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Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Diana Ross' family moved to the Brewster-Douglas housing project when Ross was fourteen. Later the same year, Ross began her music career with Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard and Betty McGlown as the doo-wop quartet the Primettes, a sister group to The Primes. After signing to Motown Records in 1961 and replacing McGlown with Barbara Martin, they changed the name of the group to The Supremes. Barbara Martin left the group shortly afterwards, and The Supremes carried on as a trio.
Ross sang lead on all of the group's early singles, save for 1961's "Buttered Popcorn", lead by Ballard. These singles were not successes, and Ross worked for a time as Motown CEO Berry Gordy, Jr.'s secretary for additional income. Feeling that Ross' distinctive soprano voice would allow the Supremes to crossover for mainstream audiences, Gordy made her the sole lead singer of the group in late 1963. The same year, the Supremes had their first hit, the Holland-Dozier-Holland composition "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes". More H-D-H written and produced pop hits soon followed, with an unprecedented ten Supremes singles, among them "Where Did Our Love Go", "Stop! In the Name of Love", and "You Keep Me Hangin' On", becoming number one Billboard Hot 100 hits between 1964 and 1967.
By 1967 the Supremes had become the most successful act on the Motown label, and Diana Ross had become the focal point of the group. That year, Florence Ballard was replaced with Cindy Birdsong of Patti LaBelle & the Blue Belles, and the name of the group was changed to Diana Ross & the Supremes. The group continued a frenzied pace of network tv show appearances, supper club gigs and recording time with a revolving team of producers after Holland-Dozier-Holland left Motown in late 1967. Their last H-D-H single, the psychedelic and wildly popular "Reflections" peaked at #2, 1968's "Love Child" returned Ross and the Supremes to number one. Diana Ross and the Supremes became the most successful American musical group of the 1960s, and the second most successful international group of the decade, behind The Beatles.
Motown began plans to have Ross begin a solo career in 1968. Television specials such as TCB (1968) and G.I.T. on Broadway (1969) were designed to spotlight Ross as a star in her own right, and much of the later Ross-led Supremes material was recorded by Ross with session singers The Andantes, not Wilson and Birdsong, on backing vocals.
By the summer of 1969, Jean Terrell was chosen by Gordy to be Ross' replacement, and Ross began her first solo recordings. In November of the same year, three years after it was first rumored, Billboard magazine confirmed Ross' exit from the group to begin her solo career. In conjunction with the launching of her solo career, Ross introduced Motown's newest act, The Jackson 5, to national audiences. Ross began her solo sessions with a number of producers, including Bones Howe and Johnny Bristol. Her first track with Bristol, "Someday We'll Be Together", was tagged as her first solo single; it was instead issued as the final Diana Ross & the Supremes release. "Someday We'll Be Together" was the twelfth and final number-one hit for the Supremes, and Ross made her final appearance with the Supremes at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas on January 14, 1970.
After a half-year of recording material with various producers, Ross settled with the production team of Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, the creative force behind Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell's hit duets. Ashford and Simpson helmed most of Ross' first album, Diana Ross, and would continue to write and produce for Ross for the next decade.
In May 1970, Diana Ross was released on Motown. The first single, the gospel-influenced "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)", peaked at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album's second single, a cover of Gaye and Terrell's 1967 hit "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", was an international hit, and gave Ross her first #1 pop single as a solo artist.
In 1971, Motown released Ross' second album Everything is Everything, which garnered the top 20 pop hit, "Remember Me". Several months later, Ross released Surrender which garnered Ross' first UK number one solo single, "I'm Still Waiting". That year, Ross hosted her first solo TV special, Diana!. Featuring guest appearances by The Jackson 5, Bill Cosby and Danny Thomas, Ross' special continued her popularity with the middle-of-the-road audience.
By now, Motown Records had relocated to the West Coast, specifically Hollywood. Berry Gordy decided it was time the company ventured out once more in new territory, so he focused much of his attention on developing a motion pictures company and set his sights on making Ross a movie star.
