Diana Ross is a legendary Motown vocalist who never stops delivering. Even at the age of 77, hearing her sing still sends thrills down my spine.
This is the story of the stunning Detroit native who had already attained superstardom by the time she was in her teens.
Everyone, no matter where they are in the world, may communicate with one another through music. It may take you to places you never expected to go and ignite sentiments you never knew you had.
Diana Ross is a legendary Motown vocalist who never stops delivering. Even at the age of 77, hearing her sing still sends thrills down my spine.
Diana Ross began her career in Detroit and quickly climbed to prominence. She currently owns several million-dollar houses around the United States. She has surely faced personal problems along the way, but the road to celebrity has not always been easy.
So, how did she get to where she is now? This is the story of the adored.
Diana Ross was born on March 26, 1944, at the Hutzel Women’s Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, as one of Fred and Ernestine Ross’s six children. Her father was a former member of the United States Army, and her mother was a schoolteacher.
Diana acquired an interest in design and pattern-making as a child at Cass Technical High School in midtown Detroit. Her interests had switched to music by the time she graduated in 1962. She was already a rising star at the time.
Ross worked at the massive Hudson Department Store in Detroit when she was a teenager. It was a staggering 2,124,316 square feet, making it the second largest department store in the United States, trailing only Macy’s in New York.
Diana Ross grew raised in a close-knit household, but she was surrounded by excellent musicians. She grew up in the Brewster-Douglass neighborhood, where she met Smokey Robinson and Aretha Franklin.
Ross’s friend Mary Wilson recruited her to The Primettes when she was still in high school. They would eventually be known as The Supremes, but we’ll get to their incredible success story in a moment.
Diana Ross had recently joined the group and wanted her buddy Smokey Robinson to hear them.
“She’s my kid; I’ve known her since I was about eight years old,” Smokey stated on Steve Harvey’s television show.
“I took her to Motown.” When she was about to graduate from high school, she contacted me and said, “Hey, Smokey, I got a group, I want you to hear us.”
So Diana and her friends went to Smokey’s house and sang.
“I really liked them,” Smokey added.
Smokey Robinson felt they were fantastic. He was already a member of The Miracles, which meant he knew individuals in the music industry, including famed producer and label founder Berry Gordy Jr.
He scheduled an audition for Diana and her classmates. They soon began something that led to them competing with The Beatles.
Motown Records signed him.
The Primettes’ name was shortly changed to The Supremes. Gordy Jr’s Motown Records signed the band. Where Did Our Love Go was their first No. 1 song in 1961.
The band kept making songs and made history in 1964. Baby Love (1964), Come See About Me (1964), and Stop! The Supremes became the first music act to have four additional singles at the top of the charts with In the Name of Love (1965) and Back In My Arms Again (1965).
Diana Ross and her adored group reached new heights in 1966 with the publication of the classic tune You Can’t Hurry Love.
It turned out to be a groundbreaking release from an unstoppable band. There was one show that musicians who wanted to reach a larger audience had to appear on.
The Supremes were frequent guests on The Ed Sullivan Show, where The Beatles made their first appearance in the United States, and Ed himself adored the group. They appeared more than 16 times on the show, more than any other Motown group.
“At first, there was a little distance since we were young, but he became really close to us when he discovered we were kind of, you know, nice girls.” “He loved it a lot,” Supremes member Mary Wilson remarked.
To acquire national recognition, The Supremes needed aid, and Ed Sullivan was instrumental in gaining mainstream exposure and fame. They competed with The Beatles at the top of the charts in 1964.
Three years later, though, there was chatter about the members splitting up. Ross quit the band in November 1969.
She made her final and final performance in January 1970, after the band was renamed Diana Ross and the Supremes a few years before.
Diana Ross needed to strike out on her own. She had already achieved popularity with her girl band, but as we’ve seen throughout history, the shift to being a solo act may be difficult for certain musicians.
That was not the case for Diana Ross.
Diana Ross, her debut album, was released in May 1970. With songs like Ain’t No Mountain High Enough and Reach Out and Touch Somebody’s Hand, it immediately rose to the top of the charts.
The first of those two became her first solo No. 1. Later, she was nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance.
It wasn’t long before Ross was making his way into the Hollywood film industry. She starred in Billie Holiday’s Lady Sings the Blues, for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
She later appeared in films like as Mahogany (1973) and co-starred in The Wiz alongside Anthony Perkins and Billy Dee Williams (1978).
Diana Ross’s next big breakthrough album came out in 1980. Diana, produced by Nile Rodgers, became a great success. The album was certified platinum and includes the No. 1 smash Upside Down, as well as the No. 5 tune I’m Coming Out.
I’m Coming Out was written by Neil Rodgers. He was inspired to write the song after visiting a trans nightclub with many Diana Ross impersonators.
“I’m Going Public”
He was astounded that the Motown legend had such a large Gay fan base.
“Wait a minute,” I thought. “This would be an important record if I wrote a song for Diana Ross and talked about a disenfranchised segment of her fan base and sort of made it for them,” Rodgers stated.
“No one thinks of Diana Ross as being on the front lines of this, yet the homosexual community and her gay admirers adore and idolize her.”
Frankie Crocker, the world’s top radio personality at the time, didn’t enjoy the album. She didn’t want people to think Diana was coming out because she was afraid it would damage her career. Yet, it became a major hit and one of her most popular songs.
“Diana is very emphatically not homophobic,” Rodgers continued. “She is one of the most interesting people you will ever meet.” It was just that she thought we were suggesting she was going to come out.”
Diana Ross continued to make music, releasing several albums and appearing in films such as Out of Darkness (1994) and Double Platinum (1995). (1999). Ross released record after album, hit after hit. She was nominated for 12 Grammy Awards but did not win any of them.
Nonetheless, she was to get the most prestigious award in music in 2012. Diana Ross got a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement and was welcomed to the White House for a very memorable evening four years later.
President Barack Obama presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor. In addition, she received Lifetime Achievement accolades at the American Music Awards in 2017.
Oprah Winfrey interviewed Diana Ross in 2011. The famous talk show presenter began by discussing what Diana Ross meant to her and concluded with tears.
“Imagine being 10 years old and watching The Ed Sullivan Show on welfare, with no chance of ever singing, and watching her for the first time in a country that had no Black people on television,” Oprah cried.
“It was life-changing for me when I first saw someone on television like Diana Ross, who was gorgeous and attractive and symbolized literally possibilities and hope.”
Diana Ross has had two marriages. She married music manager Robert Ellis Silberstein in 1971. They had two children together.
Their first child, Tracee Ellis Ross, was born in 1972, and their second child, Chudney Ross, was born three years later.
Rhonda Ross Kendrick, a daughter of Diana Ross and Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown Records, was also born. They decided, however, that Diana and her then-husband Robert would raise her when she was born in 1971.
But, after their divorce, she married Arne Naess Jr., a Norwegian businessman. Their sons, Ross Naess and Evan Ross, were born in 1987 and 1988, respectively.
