spring of 1964 they recorded "Where Did Our Love Go", a song Holland-Dozier-Holland had written for the Marvelettes, who rejected it. The Supremes disliked it too and were coerced into recording it. That August, while they toured on Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars, the song reached number 1 on the US pop charts and number 3 on the UK singles chart. Four more consecutive US number 1 hits followed: "Baby Love", which also topped the UK chart, "Come See About Me", "Stop! In the Name of Love" and "Back in My Arms Again". In January 1965 each member received a check for $100,000 from the previous year's earnings, and they bought their families homes on the same street, leaving the projects behind.

• 4. A Studied Glamour

  ›

  Maxine Powell ran Motown's in-house finishing school and Artist Development department, and she told the Supremes to be prepared to perform before kings and queens. The group deliberately embraced a more glamorous image than previous black performers, a push that came from Powell and from Gordy himself. Rather than imitate male groups, all three women played up their femininity in detailed make-up, high-fashion gowns and wigs, with graceful choreography from Motown's Cholly Atkins. Ross sang in a thin, calm voice rather than wailing.

  Time magazine, in a May 1965 profile of rock music, called the Supremes the reigning female rock 'n' roll group and said Ross was greatly envied for the torchy, come-hither purr in her voice. Arnold S. Hirsch of The Detroit News wrote that they did not scream or wail incoherently, that an adult could understand nine out of every ten words they sang, and that melody could be clearly detected in every song. Encyclopedia Britannica later said their hits sounded modern, upwardly mobile, and stylishly sensual in a way that appealed equally to adults and teens.

  Gordy wanted the group to be equally appealing to black and white audiences, so he booked them into renowned supper clubs such as the Copacabana in New York, where they folded Broadway and pop standards into their act. Black rock-and-roll musicians of the 1950s had often watched white musicians cover their hits to greater fame, and the Supremes' success ran against that pattern. Marketed for their individual personalities, a move unprecedented at the time, they made 17 appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. Writing in 2003, Fred Bronson said that when they formed as the Primettes in 1959, no one could have predicted they would become the most successful American singing group of all time.

• 5. The Cost Of Top Billing

  ›

  By the end of 1966 the Supremes' number 1 hits included "I Hear a Symphony", "You Can't Hurry Love" and "You Keep Me Hangin' On", and on the 22nd of October that year 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 from the top. Yet attention concentrated on Ross. Other Motown performers felt Gordy lavished too much on the group, and on her in particular. In early 1967 the act was briefly renamed the Supremes with Diana Ross, then by mid-summer Diana Ross & the Supremes.

  Florence Ballard suffered from depression as Ross became the focal point. She began to drink excessively and gained weight until she could no longer comfortably wear many of her stage outfits. She leaned on Mary Wilson, who stayed outwardly demure to keep the group stable while privately warning Ballard that Ross and Gordy were eager to oust her. By 1967 Ballard missed recording dates or arrived too inebriated to perform, and Marlene Barrow of the Andantes covered some early shows.

  In April 1967 Gordy contacted Cindy Birdsong of Patti LaBelle & the Blue Belles, who superficially resembled Ballard, and brought her in to rehearse. Birdsong first appeared in Ballard's place at a benefit at the Hollywood Bowl on the 29th of April 1967. The breaking point came at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. On the 1st of July 1967, Ballard found an extra set of gowns brought for Birdsong, performed inebriated, and thrust her stomach forward during a routine, exposing it. Gordy ordered her back to Detroit and dismissed her, and Birdsong took her place at the second show that night. Ballard's release from Motown was finalized on the 22nd of February 1968 with a one-time payment of US$139,804.94. Her solo singles failed to chart, a 1971 suit against Motown for $8.7 million was lost, and she died on the 22nd of February 1976 from a cardiac arrest at the age of 32.

• 6. Ross Walks Away

  ›

  Holland-Dozier-Holland left Motown in early 1968 after a dispute over royalties and profit sharing, and the hits grew scarcer. From "Reflections" in 1967 to "The Weight" in 1969, only six of eleven released singles reached the Top 20, though 1968's "Love Child" made number 1. Tension and touring meant neither Wilson nor Birdsong appeared on many of these records; session singers such as the Andantes filled in. The gospel-based soul of performers like Aretha Franklin had eclipsed the Supremes' pop sound, and in a climate shaped by movements such as the Black Panther Party, the group was attacked for not being black enough.

