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Diana Ross (March 26, 1944- ) is a singer and actress who played Dorothy in the 1978 movie version of The Wiz alongside Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, and Ted Ross (no relation). Ross first rose to fame as a founding member and lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 60s. After leaving the group in 1970, Diana began her solo career that has included successful ventures into film and Broadway. 

Biography[]

The second of six children of African-American parents Ernestine Lillian (Moten), a schoolteacher, and Fred Earl Ross, who served in the army. She was raised in housing projects for most of the late 1940s and early 1950s, Diana started singing in the gospel choir of a Baptist church. With friends Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard and Barbara Martin, she formed a vocal group, The Primettes, at age 15.

After Barbara had departed the group, the remaining three girls inked a deal with Motown Records and were renamed The Supremes. Ross wasn't picked to become the group's lead singer until Motown founder Berry Gordy decided that the time was exactly right, and from then on he described the group as "Diana Ross and the Supremes." From 1965 to 1969 the group had a string of #1 records. In late 1969 Gordy announced that Ross would be leaving the group for a solo career.

In the third week of 1970 she played her last concert with The Supremes and started working with the songwriting team of Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson. Ross' first two songs by the team reached #1 on both the pop and R&B charts, justifying her move. Prior to starting a family of her own, she won the title role in the Billie Holiday biopic Lady Sings the Blues (1972), which was extremely successful at the box office, and had the distinction of being nominated for an Academy Award for her first film. The movie's soundtrack reached #1 on the U.S. charts. Despite fame and fortune, her next two big films, Mahogany (1975) and The Wiz (1978), didn't meet with the same success. However, she had a #1 hit single with "Mahogany" to make up for it. In February 1976, just before another #1 hit with "Love Hangover," she was stunned when her singing partner and friend, Florence Ballard, died after complications from a combination of alcohol abuse and long-term depression, which led to cardiac arrest. Ballard was only 32 years old and Ross was devastated by the loss.

After recovering from Ballard's death, Ross went on to focus on her singing career and continued having more #1 songs, including "Upside Down". The following year she performed the theme song from Endless Love (1981), which was composed by Lionel Richie. That same year she left Motown Records and signed contracts with various record companies across the globe, and formed her own production company. The following year she released "Silk Electric," on which she sang "Muscles," a song written and produced by Michael Jackson.

After she sang a tribute song dedicated to the late Marvin Gaye, Ross scored another #1 song in 1986 in the UK with "Chain Reaction," which brought back her days as the member of The Supremes , and was written and produced by The Bee Gees. Unlike the song she sang when Florence died, this song was about how she became accustomed to Marvin over the years. After an eight-year absence, in 1989 she came back to Motown. Ross had gained more fame through concert appearances over the years, and in April 1993 she became a best-selling author with her first and only children's book, "When You Dream," which featured a CD with four songs that were dedicated to the book. That same year she was declared by the Guinness Book of World Records to be the most successful female singer of all times. Two years later she was honored with the Heritage Award for Lifetime Achievement on the Soul Train Awards. After receiving those honors, she came back to the studio in 1999 with "Every Day Is A New Day," and the song reached the UK Top 10. The following year, with Mary Wilson--the only other surviving original Supremes member--she planned to book a Supremes reunion tour, but this was eventually canceled.

In 2000, Ross launched a Supremes tour, which was highly criticized for excluding original member Wilson and later addition Cindy Birdsong, with there being talks of financial disputes between Ross' and Wilson's camps. After experiencing low attendance, the tour was canceled following a short run.

She was arrested in 2002 in Tucson, Arizona, for driving under the influence and after pleading guilty was sentenced to two days in jail, 36 hours of counseling and one year probation. Today she is hard at work finishing her forthcoming book, "Upside Down: Wrong Turns, Right Turns and the Road Ahead."

Ross was awarded for her hard work again in 2007 when she was presented with Black Entertainment Television's Lifetime Achievement Award. Also that year, a few weeks after her father's death, Ross was honored by the Kennedy Center for her contributions to the arts. Vocalist Smokey Robinson and actor Terrence Howard were on hand to provide tributes to the superstar, and Ciara, Vanessa Williams and Jordin Sparks paid homage to Ross in song. In 2009, Ross jumped back into the limelight when it was revealed that pop icon Michael Jackson had requested the diva as an alternate guardian for his children.

The Wiz[]

Even though Diana Ross was too old to play Dorothy when Motown obtained film rights to The Wiz, she landed the role after campaigning to the producer. The script had to undergo an almost complete rewrite to accommodate her. In the movie The Wiz,Dorothy is a kindergarten teacher who's in her 20's who is very shy and doesn't have any friends, all except for her dog Toto. She's living with her aunt and uncle because she's not ready to live alone. But after leaving Oz she has now changed.

Unfortunately for Ross nearly all movie critics universally agreed that her performance failed to capture the youthful spunk, Strength and tenderness of Baum's Dorothy.

While working on the movie, Ross also recorded a soundtrack titled Diana Ross Sings Songs From The Wiz, in which she sang 15 songs from the musical all by herself. However, when the movie flopped, Motown decided against releasing this record. It remained unavailable to the public until November 2015, when Motown released it online to promote NBC's The Wiz Live!

Saturday Night Live cast member Sasheer Zamata has interestingly both impersonated Diana Ross, and played Dorothy - but not in the same sketch.

Gallery[]

Discography[]

Studio albums[]

  • Diana Ross (1970)
  • Everything Is Everything (1970)
  • Surrender (1971)
  • Touch Me in the Morning (1973)
  • Diana & Marvin (with Marvin Gaye) (1973)
  • Last Time I Saw Him (1973)
  • Diana Ross (1976)
  • Baby It's Me (1977)
  • Ross (1978)
  • The Boss (1979)
  • Diana (1980)
  • Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1981)
  • Silk Electric (1982)
  • Ross (1983)
  • Swept Away (1984)
  • Eaten Alive (1985)
  • Red Hot Rhythm & Blues (1987)
  • Workin' Overtime (1989)
  • The Force Behind the Power (1991)
  • A Very Special Season (1994)
  • Take Me Higher (1995)
  • Every Day Is a New Day (1999)
  • Blue (2006)
  • I Love You (2006)
  • Thank You (2021)

Soundtrack albums[]

  • Diana! (1971)
  • Lady Sings the Blues (1972)
  • Mahogany (1975)
  • The Wiz (1978)
  • Endless Love: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1981)

Live albums[]

  • Live at Caesars Palace (1974)
  • An Evening with Diana Ross (1977)
  • Greatest Hits Live (1989)
  • Stolen Moments: The Lady Sings... Jazz and Blues (1993)
  • Christmas in Vienna (with Plácido Domingo and José Carreras) (1993)
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