Diana Ross

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Diana Ross at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert 2008

Diana Ernestine Earle Ross (born March 26, 1944 in Detroit , Michigan ) is one of the most successful American singers in music history. She also enjoyed success as a music producer and actress. As the front singer of the girl group The Supremes, she shaped the soul and pop music of the 1960s as well as the Motown record company and rose from 1970 "to a dazzling superstar personality who dominated every genre of popular black music". With six number one hits in the US alone, Ross also proved her versatility as an actress in her Oscar- nominated debut as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues . With the accompanying jazz recordings, she was just as successful as with her disco works from the mid-1970s . With the worldwide number one hit Upside Down , Ross also established himself in German-speaking countries. The entertainer has been nominated innumerable times for all major awards in the show industry, including twelve times for a Grammy, which she only received in 2012 for her life's work.

Career

Early 1959 to 1961

Diana Ross founded a band with four school friends back in the 1950s. They took first place in a singing competition. Through the friendship with Smokey Robinson , Ross and her friends, one of whom, Barbara Martin, had already withdrawn, were able to establish contact with the Motown record company.

Diana Ross and the Supremes 1961 to 1970

The Supremes , Florence Ballard , Mary Wilson and Diana Ross (1965), (from left to right)

Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson were signed to the young record company Motown as The Supremes in 1961 . The trio's first singles turned out to be flops. The trio had a major hit in 1963 with When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes . The breakthrough came in 1964 with the song Where Did Our Love Go , the Supremes' first number one hit in the American charts . Motown had numerous initially completely unknown singers and groups under contract, many of whom rose to world-famous stars of the music scene in the course of the 1960s: The Jackson Five , Marvin Gaye , Stevie Wonder , the Four Tops , Martha & the Vandellas and The Temptations belong to.

The most famous and successful Motown stars were the Supremes. With a total of twelve songs, the trio reached the top position on the American singles hit parade. It was soon able to count itself among the top stars internationally, not least because of its glamorous live performances and its perfect stage show. In 1967 Florence Ballard left the Supremes and was replaced by Cindy Birdsong. At the same time, the group was renamed Diana Ross & the Supremes , because Diana Ross now dominated as the lead singer. In later years, Wilson and Birdsong claimed that Ross deliberately wanted to draw attention to himself and to overshadow their fellow singers. In 1970 Diana Ross left the group and was replaced by Jean Terrell, sister of boxer Ernie Terrell. The newly formed trio called themselves The Supremes again .

Solo career from 1970 until today

Diana Ross, at the White House , December 2, 2007
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In 1970 Diana Ross began her solo career. Her first solo album Diana Ross and her first solo single Reach Out and Touch were only respectable successes . Between 1970 and 1980 Diana Ross reached the top of the US charts a total of six times. Her most successful singles include Upside Down (1980) and Endless Love (1981), a duet with Lionel Richie . Other number one hits were Touch Me in the Morning (1973), Do You Know Where You're Going To (1975) and her first disco song Love Hangover (1976).

In 1972 Diana Ross made her debut in the film Lady Sings the Blues in the role of Billie Holiday . For this, she was honored with the Golden Globe Award for Best Young Actress in 1973 and an Oscar nomination for Best Actress . However, the Oscar won Liza Minnelli for her role in Cabaret . The film Lady Sings the Blues became a box-office hit and won several international awards. Two more films followed in the 1970s, Mahogany (1975) and The Wiz - The Magical Land (1978). Other planned film projects - e.g. B. the film adaptation of the Josephine Baker life story Naked at the Feast - were not realized. In the early 1990s Diana Ross played the lead role in the television film Out of Darkness , followed in 1999 by the television film Double Platinum .

Diana Ross (1981)

In 1981 Diana Ross left the Motown record company and signed with RCA . Her first RCA album Why Do Fools Fall in Love was a worldwide success, the title track topping the US singles charts. In 1983 she gave an open air concert in New York's Central Park in front of 750,000 spectators. Sometimes she sang in the pouring rain, but kept the concert through almost to the end. The concert was repeated the next day and is still considered a high point of her career. By 1987, RCA released six Diana Ross albums. Diana Ross was only able to meet the high commercial expectations in Great Britain. Her album Eaten Alive was composed and produced for her by the Bee Gees in 1985 . The single Chain Reaction again reached first place in the English charts. In the USA neither the album nor the single reached top ten placements. In 1987 Diana Ross moved back to her old company Motown. Much has changed there since then, after its founder Berry Gordy sold the company.