  By 1969 Motown was planning a Diana Ross solo career and weighing replacements, among them Syreeta Wright. After seeing 24-year-old Jean Terrell perform with her brother Ernie in Florida, Gordy chose her. Terrell recorded post-Ross songs with Wilson and Birdsong by day while the two toured with Ross at night. On the 2nd of November 1969 the Detroit Free Press first reported Ross's solo career.

  "Someday We'll Be Together" had been recorded as Ross's first solo single, but Gordy, wanting a final Supremes number 1, released it under the Diana Ross & the Supremes name even though neither Wilson nor Birdsong sang on it. It hit number 1, the group's twelfth and final chart-topper and the last number 1 of the 1960s. The lineup gave its final performance on the 14th of January 1970 at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas, captured on the double-LP box set Farewell, where Jean Terrell was introduced as Ross's replacement.

• 7. The Revolving Trio

  ›

  Jean Terrell's arrival reverted the act to the Supremes, known unofficially as the New Supremes. With producer Frank Wilson they scored "Up the Ladder to the Roof", "Stoned Love" and "Nathan Jones", the first two their final US top ten hits while all three reached the UK top ten. A cover of "River Deep - Mountain High" with the Four Tops, produced by Ashford & Simpson, and "Floy Joy", produced by Smokey Robinson, became their last top 20 hits. "Floy Joy" was the only Supremes hit on which Mary Wilson shared lead vocals.

  As Motown moved from Detroit to Los Angeles to chase motion pictures, promotion thinned and sales waned. Cindy Birdsong left in April 1972 to start a family and was replaced by Lynda Laurence, a former member of Stevie Wonder's backup group Third Generation. Jimmy Webb produced The Supremes Produced and Arranged by Jimmy Webb, but its single "I Guess I'll Miss the Man" peaked at number 85 on the 24th of November 1972. In early 1973 the Stevie Wonder-produced "Bad Weather" reached number 87 in the US and 37 in the UK, after which Laurence left and Birdsong returned.

  Jean Terrell then departed, replaced by Scherrie Payne, sister of Invictus artist Freda Payne. The disco single "He's My Man", with Payne and Wilson sharing lead, became a popular hit in 1975. In 1976 Birdsong left again, replaced by Susaye Greene, another former member of Wonderlove. This final version cut two albums that reunited the group with Holland-Dozier-Holland, High Energy and Mary, Scherrie & Susaye, and scored a final Top 40 hit with "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking". On the 12th of June 1977 the Supremes played their farewell concert at the Drury Lane Theater in London as Wilson left for a solo career. Payne and Greene had picked Joyce Vincent to fill out a new trio, but Motown ruled that without any original members the group would simply disband.

• 8. Echoes And Disputes

  ›

  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. Loosely based on the group's history, it follows the Dreams, an all-female trio from Chicago, with the story centering on Effie White, an analogue of Florence Ballard. Mary Wilson loved the musical, while Diana Ross was reportedly angered by it and refused to see it. The 1976 film Sparkle had already drawn on a Supremes-like trio, and its 2012 remake starred Jordin Sparks and Whitney Houston in her final film role.

  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 the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998. Three songs joined the Grammy Hall of Fame: "Where Did Our Love Go" and "You Keep Me Hangin' On" in 1999 and "Stop! In the Name of Love" in 2001. In 2004 Rolling Stone placed the group at number 97 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Among their followers Madonna recalled, "The Beatles were there, but I was more eager about The Supremes. I was really into girl groups."

  Reunions proved harder than tributes. A planned 2000 Return to Love tour offered Ross $15 million, Wilson $4 million, and Birdsong less than $1 million; Ross offered to double the others' fees, Birdsong accepted, but Wilson held out and the original-trio deal collapsed. The tour ran with Payne and Laurence beside Ross, none of whom had been in the group together, and was canceled after half its dates. Disputes over the name reached the courts: in 1999 the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Wilson, finding that Motown owned the Supremes name. With Florence Ballard gone in 1976 and Mary Wilson's death on the 8th of February 2021, the original classic lineup can never reunite. In 2023, at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, Ross, Wilson and Ballard were named among eight recipients of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.