The Supremes (aka the Primettes and Diana Ross & the Supremes)
Mary Wilson (1959–1977, 1983; died 2021)
Diana Ross (1959–1970, 1983, 2000)
Florence Ballard (1959–1967; died 1976)
Betty McGlown (1959–1960; died 2008)
Barbara Martin (1960–1962; died 2020)
Cindy Birdsong (1967–1972, 1973–1976, 1983)
Jean Terrell (1970–1973)
Lynda Laurence (1972–1973, 2000)
Scherrie Payne (1973–1977, 2000)
Susan Green (1976–1977)
The Supremes was an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown’s acts and the most successful American vocal band, with 12 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. Most of these hits were written and produced by Motown’s main songwriting and production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland. It is said that their breakthrough made it possible for future African-American R&B and soul musicians to find mainstream success. Billboard ranked the Supremes as the 16th greatest Hot 100 artist of all time.
Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Diana Ross, and Betty McGlown, the original members, were all from the Brewster-Douglass public housing project in Detroit. They formed the Primettes as the sister act to the Primes (with Paul Williams and Eddie Kendricks, who went on to form the Temptations). Barbara Martin replaced McGlown in 1960, and the group signed with Motown the following year as the Supremes. Martin left the act in early 1962, and Ross, Ballard, and Wilson continued as a trio.
During the mid-1960s, the Supremes achieved mainstream success with Ross as lead singer and Holland–Dozier–Holland as its songwriting and production team. In 1967, Motown president Berry Gordy renamed the group Diana Ross & the Supremes and replaced Ballard with Cindy Birdsong. In 1970, Ross left to pursue a solo career and was replaced by Jean Terrell, and the group reverted the name to the Supremes again. During the mid-1970s, the lineup changed with Lynda Laurence, Scherrie Payne, and Susaye Greene, joining until the group, after 18 years from its foundation, disbanded in 1977.
The Supremes deliberately embraced a more glamorous image than previous black performers. Much of this was accomplished at the behest of Motown chief Berry Gordy and Maxine Powell, who ran Motown’s in-house finishing school and Artist Development department.[29] Unlike many of her contemporaries, Ross sang in a thin, calm voice, and her vocal styling was matched by having all three women embellish their femininity instead of imitating the qualities of male groups. Eschewing plain appearances and basic dance routines, the Supremes appeared onstage in detailed make-up and high-fashion gowns and wigs and performed graceful choreography created by Motown choreographer Cholly Atkins. Powell told the group to “be prepared to perform before kings and queens.” Gordy wanted the Supremes, like all of his performers, to be equally appealing to black and white audiences.
Publications such as Time and The Detroit News commented on the Supremes’ polished presentation. In a May 1965 profile of rock music, Time called the Supremes “the reigning female rock ‘n’ roll group” and said that Ross “is greatly envied for the torchy, come-hither purr in her voice.”Arnold S. Hirsch of The Detroit News said about the Supremes: “They don’t scream or wail incoherently. An adult can understand nine out of every 10 words they sing. And, most astounding, melody can be clearly detected in every song.” Encyclopedia Britannica commented that the Supremes’ hit singles “sounded modern, upwardly mobile, and stylishly sensual in a way that appealed equally to adults and teens of all persuasions.”
By 1965, the Supremes were international stars. They toured the world, becoming almost as popular abroad as they were in the US. Almost immediately after their initial number-one hits, they recorded songs for motion picture soundtracks, appeared in the 1965 film Beach Ball, and endorsed dozens of products, at one point having their own brand of bread. By the end of 1966, their number-one hits included “I Hear a Symphony”, “You Can’t Hurry Love” and “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”. That year the group also released The Supremes A’ Go-Go, which on October 22 became the first album by an all-female group to reach number one on the US Billboard 200, knocking the Beatles’ Revolver out of the top spot. Because the Supremes were popular with white audiences as well as with black ones, Gordy had the group perform at renowned supper clubs such as the Copacabana in New York. Broadway and pop standards were incorporated into their repertoire alongside their own hit songs. As a result, the Supremes became one of the first black musical acts to achieve complete and sustained crossover success. Black rock and roll musicians of the 1950s had seen many of their original hit tunes covered by white musicians, with these covers usually achieving more fame and sales success than the originals. The Supremes’ success, however, counteracted this trend. Featuring three group members who were marketed for their individual personalities (a move unprecedented at the time) and Diana Ross’s pop-friendly voice, the Supremes broke down racial barriers with rock and roll songs underpinned by R&B stylings. The group became extremely popular both domestically and abroad, becoming one of the first black musical acts to appear regularly on television programs such as Hullabaloo, The Hollywood Palace, The Della Reese Show, and, most notably, The Ed Sullivan Show, on which they made 17 appearances. In 2003, Fred Bronson wrote that in 1959, when the Supremes formed as the Primettes, “no one could have predicted they would become the most successful American singing group of all time.”
Several fictional works have been published and produced that are based in part on the career of the group. The 1976 film Sparkle features the story of a Supremes-like singing trio called “Sister & the Sisters” from Harlem, New York. The film’s score was composed by Curtis Mayfield, and the soundtrack album by Aretha Franklin was a commercial success. A remake of Sparkle was in development in the early 2000s with R&B singer Aaliyah as the lead, but the project was shelved when Aaliyah died in 2001. The Sparkle remake was eventually released in August 2012 and starred Jordin Sparks and Whitney Houston, in her final film role.
On December 21, 1981, the Tony Award-winning musical Dreamgirls opened at the Imperial Theatre on Broadway and ran for 1,522 performances. The musical, loosely based on the history of the Supremes, follows the story of the Dreams, an all-female singing trio from Chicago who become music superstars. Several of the characters in the play are analogs of real-life Supremes/Motown counterparts, with the story focusing upon the Florence Ballard doppelgänger Effie White. While influenced by the Supremes’ and Motown’s music, the songs in the play are a broader mix of R&B/soul and Broadway music. Mary Wilson loved the musical, but Diana Ross was reportedly angered by it and refused to see it.
The Supremes were twice nominated for a Grammy Award—for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording (“Baby Love”, 1965) and Best Contemporary Rock & Roll Group Vocal Performance (“Stop! In the Name of Love”, 1966)—but never won an award in the competition. Three of their songs were added to the Grammy Hall of Fame: “Where Did Our Love Go” and “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” (both 1999) and “Stop! In the Name of Love” (2001). The group (Ross, Wilson, and Ballard) was named as one of eight recipients to receive a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in 2023.
“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.[74] The Ross-Wilson-Ballard lineup was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994, and entered into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2004, Rolling Stone placed the group at number 97 on their list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”. The Supremes are notable for the influences they have had on black girl groups who have succeeded them in popular music, such as The Three Degrees, The Emotions, The Pointer Sisters, En Vogue, TLC, Destiny’s Child, and Cleopatra. “The Beatles were there,” said Madonna of her childhood, “but I was more eager about The Supremes. I was really into girl groups.”