Originally called the Primettes, The Supremes were formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, featuring a combination of Doo-Wop, soul, blues, and pop music.  Founding members were Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Diana Ross, and Betty McGlown. They started by singing Ray Charles and The Drifters hits

The Supremes

None of the music seemed to date itself, as Supremes songs were remade repeatedly while the originals continued to play on radio, in movies and TV. It proved this: the sound of young America spoke to the dreams of young America.

The Early Years

Originally called the Primettes, The Supremes were formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, featuring a combination of Doo-Wop, soul, blues, and pop music.  Founding members were Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Diana Ross, and Betty McGlown. They started by singing Ray Charles and The Drifters hits at sock hops and social events.  In 1961, with the help of their neighbor, Smokey Robinson, the group signed a contract with Motown, provided they change their name from The Primettes to The Supremes.

After a series of unremarkable singles, The Supremes released Where Did Our Love Go, which went to #1 on the Billboard charts and earned them the recognition they had been seeking.  Their Motown producer, Berry Gordy, named Diana Ross the official lead singer of the group, although solos were given to other members periodically as well.

Becoming Stars

Four more hits soon followed:  Baby Love, Come See About Me, Stop! In the Name of Love, and  Back in My Arms Again.  They toured internationally and drew crowds from all regions.  By 1966, they had added four more  #1 singles.  They released the album, The Supremes A Go Go, which made them first all female group ever to occupy the #1 position on the Billboard Top 200.

Ballard left the group in 1968.  At that time also, the band was renamed Diana Ross and the Supremes; Ross left the group to pursue a solo career in 1970. Mary Wilson, Cindy Birdsong, and Jean Terrell were now The Supremes.  They released eleven more albums between 1970 and 1976.  They scored a number of hits, including Up the Ladder to the Roof and Stoned Love, but they did not see the success they had seen in earlier years.

Here and Now

In June of 1977, The Supremes bid farewell to their fans at a concert at Drury Lane Theater in London.  Their music remains in demand via online downloads and can be found on multiple music sites.  Ross, Birdsong, and Wilson briefly reunited in 1983 to perform Someday We'll Be Together on the television special, Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever.  

In 2000, plans were made for a reunion tour to be titled Diana Ross and the Supremes: Return to Love.  The plans were scrapped, however, when Mary Wilson learned that promoters had offered Ross $15 million, but had offered Wilson only $3 million, and Birdsong $1 million.  No further reunion plans have been made.

Did you know . . .

1. The members of The Supremes originally did not like or want to record Where Did Our Love Go.

2. In 1967, Diana Ross and Berry Gordy were known to be in a relationship, which was blamed for the change in name to “Diana Ross and the Supremes.”  However, this was a trend for many bands with Motown at the time.

3. Gordy originally rejected the group because he felt they were too young to promote.

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