The Supremes were a highly successful women's group active from 1959 to 1977. 12 hits were recorded, the authors of which were the Holland-Dozier-Holland production center.
History of The Supremes
The group was originally called The Primettes, with Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Betty Makglone and Diana Ross as members. In 1960, McGlone replaced Barbara Martin, and in 1961 the group signed with the Motown record company and was called The Supremes. .
After that, Barbara left the group, and Wilson, Florence and Ross became a well-known trio. Performing a variety of musical styles from doo-wop, pop and soul to Broadway tunes, psychedelics and disco, the group achieved overwhelming success in the mid-1960s with Diana Ross as a soloist.
For a short period (from 1967 to 1970) the group was renamed DR & The Supremes until Ross left the group to pursue a solo career and was replaced by Gina Terrell. In 1971, the line-up of The Supremes changed frequently, and in 1977 the group disbanded.
The Supremes are the first black performers of their generation who looked very feminine - delicate makeup, trendy dresses and wigs. They were extremely popular both at home and abroad.
The group made regular appearances on television programs such as Hullabaloo, Hollywood Palace, The Della Reese Show and The Ed Sullivan Show, on which they performed 17 times.
As America's most commercially successful vocal group, 12 of the group's songs topped the Billboard Hot 100 year after year, and their worldwide popularity was almost on par with The Beatles'.
Path to fame The Supremes
Unfortunately, a contract with a successful label did not lead to immediate success. During 1962-1964. The Supremes released unsuccessful singles along with various songwriters and alternating vocalists.
In 1964, Gordy teamed them up with Holland-Dozier-Holland and they released the song "Where Has Our Love Gone". She went to number one on the pop and soul charts and positively influenced the group's success over the next time.
Diana Ross became the lead vocalist and HDH presented an album of simple singles that highlighted Ross's amazing voice and Ballarda and Wilson's backing vocals.
The group released an unprecedented five singles in just 1 year, including Baby Love, Stop! In The Name of Love, Come see about me and Back in my arms again.
The main setback for The Supremes came in late 1967 when Holland-Dozier-Holland left Motown to form their Invictus label.
As a result, the band was left without songwriters. But over the next two years, the girls continued to record hits with up-and-coming Motown songwriters Ashford & Simpson, resulting in the single Love Child and The Happening.
Soloist Diana Ross
Diana Ross was born on March 26, 1944 in Detroit. The second of six children (Fred and Ernestine Ross), Diane was greatly inspired by Etta James' hit The Wallflower (1955).
Since childhood, the girl dreamed of becoming a popular singer, which happened in the future. Her melodic and subtle voice "killed" the audience literally "on the spot".
The group's success without Diane was limited and rather short. In 1970-1971. the band performed the hits Stoned Love, Up the Ladderto the Roof and Nathan Jones. Then they teamed up with the Four Peaks group, after which there were seven of them, they were called River Deep, Mountain High.
The post-Ross period was also notable for frequent line-up changes. Ross was replaced by Gina Terrell (sister of boxer Ernie Terrell), who was replaced by Sherry Payne in 1974.
Conflicts within The Supremes
Despite their hostility, in 1983 Ross, Wilson, and Birdsong reunited briefly for a performance at the company's Motown 25 special.
However, the fame of Ross during the performance caused frequent quarrels, which negatively affected the reunion of the group. They were very jealous of Diana's success and wide popularity.
In 2000, Ross was scheduled to join Wilson and Birdsong on the Diana Ross & The Supremes: Return to Love tour. However, Wilson and Birdsong dropped the idea because Ross was offered $15 million for the tour, but Wilson was offered $3 million and Birdsong was offered less than $1 million.
Eventually the Return to Love tour continued as planned, but Ross was joined by Sherri Payne and Linda Lawrence.
The public and music critics were disappointed with the line-up and the high ticket prices. As a result, the tour was unsuccessful.
Group Awards
Although the group was twice nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Recording (Lovechild, 1965), Best Contemporary Rock and Roll Group (Stop! In The Name of Love, 1966 ), but they failed to win.
The Last Days of Mary Wilson
Mary Wilson passed away on February 8, 2021. She passed away at the age of 76. The cause of death of the performer is not given. Some sources report that she died suddenly.
A couple of days before her death, she posted a video on her YouTube channel. In the video, Mary shared with fans the information that she has signed a contract with the Universal Music label to record solo material. Longplay she wanted to release on the eve of her birthday.
