Like so many of the African-American artists who blazed trails in the hey-day of Motown, Diana Ross got started while she was still a teenager. She joined The Primettes (The Supremes before they were The Supremes) and achieved local success playing at live venues before eventually being signed by Barry Gordy at Motown in 1961. Part of the deal was a name change. Their first hit came in 1963 with “When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes,” which peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
Throughout the 60s, The Supremes were hitmakers. From August 1964 to May 1967, they had ten number-one hit singles including “Where Did Our Love Go,” “Baby Love,” “Stop! In the Name of Love,” “You Can’t Hurry Love,” “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.” and “Come See About Me.” Gordy saw a future for Ross as a solo artist and in January 1970, she made her final appearance with the Supremes and branched off on a solo career that would span the next four and half decades.
Her solo debut album included “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand),” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” The latter was her first number-one single as a solo artist. Throughout the 1970s, she continued to achieve commercial success and branched out into an acting career (Can you say Lady Sings the Blues and The Wiz?) and a turn as the first African-American woman to co-host the Oscars. She left Motown at the end of the 70s to sign on with RCA in a $20 million deal making it the largest at the time. The move also gave her full production control. Her first album at RCA, Why Do Fools Fall in Love sold over a million copies.
She returned to Motown in 1988 after Barry Gordy sold the company to MCA records. Part of the deal gave her shares in the company as part-owner. Though her album production slowed in the 90s, her public appearances did not. She performed at Super Bowl XXX, the opening ceremony of the 1994 FIFA World Cup, and the Royal Variety Performance for Queen Elizabeth II, among others.
In the years since, Ross has appeared on albums of several collaborators, continued to tour and branched out into other commercial venues. She has been recognized with the Kennedy Center Honors, the 2012 Grammy for Lifetime Achievement, the 2017 American Music Awards Lifetime Achievement Award and she was honored during the 2018 Grammy Awards for her history of accomplishments. In 2016, she was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She’s received a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination and in 1988, along with The Supremes, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In 1993, the Guinness Book of World Records declared Ross the most successful female music artist in history, due to her success in the United States and United Kingdom for having more hits than any female artist in the charts, with a career total of 70 hit singles with her work with the Supremes and as a solo artist.
Diana Ross is the very best definition of “diva.” Both with the Supremes, and as a solo artist, Diana Ross has provided a soundtrack for our lives for six decades. And we’re a lot better for it.
Now on to the music!
