Mary Wilson
(March 6, 1944 – February 8, 2021)
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She was a founding member of the most successful Motown acts of the 1960s and the best-charting female group in U.S. chart history. The Supremes.
Wilson married Dominican businessman Pedro Ferrer, whom she had chosen as The Supremes’ manager, in Las Vegas on May 11, 1974.[2] They had three children.
In 2001, Wilson earned a degree from New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies.
Wilson was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Paine College in Augusta, Georgia.
In 2020, Wilson received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Newspaper Publishers Association.
Wilson was also, along with The Supremes, inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame class of 2013.
Wilson also served as the master of ceremonies for the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame from 2016 to 2019 and served as a board member.
As a member of the Supremes, her songs “Stop! In the Name of Love” and “You Can’t Hurry Love” are among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. The trio group featuring Diana Ross- Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 (Video on YouTube), received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994, and entered into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998. Wilson was the only Supreme present for all three ceremonies. In 2004, Rolling Stone placed the group at number 96 on their list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”.As a member of The Supremes, Wilson was named as one of eight recipients to receive a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in 2023On February 8, 2021, Wilson died in her sleep from hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease at her home in Henderson, Nevada, a suburb of Las Vegas, at the age of 76. Wilson was interred next to her son Rafael on March 16, 2021.