In late-1971, it was announced that Diana Ross was going to play jazz icon Billie Holiday in a Motown-produced biographical film loosely based on Holiday's autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues. From the moment the film was announced, critics ridiculed Ross throughout the media: Ross and Holiday were miles apart from each other in style and appearance. Ross soldiered on, immersing herself into Holiday's catalogue. Knowing better than to imitate Holiday's voice, Ross focused on adapting Holiday's vocal phrasing. According to a television documentary, Ross studied Holiday's character so well that Motown executive Suzanne de Passe says Gordy told her to "put a little Diana back into it".
Opening in October 1972, Lady Sings the Blues was a phenomenal success, and Ross' performance drew universal rave reviews. The movie co-starred Brian's Song star Billy Dee Williams, who played Holiday's lover, Louis McKay. Also appearing was, in his film debut, comedian and actor Richard Pryor, who played the "Piano Man". In 1973, Ross was nominated for both the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Actress. Winning a Golden Globe for Best Newcomer, Ross lost the Best Actress Oscar to her friend, Liza Minnelli, for her role in Cabaret. The soundtrack album for Lady Sings the Blues went to number-one album on the Billboard 200, and reportedly sold 300,000 copies during its first eight days of release. The soundtrack also garnered accolades for Ross, as critics praised her for "suggesting Billie Holiday" with her delivery and expertly capturing Holiday's intricate phrasing.
In 1971, Ross and Motown labelmate Marvin Gaye had begun an album of duets. The two singers clashed over Gaye's refusal to stop smoking marijuana in the studio to appease Ross, then pregnant with her second child, Tracee Ellis Ross. As a result, the duets album, Diana & Marvin, was completed in separate studios in 1972. Upon its 1973 release, Diana & Marvin proved to be a success, with their cover of The Stylistics' "You Are Everything" becoming a Top 10 hit in the United Kingdom.
The Michael Masser-composed ballad, "Touch Me in the Morning", became Ross' second number-one pop single as a solo artist in 1973. A resulting Touch Me in the Morning LP was a Top 10 success in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
In 1975, Ross again co-starred with Billy Dee Williams in the Motown film Mahogany. The story of an aspiring fashion designer who becomes a runway model and the toast of the industry, Mahogany was a troubled production from early on. The film's original director, Tony Richardson, was fired during production and Berry Gordy assumed the director's chair himself. In addition, Gordy and Ross clashed during filming, with Ross leaving the production before shooting had been completed. While a box office hit, the film was not a critical success: Time magazine's review of the film chastised Gordy for "squandering one of America's most natural resources: Diana Ross."
Ross hit number-one on the pop charts twice in 1976 with "Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)", and the disco single "Love Hangover". The successes of these singles made her 1976 album, Diana Ross her second LP to reach the Top 10. In 1977, her Broadway one-woman show earned the singer a special Tony Award. That same show was televised as a special on NBC and later released as An Evening with Diana Ross.
The same year, Motown acquired the film rights to the popular Broadway play The Wiz, an African-American reinterpretation of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Although teenaged Stephanie Mills, a veteran of the play, was originally cast as Dorothy, Diana Ross convinced Universal Pictures producer Rob Cohen to have Ross cast as Dorothy, As a result, the eleven-year old protagonist of the story was altered into a shy twenty-four year old schoolteacher from Harlem, New York. Among Ross' costars in the film were Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross, and her former labelmate and protégé Michael Jackson from the Jackson 5. Upon its October 1978 release, the film adaptation of The Wiz was a costly commercial and critical failure, and it was Ross' final film for Motown.
Returning to her again dormant singing career in 1979, Ross re-teamed with Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson for the album The Boss, which became Ross' first gold-certified album (Motown sales records before 1977 were not audited by the RIAA, and therefore none of Motown's pre-1977 releases were awarded certifications). In 1980, Ross released her first platinum-certified album, the six-million selling diana, produced by CHIC's front men Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards. The album included two of Ross' most successful and familiar solo hits, her fifth number-one single, "Upside Down", and the Top 5 single "I'm Coming Out". Rogers expressed disdain that Ross had remixed the album with Russ Terrana (Rogers and Edwards had painstakingly mixed down the album with noted engineer Bob Clearmountain before handing it over to Motown, and the original version is rumoured to be amongst the very best of Chic's recorded composition).
