Background

Diana was born on March 26, 1944, in Detroit, Michigan, United States. She was born the second of six children of African-American parents Ernestine Lillian Moten, a schoolteacher, and Fred Earl Ross, who served in the army. She grew up in Detroit's Brewster Housing Projects.

Her mother actually named her Diane, but an error resulted in her name being recorded as Diana on her birth certificate. She was actually listed as Diane on early Supremes records. Her friends and family still call her Diane, too.

Education

Ross had wanted to become a fashion designer. While she was a student at Cass Technical High School, she took extra classes to help her pursue this career. These included seamstress skills, millinery, pattern-making, and design. She also had classes in modeling and cosmetology. Her interest in beauty extended to providing hairdressing services to her neighbors to earn a little extra cash.

Career

Diana Ross started singing in the gospel choir of a Baptist church. With friends Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard, and Barbara Martin, she formed a vocal group, The Primettes, at age 15. After Barbara had departed the group, the remaining three girls inked a deal with Motown Records and were renamed The Supremes. Ross wasn't picked to become the group's lead singer until Motown honcho Berry Gordy decided that the time was exactly right, and from then on he described the group as "Diana Ross and the Supremes." From 1965 to 1969 the group had a string of #1 records. In late 1969 Gordy announced that Ross would be leaving the group for a solo career. In the third week of 1970, she played her last concert with The Supremes and started working with the songwriting team of Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson.

Ross' first two songs by the team reached #1 on both the pop and R&B charts, justifying her move. Prior to starting a family of her own, she won the title role in the Billie Holiday biopic Lady Sings the Blues (1972), which was extremely successful at the box office and had the distinction of being nominated for an Academy Award for her first film. The movie's soundtrack reached #1 on the United States charts. Despite fame and fortune, her next two big films, Mahogany (1975) and The Wiz (1978) didn't meet with the same success. However, she had a #1 hit single with "Mahogany" to make up for it. In February 1976, just before another #1 hit with "Love Hangover," she was stunned when her singing partner and friend, Florence Ballard, died after complications from a combination of alcohol abuse and long-term depression, which led to cardiac arrest. Ballard was only 32 years old and Ross was devastated by the loss.

After recovering from Ballard's death, Ross went on to focus on her singing career and continued having more #1 songs, including "Upside Down." The following year she performed the theme song from Endless Love (1981), which was composed by Lionel Richie. That same year she left Motown Records and signed contracts with various record companies across the globe, and formed her own production company. The following year she released "Silk Electric," on which she sang "Muscles," a song written and produced by Michael Jackson.

After she sang a tribute song dedicated to the late Marvin Gaye, Ross scored another #1 song in 1986 in the United Kingdom with "Chain Reaction," which brought back her days as a member of The Supremes', and was written and produced by The Bee Gees. Unlike the song she sang when Florence died, this song was about how she became accustomed to Marvin over the years. After an eight-year absence, in 1989 she came back to Motown. Ross had gained more fame through concert appearances over the years, and in April 1993 she became a best-selling author with her first and only children's book, "When You Dream," which featured a CD with four songs that were dedicated to the book. That same year she was declared by the Guinness Book of World Records to be the most successful female singer of all time. Two years later she was honored with the Heritage Award for Lifetime Achievement on the Soul Train Awards. After receiving those honors, she came back to the studio in 1999 with "Every Day Is A New Day," and the song reached the United Kingdom Top 10.

Ross got together with The Supremes for a reunion tour in 2000, but it wasn’t quite what fans expected. Instead of performing with Wilson or Cindy Birdsong, who was a later addition to the group, Ross opted to appear with Scherrie Payne and Lynda Laurence, who joined after Ross had already left. (Wilson and Birdsong turned down a reported $3 million each, less than the $15 to $20 million Ross was expected to earn.) Owing to sluggish ticket sales, the concert promoter canceled the tour with just 14 dates remaining.

