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Diana Ross music biography continued...

she received incredible praise for her portrayal of legendary jazz songstress Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues.

Diane Ernestine Earle Ross was born on March 26, 1944 in Detroit, Michigan to a family of six children. Her father was a factory worker and her mother a teacher. Her music career began in 1959 as part of the doo-wop quartet The Primettes along with Mary Wilson, Betty McGlown and Florence Ballard. McGlown was eventually replaced by Barbara Martin and the group was signed to Motown Records in 1961 as The Supremes. Soon afterwards Martin departed leaving the group a trio. With Ross on lead vocals, the group spawned ten number one singles between 1964 and 1967 notably "Where Did Our Love Go", "Baby Love", Stop! In the Name of Love", and "You Can't Hurry Love". Following the replacement of Ballard with Cindy Birdsong, the group's name was changed to Diana Ross & the Supremes. In 1970, Diana left the Supremes to become a solo artist.

Diana Ross was released in the spring of 1970 to great reviews, owing much of its acclaim to the success of her Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell cover "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" which graced the charts at the number one spot. Following her solo debut, Ross began working on her starring role as Billie Holiday in the film Lady Sings the Blues. The movie was released in 1972 and was nominated for five Academy Awards one of which was Diana Ross for Best Actress. Diana also covered several of Holiday's songs which were issued on the film's number one selling soundtrack. A year later she released the number one pop hit "Touch Me in the Morning" and later issued a duet album with Marvin Gaye entitled Diana & Marvin. In 1975, she starred in the film Mahogany spawning a number one hit with its theme song. In 1976, she released the disco inspired "Love Hangover" which became a number one hit on the R&B charts. The latter song and the Mahogany theme were featured on her second self-titled album which peaked in the Top Ten on the charts.

Diana returned to the big screen in 1978 starring alongside Michael Jackson, Richard Pryor, and Nipsey Russell in The Wiz. Immediately following the release of The Boss in 1979, she returned to the studio and began recording another album. In 1980 diana proved to be a major breakthrough becoming Ross' biggest selling record. The album featured the hit singles "Upside Down" and "I'm Coming Out".

Diana left Motown and signed a contract with MCA Records on May 20, 1981 for a supposed $20 million. Why Do Fools Fall in Love was issued in the same year and was certified platinum. Toward the late 1980s, her albums Silk Electric and Swept Away did not come near to selling as many copies as her previous successes. She returned to Motown in 1989 and released Working Overtime which was received with disappointing figures. Throughout the 1990s she issued several other albums, The Force Behind the Power in 1991, Take Me Higher in 1995, and Every Day is a New Day which all failed to gain much attention. Nevertheless, she continued to tour drawing in large crowds worldwide. Since 2002 Diana Ross has been without a record label, yet is allegedly being signed to Clive Davis' J Records.