Diana Ross had many international tours and appearances as an entertainer, but sales of her records and CDs continued to decline. Only Great Britain remained a relatively stable market for them. So achieved z. For example, her single When You Tell Me that You Love Me reached second place in the UK charts in November 1991, and her album One Woman - The Ultimate Collection in 1993 topped the UK album charts. Her autobiography Secrets of a Sparrow was published in the same year . Her album Every Day Is a New Day was released in 1999, the single Not Over You Yet reached tenth place in the UK charts. Two years later EMI released the best-of- album Love & Life with many supremes and solo hits, plus a new recording of the old Dusty Springfield hit Goin 'Back . In 2006 Motown brought out the album Blue with jazz pieces, which was recorded in the early 1970s but never released. This album placed in the charts worldwide and is an insider tip among jazz fans. Diana Ross tried to build on old successes with the album I Love You in autumn 2006. In the Billboard charts, the album reached number 32, but only stayed in the top 200 for two weeks . In the same year, the British boy band Westlife released a cover version of When You Tell Me that You Love Me with Diana Ross and reached number two on the English charts. From 2006 to 2009 Diana Ross gave a number of successful concerts in Europe. At her concert at the Sporting Club of Monte Carlo in 2008, she slipped on the roses thrown at her on the stage, fell to her knees and finished the song in that position until one of the choir members helped her. In May 2010 Ross went on a big American tour, which was enthusiastically acclaimed. In February 2012 the artist received a Grammy for her life's work.

With her appearances from September 2015, Ross adapted to modern media culture: She joined Twitter and organized a competition via this portal, the winners of which could come to her on stage and be photographed with her. In the past, Ross had spoken out against smartphone recordings.

In December 2016, Ross was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then American President Barack Obama .

Private life

Parents and siblings

Diana Ross is the second daughter of Fred Ross, Sr. (1920–2007, factory worker) and Ernestine Moten (1916–84, teacher). Her eldest sister Barbara (* 1942) is a well-known doctor and the first African-American dean at a medical school in the USA. Ross' second sister Rita is a teacher and released a CD of children's songs in 2000.

Ross also has three brothers: Fred, Jr., Wilbert "Chico" Ross, and Arthur "T-Boy" Ross. Arthur was a respected songwriter at Motown, wrote hits for Michael Jackson , The Miracles and Marvin Gaye , among others , and released an LP in 1979 on the soul label. On May 30, 1996, Arthur and his wife Patricia Ann Robinson were found murdered.

Relationships, marriages and children

Diana Ross was married twice and has five children in total. The first daughter Rhonda Suzanne (born August 14, 1971) comes from Ross' connection with Berry Gordy . She followed her mother into show business as a singer and actress and is married to jazz musician Rodney Kendrick . With her first husband Robert Silberstein, Ross has daughters Tracee Joy (born October 29, 1972) and Chudney Lane (born November 4, 1975). The marriage lasted from 1971 to 1977. Tracee began her career as a model, later she was best known as an actress through the comedy series Girlfriends , in which she was seen between 2000 and 2008, and Black-ish . She has been nominated for the Image Award several times . She received a Golden Globe Award in 2017 for her role in Black-ish . Chudney Lane also tried some areas of show business without attracting much attention.

Ross' second marriage to the Norwegian businessman Arne Næss, Jr. has two sons, Ross Arne (born October 7, 1987, mountaineer and photographer) and Evan Olav (born August 26, 1988, actor). The marriage lasted from 1985 to 2000. The hobby mountaineer Næss died on January 13, 2004 in a climbing accident near Cape Town . In the summer of 2009, Ross became a grandmother for the first time. Their eldest daughter, Rhonda, gave birth to a boy. Two years later, Ross appeared on the Oprah talk show with all of her five children and her grandson .

Ross also had a brief relationship with Kiss musician Gene Simmons in the 1970s .

Movies

Diana Ross' play If We Hold On Together is used as the theme song in the children's cartoon In a Land Before Time .

The 2007 film Dreamgirls is based in part on the story of the Supremes, in which Ross is played by the US R&B singer and actress Beyoncé Knowles . Among others, Jennifer Hudson and Anika Noni Rose are involved.

Appearances on television and concert recordings

  • 1968: Tarzan (with the Supremes)
  • 1968: TCB (with the Supremes)
  • 1969: GIT on Broadway (with the Supremes)
  • 1971: Diana! (her first solo show on television)
  • 1977: An Evening with Diana Ross (concert recording)
  • 1979: Diana Ross in Concert! (Concert recording)
  • 1981: diana (concert recording)
  • 1981: Standing Room Only: Diana Ross
  • 1983: Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever
  • 1983: For One And For All - Diana Ross Live! in Central Park (concert recording)
  • 1987: Diana Ross: Red Hot Rhythm and Blues
  • 1989: Diana Ross: Workin 'Overtime (concert recording)
  • 1992: Diana Ross Live! The Lady Sings ... Jazz & Blues: Stolen Moments (concert recording)
  • 1996: Super Bowl XXX
  • 2000: VH1 Divas 2000: A Tribute to Diana Ross
  • 2005: Tsunami Aid
  • 2007: BET Awards 2007
  • 2007: Kennedy Center Honors
  • 2008: Nobel Prize Concert
  • 2012: Christmas in Washington