She was arrested in 2002 in Tucson, Arizona, for driving under the influence and after pleading guilty was sentenced to two days in jail, 36 hours of counseling and one-year probation. Also, she was hard at work finishing her book, "Upside Down: Wrong Turns, Right Turns and the Road Ahead."

Despite her personal and professional ups and downs, Ross has withstood the test of time as a performer with a career that spans more than four decades. She has won several major awards, including a Golden Globe, a Tony and several American Music Awards. Ross was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 as part of the Supremes.

Ross was awarded for her hard work again in 2007 when she was presented with Black Entertainment Television's Lifetime Achievement Award. Also that year, a few weeks after her father's death, Ross was honored by the Kennedy Center for her contributions to the arts. Vocalist Smokey Robinson and actor Terrence Howard were on hand to provide tributes to the superstar, and Ciara, Vanessa Williams, and Jordin Sparks paid homage to Ross in song. In 2009, Ross jumped back into the limelight when it was revealed that pop icon Michael Jackson had requested the diva as an alternate guardian for his children.

In 2012 Ross received a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement; it would become her first Grammy ever, despite having been nominated twelve times. Four years later, Ross received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama, the nation's highest civilian honor. In 2017, she added to her collection with Lifetime Achievement honors at the American Music Awards.

The Recording Academy honored Diana and celebrated her greatest musical accomplishments at the 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards in 2019.

Achievements

• 

  Diana Ross is one of the most successful female artists of her era, both due to her solo work and her role as the lead singer of The Supremes during the 1960s.
  
  In 1976, Billboard magazine named her the female entertainer of the century. In 1993, The Guinness Book Of World Records pronounced her the most successful female artist ever (the title is now attributed to Madonna), partly due to her combined total of eighteen number-one singles, six of them recorded solo and the remaining dozen from her work with the Supremes.
  
  Diana was also one of the few pop singers to find modest success in the acting world winning an Academy Award nomination for her role as Billie Holiday in the 1972 film, "Lady Sings the Blues" as well as having hits with other film roles such as "Mahogany," "Out of Darkness" and "Double Platinum," not to mention her role in "The Wiz."
  
  Ms. Ross has been awarded many lifetime achievement accolades from many organizations and media outlets, including BET, Soul Train, the NAACP Image Awards, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007.
  
  Although Ross has been nominated for 12 Grammy awards, she has never won. That somewhat inexplicable statistic changed in 2012 when Ross received a Lifetime Achievement Award. Early this year, she appeared at the 61st annual Grammys for a performance commemorating her 75th birthday.
  
  Her professional vocal collaborators have included the following during her career: Marvin Gaye, Lionel Richie, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Julio Iglesias, Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo, Westlife, and Smokey Robinson, among others.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Diana Ross: Going Back 2002

• movie

  • The Wiz

    (An extravagant re-imagining of "The Wizard Of Oz" with po...)

    1978
  • Lady Sings the Blues

    (The story of the troubled life and career of the legendar...)

    1972

• music

  • Diana Ross 1970
  • Everything Is Everything 1970
  • Surrender 1971
  • Touch Me In The Morning 1973
  • Diana & Marvin 1973
  • Last Time I Saw Him 1973
  • Diana Ross 1976
  • Baby It's Me 1977
  • Ross 1978
  • The Boss 1979
  • Diana 1980
  • Why Do Fools Fall in Love 1981
  • Silk Electric 1982
  • Ross 1983
  • Swept Away 1984
  • Eaten Alive 1985
  • Red Hot Rhythm & Blues 1987
  • Workin' Overtime 1989
  • The Force Behind The Power 1991
  • A Very Special Season 1994
  • Take Me Higher 1995
  • Every Day Is A New Day 1999
  • Blue 2006
  • I Love You 2006
  • Diana! 1971
  • Lady Sings The Blues 1972

Religion

Ross was raised a Baptist and sang in the church choir in her hometown of Detroit. In her 2008 autobiography, Ross mentioned God a few times, indicating that she is still at least somewhat devout. For example: "Learning to let go and let God [take over] has been a tremendous lesson for me."

