Diana Ross Biography

As a teenager, Diana Ross began singing with her friends Florence Ballard, Barbara Martin, and Mary Wilson. Two of the three – Diana Ross and Ballard – would eventually go on to become the worldwide sensation known as The Supremes.

Diana Ross and The Supremes were signed to Motown Records in 1961, after their discovery by Berry Gordy, Jr., the label’s founder and producer. Their first number one hit, “Where Did Our Love Go?” came in 1964. Together, Diana Ross and The Supremes scored twelve number one hits, including “Someday We Will Be Together” and the iconic song “Stop! In the Name of Love.”

In 1969, Diana Ross launched a solo career, and within one year had reached the top of the charts with singles such as “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “Reach Out and Touch Somebody’s Hand” in 1970. But it was her portrayal of Billie Holiday in the biographical Lady Sings the Blues in 1972 that garnered Diana Ross not only an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, but also a highly successful soundtrack. The years 1975 and 1978 saw Diana Ross return to the screen in The Wiz and Mahogany. Her 1980 album Diana brought the hits “I’m Coming Out” and “Upside Down,” and Muscles in 1982, written by her dear friend Michael Jackson, brought additional hits.

Her accomplishments in the new millennium have been numerous as well. In 2005 Diana Ross recorded a duet with Rod Steward, “I Got A Crush on You,” for his album The Great American Songbook, and in 2006, Motown released a collection of jazz standards, titled Blue, after Diana Ross filmed Lady Sings the Blues. The following year, she was awarded BET’s Lifetime Achievement Award and a Kennedy Center Honors, and three years later she launched a headlining tour dedicated to her dear friend Michael Jackson, who had recently passed away.

Despite her achievements, it wasn’t until 2012 that Diana Ross received her first Grammy, a Lifetime Achievement Award, and was selected to announce the nominees for Album of the Year. In May of 2012, For One and All, a collection of Diana Ross’ performances from Central Park, was released. She most recently received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.

Diana Ross continues to perform and record. Considered one of the most successful dance artists of all time by Billboard Magazine, she tours regularly; her most recent tour, In the Name of Love Tour, launched in 2013 and continued into 2017. She also began another Las Vegas residency, Endless Memories, in 2017.