Awards (selection)

A total of twelve Grammy nominations

Discography

For Diana Ross's pre-solo releases, see The Supremes .

literature

Autobiographies

  • Diana Ross: Secrets of a Sparrow . 1993 (1994 also in the German translation by Birgit Moosmüller with the title Diana Ross - My Life at Goldmann Munich, ISBN 3-442-08288-9 , Goldmann Taschenbuch 8288).
  • Diana Ross: Goin 'Back . 2002

Other books (selection)

  • Connie Berman: Diana Ross - Supreme Lady . USA 1978
  • James Haskins: I'm Gonna Make You Love Me - The Story of Diana Ross . USA 1980
  • Geoff Brown: Diana Ross . UK 1981
  • James Haskins: Diana Ross - Star Supreme . USA 1985
  • J. Randy Taraborrelli: Diana . USA 1985
  • Mary Wilson: My Life as a Supreme . USA 1986
  • J. Randy Taraborrelli: Call Her Miss Ross . USA 1989
  • John Wyeth, Jr .: Diana Ross . USA 1996
  • Sharon Davis: Diana Ross - A Legend in Focus . UK 2000
  • Tom Adrahtas: Diana Ross - A Lifetime to Get Here (The American Dreamgirl) . USA 2006
  • J. Randy Taraborrelli: The Unauthorized Biography . USA 2007
  • Ed Ifkovic: Diana's Dogs (Diana Ross and the Definition of a Diva) . USA 2007

Web links

Commons : Diana Ross  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ J. Randy Taraborrelli: Diana Ross. An unauthorized biography. Rose Books, 2007.
  2. ↑ Biography , Allmusic.com
  3. ^ Short biography , Taurus Verlag
  4. ↑ Awards , IMDB.com
  5. ↑ Top 10 Legendary Musicians Who Never Won a Grammy - TopTenz.net
  6. ↑ Diana Ross: My Life. Goldmann Verlag, 1993.
  7. ↑ Diana Ross: My Life. Goldmann Verlag, 1993.
  8. ↑ Mary Wilson: Dreamgirl. My Life As a Supreme. St. Martin's Press, New York 1986
  9. ↑ Audrey J. Bernard: Concert Report. (No longer available online.) June 1, 2010, archived from the original on June 4, 2010 ; accessed on June 3, 2010 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.eurweb.com
  10. ^ Robin Leach: Concert report. November 5, 2015, accessed November 8, 2015 .
  11. ↑ magazine report. AFP, December 23, 2016, accessed November 27, 2016 .
  12. ^ Robert Parish, Michael R. Pitts: James Hollywood Songsters: Parton to West . Routledge, 2003, ISBN 0-415-93775-2 , p. 771
  13. ↑ Biography of Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee , Changing the Face of Medicine, nlm.nih.gov, accessed August 12, 2011
  14. ^ CD Aunt Rita Sings for the Children . ( Memento of the original from June 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. CDBaby.com, 2000; Retrieved August 12, 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.cdbaby.com
  15. ↑ Discography and credits. Discogs.com; Retrieved August 12, 2011
  16. ↑ Arthur Ross, brother of Diana Ross, and his wife found murdered in Detroit . In: Jet magazine . tape 90 , no. 9 , July 15, 1996, ISSN  0021-5996 , pp. 61 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  17. ^ A b Biography of Rhonda Ross Kendrick , IMDB.com, accessed August 12, 2011
  18. ^ Biography Tracee Ellis Ross , IMDB.com, accessed August 12, 2011
  19. ↑ Biography Chudney Ross , IMDB.com, accessed 12 August 2011
  20. ↑ a b Get to know Diana Ross' children , oprah.com, February 25, 2011, accessed August 12, 2011
  21. ↑ Biography Evan Ross , IMDB.com, accessed August 12, 2011
  22. ↑ Ross' ex-husband killed in fall , BBC.co.uk, January 14, 2004, accessed August 12, 2011
  23. ↑ Diana Ross appearance at Oprah ( Memento from December 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), YouTube.com, accessed on August 12, 2011
  24. ↑ Gene Simmons and the women: Because they are there to kiss , Sueddeutsche.de, June 20, 2011, accessed on August 12, 2011
  25. ↑ Biography ( Memento of the original from September 6, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Gene Simmons Official Homepage, accessed August 12, 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.genesimmons.com
  26. ↑ Diana Ross: My Life. Goldmann Verlag, 1993.
  27. ↑ Diana Ross: My Life. Goldmann Verlag, 1993.
  28. ↑ academie-cinema.org
  29. ^ Kennedy Prize for Martin Scorsese and Diana Ross. In: Der Tagesspiegel . September 12, 2007
  30. ^ President Obama Names Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The White House, November 16, 2016, accessed November 22, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Ross, Diana
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ross, Diane Ernestine Earle (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American singer
DATE OF BIRTH March 26, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Detroit , Michigan , United States