Politics

Ross has been a staple in the Democratic Party for nearly 50 years, ever since she and The Supremes sang at campaign events for Lyndon Johnson in the mid-60s. Since then, she has sung for numerous Democratic presidents including the Clintons and the Obamas.

Views

Ross's most significant contributions were helping to shatter racism and usher in the Civil Rights movement. Her Motown trio, The Supremes, was among the first African American wave of musicians to cross over into the white music marketplace. This paved the way for broader acceptance of American black culture. She is widely considered instrumental in the advancement of African Americans in the last 50 years.

Quotations: "A reporter once asked me if I ever cried. I wonder if people think I'm just as hard as a rock and have no emotions at all."

"People don't know about the human part of me that really cares about the world. For instance, I don't know what I feel about wearing my furs anymore. I worked so hard to have a fur coat and I don't want to wear it anymore because I'm so wrapped up in the animals. I have real deep thoughts about it because I care about the world and nature."

"Instead of looking at the past, I put myself ahead twenty years and try to look at what I need to do now in order to get there then."

"You can't just sit there and wait for people to give you that golden dream. You've got to get out there and make it happen for yourself."

"In my life, I want to keep moving forward, but sometimes reflection is a good thing."

"My life has often been described as 'from rags to riches' but in fact, the Ross's were never raggedy."

"I want an autobiography without revealing any personal information."

"I really, deeply believe that dreams do come true. Often, they might not come when you want them. They come in their own time."

"If I have someone who believes in me, I can move mountains."

"My travels led me to where I am today. Sometimes these steps have felt painful, difficult, but led me to greater happiness and opportunities."

"You know, you do need mentors, but in the end, you really just need to believe in yourself."

"Icon. What is an icon? When someone is iconic it means they have established a certain kind of legacy possibly, and I think it does come with time. It's something in the arts, I feel. Maybe not, maybe it doesn't have to be in the arts exactly. I'm not really sure. But I don't think you are born an icon."

"I don't judge people by their sexual orientation or the color of their skin, so I find it really hard to identify someone by saying that they're a gay person or a black person or a Jewish person."

"If I'm with a man I'm soft and buttery."

Membership

In her spare time, Diana Ross likes to support children's charities. She is a spokesperson for National Children's Day. This is an event when America's leaders listen to the hopes and concerns of young people. She is also on the board of a national charity program called 'A Better Chance.' This charity finds academically talented children in inner cities and puts them in the best preparatory schools in the nation. Ross also once performed free in a park to raise money for a children's playground. She continued her performance even though a storm had broken out.

Personality

At a very young age, Diana Ross really admired her Detroit projects neighbor, Smokey Robinson, but she wanted to compete with somebody older than herself, that person turned out to be her own father.

As the leader of the Supremes, Ross garnered much more attention than either Ballard or Wilson. This caused a lot of strife between the hungry young woman, and Ballard eventually left the group out of frustration and was replaced by Cindy Birdsong. But Ross's star wouldn’t stop rising: In 1967, the group was officially renamed Diana Ross and the Supremes.

Ross was publicly credited with discovering the Jackson 5 and was used to introduce them in major public appearances. Their debut album was even titled Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5.

In 1983, Ross performed a free concert in Central Park to raise money for the construction of a playground in the park. While the concert was free, merchandise and memorabilia were being sold at the event. The rain started mid-way through Ross's performance, destroying much of the merchandise and forcing Ross to leave the stage.

Ross returned the following afternoon, however, and paid for the playground out of her own pocket. To this day, the Diana Ross Playground sits at Central Park West, across from Ross's apartment.

Ross was entered into the Guinness Book of Records in 1993. Astonishingly, as a solo artist and as a member of the Supremes, Ross sold more than 100 million albums, collecting 70 hit singles along the way.

The 2006 film Dream Girls was, in part, inspired by Diana Ross and the Supremes. A proxy of Ross, Deena Jones, was played by Beyoncé. Like Ross, Beyoncé rose to stardom as the leader of a teenaged girl group before embarking on a successful solo career.

