Happy Birthday, Diana Ross!

Diana Ross, who first became prominent as the lead singer of the Motown girl group the Supremes, was born in Detroit on March 26, 1944. As a teenager, she sang with other girls who also lived in the housing project where she lived. They formed a group, the Primettes, which later evolved into the Supremes. Originally, group member Florence "Flo" Ballard sang lead, while Diana Ross and Mary Wilson sang backup. But after they signed with Motown, label head Berry Gordy, Jr., decided that Diana would sing lead.

After a few minor hits, the group scored its first #1 record, "Where Did Our Love Go".

Starting with "Where Did Our Love Go", 10 out of 13 singles released by the group reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and 12 of them reached the Top 10. Two of my favorite came in the second half of 1966. Collectively, I call them the "Yuke" songs: "You Can't Hurry Love"

and "You Keep Me Hangin' On".

Suddenly, I am 14 years old again, a tough time in my life, but these two songs were bright spots for me. Both have been hits by other artists since then. The most notable remake of "You Can't Hurry Love" was a hit by Phil Collins that reached the Billboard Top 10 in 1983. Other hit remakes of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" include a Top 10 hit by Vanilla Fudge in 1967 and a Number 1 hit by Kim Wilde in 1986.

Flo Ballard left the Supremes and was replaced by Cindy Birdsong in 1967. At that point the group name became Diana Ross and the Supremes. The group's records began to peak at lower positions. In 1969, it was announced that Diana Ross would be leaving the group at the end of the year to pursue a solo career. Her last single with the group, "Someday We'll be Together", was only their second Billboard #1 since her name was made part of the group's. I have read that Mary and Cindy didn't even sing on this record. Instead, Diana was backed by a Motown studio girl group, the Andantes. Here's the song:

After Diana Ross left the Supremes, she continued to be a successful recording and performing artist for many years. She also pursued a career as a film star, appearing in such movies as Lady Sings the Blues (for which she received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress), Mahogany, and The Wiz. Her first hit single as a solo artist was "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)":

Her first #1 solo hit was "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", which is not one of my favorite hits of hers. (I much prefer the version by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.) But I do love her second #1, "Touch Me in the Morning". Yes, another song about touching! Here it is:

In addition to her solo hits, Diana Ross has had duet hits with Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Julio Iglesias, Al B. Sure!, and Rod Stewart.