Ross scored a Top 5 hit in late 1980 with the theme song to the 1980 film It's My Turn. The following year, she collaborated with former Commodores singer-songwriter Lionel Richie on the theme song for the film Endless Love. The "Endless Love" single became Ross' final hit on Motown Records. Feeling that Motown, and in particular Gordy, were keeping her from freely expressing herself, Ross left Motown for a reported $20 million to sign with RCA Records, ending her twenty-year tenure with the label. When "Endless Love" hit number-one in 1981, Ross became the first female artist in music history to place six singles at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, surpassing Barbra Streisand's five number-ones and Donna Summer's four number-ones.
Diana Ross' RCA Records debut, the platinum-selling Why Do Fools Fall in Love, was issued in the summer of 1981. The album yielded Top 10 hits such as the title track "Why Do Fools Fall in Love", a remake of the 1956 Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers classic of the same name, and the single "Mirror, Mirror".
In 1983, Ross reunited with former Supremes Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong for the television special Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever. The three singers performed their 1969 number-one hit "Someday We'll Be Together", although altercations onstage between Ross and Wilson became an issue during the taping of the special. Ross, angered that Wilson and Birdsong had conspired to take a step forward every time she did, pushed Wilson towards the back of the stage. Ross and Wilson later argued onstage as Wilson was attempting to ask Berry Gordy to join them and the other Motown stars onstage for the finale. These incidents were excised from the final edit of the taped special, but still made their way into the news media; People magazine reported that "Ross [did] some elbowing to get Wilson out of the spotlight."
Later that year, Ross held a much-heralded concert in Central Park, the proceeds of which were to go towards building a playground in the singer's name. Fifteen minutes into the show, which was being filmed for Showtime cable television, it began to rain, and as she urged the crowd of 300,000 to safely exit the venue, Ross announced that she would continue the performance the next day. Ross' actions drew praise within the mainstream press. That next day, over 500,000 people came back for one of the largest free concerts in the park's history. However, the second show generated controversy. New York mayor Ed Koch objected to the expenses of a second show. To settle the matter, Ross personally wrote a check for an estimated $250,000 to cover the remaining costs. Although Koch's objections slowed the progress, the Diana Ross Playground was finally built three years later.
Other hit singles recorded by Ross for RCA included "Muscles" (1982), "Swept Away" (1984), "Missing You" (1984), and the UK number-one single, "Chain Reaction" (1986). While Ross continued to have success overseas as the 1980s continued, she began to struggle on the United States Billboard charts. In 1989, after leaving RCA, Diana Ross returned to Motown. The singer was now both a part-owner and recording artist.
In 1989, Diana Ross released her first Motown album in eight years, the Nile Rodgers-produced Workin' Overtime. Despite a top three R&B hit with the title track, the album failed to find a pop audience in America, much as Ross' later RCA releases has. Subsequent follow-ups such as 1991's The Force Behind the Power, 1995's Take Me Higher and 1999's Every Day is a New Day produced the same results.
Ross still had success with her latter-day Motown albums in the United Kingdom and Europe, however, scoring Top 10 Hits with "When You Tell Me That You Love Me" (1991), "One Shining Moment" (1992) and "Not Over You Yet" (2000). In 1999, Diana Ross was named the most successful female singer in the history of the United Kingdom charts, based upon a tally of her career hits. Fellow Detroit songbird Madonna would eventually beat Ross out as the most successful female artist in the UK. In 2002, Diana Ross and Motown parted ways.
