In a remarkable career spanning over 40 years, Diana Ross has proven herself the consummate music artist as well as the most successful female singer of all time.
Born on March 26, 1964 in Detroit, Michigan, Diana Ross lived a comfortable life in a working class neighborhood. While her initial desire was to be a fashion designer, life would take her in a different direction. As a teenager in high school she joined with three other girls who lived in the same housing project and they formed a quartet. After singing in talent shows, a local record agent dubbed them “The Primettes.” Even though they performed in local shows, they longed to begin recording.
After an audition with Berry Gordy, founder of the Motown record label, he encouraged them to finish high school before pursuing their recording career. In 1961 they were signed to Motown Records and renamed The Supremes. The following year, one member left the group and The Supremes became a trio. The recordings began and the results were lackluster. But Diana and her Supremes persevered. And then in 1964, “Where Did Our Love Go” reached number one on the pop charts. What followed were chart topping hits: “Baby Love,” “Come See About Me,, “Stop! In The Name Of Love.” and “Back In My Arms Again.” This launched the Supremes and, ultimately, Diana Ross to a different level.
In 1967 the trio became “Diana Ross and The Supremes.” Diana was the obvious star of the trio and plans that were set in motion for her to embark on a solo career in 1970. Diana Ross was no longer a member of the Supremes.
Diana’s elegant gowns and make-up quickly endeared her to the gay community. In 1970 “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” reached number one and became a very popular song performed by drag performers, the audience singing along, right hand waving in the air during the chorus and finale.
IN 2007, SHE WAS HONORED TWICE, FIRST WITH THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD AT THE BET AWARDS AND LATER WAS ONE OF THE HONOREES AT THE KENNEDY CENTER HONORS.
Intermingled with Diana’s musical career was her foray into cinema. With the film “Lady Sings the Blues,” she established herself as a solid actress and a singer capable of crossing into different styles of music.
Also of note was the fact that Diana, along with Cicely Tyson became the first black actresses to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress since Dorothy Dandridge. The soundtrack to “Lady Sings the Blues” became just as successful, reaching #1 on the Billboard 200 staying there for two weeks and breaking then-industry records by shipping 300,000 copies during the first eight days of its release. At nearly two million in sales, it is one of Diana’s best-selling albums to date.
In 1975 the film “Mahogany” was released. It was another commercial, if not critical, success for Diana. The same year, “Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re going To)” became a hit single. Then the disco hits came including “Love Hangover” (1976), “The Boss” (1979), and “Upside Down” (1980). In 1980, “I’m Coming Out,” written by the leaders of the disco band Chic, was released. The idea for the song came from him being at a club in New York City, standing at the urinal and he saw three men who looked like Diana Ross. When she first heard the song, Diana was not so certain how successful “I’m Coming Out” would be, or its not-so-hidden message. The “disco sucks” movement had taken shape, but the writers knew that the message of the song was important and would resonate with Diana’s fans, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
To this day, “I’m Coming Out” continues to be the song that opens a Diana Ross concert and the album Diana, which featured the song, remains Diana’s biggest-selling album
While her music career , her next film, “The Wiz,” co-starring Michael Jackson, was released in 1978. While many will remember Diana and Michael singing “Ease on Down the Road,” the film, which at the time was the most expensive film musical ever made, was not a commercial hit.
The hit singles continued through the 1980s with “It’s My Turn” and then in 1981 with “Endless Love,” a duet with Lionel Richie that became the second biggest-selling single of the year and the biggest-selling single of her career and her 18th career number-one single.
More hits would follow including “Why Do Fools Fall In Love” (1981), “Muscles” (1982), “Missing You” (1984), “Swept Away” (1984) and “Chain Reaction” (1985). Earlier in 1985, she appeared as part of the supergroup USA for Africa on the “We Are the World” charity single, which sold over 20 million copies worldwide.
In 2004, Diana returned to live touring, first in Europe and then in the United States all within the same year. In 2005, she participated in Rod Stewart‘s Thanks for the Memory: The Great American Songbook, Volume IV recording a duet version of the Gershwin standard, “I’ve Got a Crush on You“. The song was released as promotion for the album and later reached number 19 on the Billboard’s Hot Adult Contemporary chart, marking her first Billboard chart entry since 2000.
In June 2006, Universal released the shelved 1972 Blue album. It peaked at #2 on Billboard’s jazz albums chart. Later in 2006, Diana released her first studio album in seven years with I Love You which sold 622,000 copies worldwide and later ventured on a world tour to promote I Love You which garnered rave reviews. In 2007, she was honored twice, first with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BET Awards and later was one of the honorees at the Kennedy Center Honors.
In 2010, Ross embarked on her first headlining tour in three years titled the More Today Than Yesterday: The Greatest Hits Tour. She dedicated the entire concert tour to her late friend, Michael Jackson, who died in June 2009. In February 2012, Diana Ross received her first ever Grammy Award, for Lifetime Achievement.
Among her notable achievements, her songs “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. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and entered into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone placed “The Supremes” at number 96 on their list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Other achievements include her Guinness World Record, which was earned due to her success in the United States and United Kingdom for having more hits than any other female artist in the charts with a career total of 70 hit singles. 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.
Diana continues to tour quite rigorously recently completing a 2013 South American tour before embarking on her current multi-city U.S. late summer tour which will bring her to Pittsburgh on August 20.
Diana Ross will be appearing at Heinz Hall on Thursday, August 20. For more info, visit www.pso.culturaldistrict.org or call 412-392-4900. For updated news about Diana Ross, visit her www.dianaross.de