Physical Characteristics: Diana Ross wrote an autobiography titled 'Secrets of a Sparrow.' In this book, she reveals that she suffered from anorexia nervosa. She has blamed suffering from this eating disorder on the pressure she and The Supremes were put under by Motown and Berry Gordy in the late 1960s. This is a condition from which Ross no longer suffers.

Quotes from others about the person

• "Well Brooke, I've always liked her, and when I was little I used to stay with Diana Ross, me and my brothers stayed with her for years and I never said, but I always had a crush on her." - Michael Jackson
  
  "Diana Ross is a big inspiration to all of us. We all grew up watching everything about her - her mike placement, her grace, her style, and her class." - Beyonce Knowles
  
  "The national treasure that is Diana Ross is a dim light compared with who she is as a mother. My mom paved the way not only for my career but also for who I am as a human being." - Tracee Ellis Ross
  
  "I really do love Diana Ross; I grew up listening to her records. I grew up in a little town in Mexico, so while we got the music, we never got the experience of watching her." - Salma Hayek
  
  "I never really saw my mom as Diana Ross. My mom was my mom." - Evan Ross

Interests

• Writing, clothing design, millinery, dancing

• Politicians

  Bill Clinton, Barak Obama

• Sport & Clubs

  Jogging, roller-skating

• Music & Bands

  Frankie Lyman, the Teenagers, Etta James, Smokey Robinson

Connections

In 1965, Diana started a relationship with Motown chief Berry Gordy. It lasted several years, and she gave birth to their child, Rhonda Suzanne Silberstein, in 1971. Two months into her pregnancy with Rhonda, she married music executive Robert Ellis Silberstein, who raised Rhonda as his own daughter. Ross told Rhonda that Gordy was her biological father when she was 13 years old.

Diana also has two daughters with Silberstein: Tracee Joy and Chudney Lane Silberstein, born in 1972 and 1975, respectively. She and Silberstein divorced in 1977.

She dated Kiss singer Gene Simmons, from 1980 to 1983, but they split after she thought he had resumed his relationship with Cher.

Diana met her second husband, Norwegian shipping magnate Arne Næss Jr, in 1985, and married him the next year. She became stepmother to his three children; Katinka, Christoffer, and folk singer Leona Naess. They also have two sons together: Ross Arne (born 1987) and Evan Olav (born 1988). Ross and Næss divorced in 2000 after reports claimed Naess had fathered a child with another woman in Norway. He died in a South African mountain climbing accident in 2004.

Father:

Fred Ross Sr.

Mother:

Ernestine Moten

Sister:

Barbara Ross-Lee

Sister:

Rita Ross

Brother:

Arthur Ross

Brother:

Chico Ross

Brother:

Fred Ross Jr.

Ex-husband:

Robert Ellis Silberstein

Ex-husband:

Arne Naess Jr.

Daughter:

Rhonda Ross Kendrick

Daughter:

Tracee Ellis Ross

Daughter:

Chudney Ross

Son:

Ross Arne Næss

Son:

Evan Ross

Brother:

Wilbert Ross

ex-boyfriend:

Gene Simmons

colleague:

Florence Ballard

Florence was a member of the vocal female group the Supremes.

colleague:

Mary Wilson

Mary was a member of the vocal female group the Supremes.

Friend:

Michael Jackson

Diana had known and was close friends with Michael Jackson from when he was only 8 years old, until his death, in 2009. Ross was a very important influence on him, throughout his career.

Friend:

Paul McCartney

Friend:

Eric Clapton

Friend:

Steven Tyler

Friend:

Smokey Robinson

Friend:

Tina Turner

Friend:

Aretha Franklin

Friend:

Elton John

colleague:

Marvin Gaye

Friend:

Al Green

References

• Diana Ross: Live in Central Park
  1984
• Diana Ross: A Biography
  2014
• Diana Ross - Twitter
• Diana Ross - Facebook
• Diana Ross - Amazon Music
• Diana Ross - Instagram