Diana Ross returned to acting in the ABC telefilm, Out of Darkness (1993), in which she played a woman suffering from schizophrenia. Once again, Ross drew critical acclaim for her acting, and scored her third Golden Globe nomination for acting. In 1999, Ross co-starred with young R&B singer Brandy for the ABC television movie Double Platinum playing a singer who neglected her daughter while concentrating on her career.
Diana Ross was a presenter at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, held that September. She shocked TV viewers when she grabbed rapper Lil' Kim's exposed breast, reportedly amazed at the open brashness of the rapper showcasing her body. A month after the Lil Kim incident, authorities at London's Heathrow Airport detained Ross for assaulting a female security guard. Angered over a "body search" by the guard that she felt was invasive, Ross had fondled the woman back. The singer was arrested but was later released.
In 2000, Ross announced a Supremes reunion tour, again with Wilson and Birdsong, called Return to Love. Wilson and Birdsong declined the tour because of a reported difference in pay offered to each member: Ross was offered $15 million while Wilson was offered $3 million and Birdsong less than $1 million. They were replaced by latter-day Supremes Lynda Laurence and Scherrie Payne. Despite a respectable opening in Philadelphia, the tour was cancelled after nine dates, because of lackluster ticket sales.
In December 2002, Diana Ross was arrested in Tucson, Arizona on suspicion of driving under the influence. Ross later pleaded no contest, and served a controversial two-day jail sentence in Connecticut. Afterwards, Ross entered a "rehabilitation facility", and within months returned to perform on the road in Europe.
In 2005, Diana Ross returned to the charts with a pair of duets. "I Got a Crush on You" was recorded with Rod Stewart for his album The Great American Songbook, and reached number nineteen on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary chart. Another duet, recorded with Westlife, was a remake of Ross' 1991 number-two UK single, "When You Tell Me You Love Me", and reached number-two in the UK just as the original had.
In 2006, Motown released a shelved Ross album titled Blue, which was a collection of jazz standards recorded after Ross filmed Lady Sings the Blues. Released in June, Blue peaked at number-two on the jazz albums chart. In August, it was announced that Ross would release a new studio album of classic rock and soul standards on the independent label Angel Records. The album, titled I Love You, was released on October 2 around the world and will be released on January 16, 2007 in North America, on the Manhattan/EMI Records label.[ Ross was the second of five children born to Fred and Ernestine Ross in Detroit, Michigan. Her sisters Barbara and Rita did not venture into show business. Instead, Barbara Ross became a doctor, while Rita Ross became a schoolteacher. Ross' younger brother Arthur "T-Boy" Ross was a successful songwriter for Motown, composing hits for Marvin Gaye, the Jackson 5, and others alongside Leon Ware. Ross' youngest brother, Wilbert "Chico" Ross, was a dancer on Ross' tours.
Ross married music business manager Robert Ellis Silberstein in August 1971. After divorcing him in March 1977, Ross publicly dated actor Ryan O'Neal and rocker Gene Simmons of the group KISS, before marrying Norwegian tycoon Arne Næss Jr. in October 1985. After a long-distance marriage, Næss made headlines in 1999 announcing his split from Ross, which was finalized in February 2000.
Ross is the mother of five children. She and Gordy are the parents of Rhonda Suzanne Silberstein (born 1971), now known as Rhonda Ross Kendrick. Ross and Robert Silberstein are the parents of Tracee Joy Silberstein (born 1972), now known as Tracee Ellis Ross, and Chudney Lane Silberstein (born 1975). Ross Arne Næss (born 1987) and Evan Olaf Næss, now known as Evan Ross (born 1988), are the children of Ross and Arne Næss.
Rhonda Ross Kendrick found fame in the television soap opera Another World, and had a brief career as a jazz singer. Tracee Ellis Ross pursued a career as a model, and later found fame as an actress: her sitcom, Girlfriends, ran on UPN from 2000 to 2006, and continues to run on The CW. Her youngest daughter, Chudney Ross, is a model, and was briefly a judge in a reality show Fame. Ross' youngest son, Evan Ross, received positive reviews for his role in the 2006 film ATL, in which he co-starred with rapper T.I.
