Diana Ross
Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She was the lead singer of the vocal group The Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. They remain the best-charting female group in history,[2] with a total of 12 number-one pop singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, including "Where Did Our Love Go," "Baby Love," "Come See About Me," "Stop! In the Name of Love," "You Keep Me Hangin' On," and "Love Child."[3]
This article is about the American singer. For the English children's author, see Diana Ross (author).
Diana Ross
Following her departure from the Supremes in 1970, Ross embarked on a successful solo music career with the release of her eponymous debut solo album and its singles, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" – her first solo U.S. number-one hit – and "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)." Her second solo album, Everything Is Everything (1970), spawned her first UK number-one single "I'm Still Waiting." Ross continued her successful solo career by mounting elaborate record-setting worldwide concert tours, starring in highly watched primetime TV specials, and releasing hit albums, such as Touch Me in the Morning (1973), Mahogany (1975), Diana Ross (1976), and Diana (1980), as well as their U.S. number-one pop singles – "Touch Me in the Morning," "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)," "Love Hangover," and "Upside Down," respectively. "Endless Love", a 1981 duet with Lionel Richie, made her the female solo act with the most number-one songs in the United States at the time. Her commercial success continued throughout the 1980s and 1990s with global hits, including "I'm Coming Out," "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," "All of You," "Chain Reaction," "If We Hold on Together," and "When You Tell Me That You Love Me."
Ross has also achieved mainstream success and recognition as an actress. Her first role was her Golden Globe Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated portrayal of Billie Holiday in the film Lady Sings the Blues (1972), becoming the first African-American actress to receive an Academy Award nomination for a debut film performance; she also recorded its soundtrack, which became her only solo album to reach number-one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. She also starred in two other feature films, Mahogany (1975) and The Wiz (1978), and later appeared in the television films Out of Darkness (1994), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, and Double Platinum (1999).
Ross was named the "Female Entertainer of the Century" by Billboard in 1976. Since her solo career began in 1970, Ross has released 25 studio albums, numerous singles, and compilations that have sold more than 100 million records worldwide.[4] She is the only woman artist to have had U.S. number-one pop singles on the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo artist, as the other half of a duet, as a member of a trio, and as an ensemble member, a total of 18. In 2021, Billboard ranked her the 30th greatest Hot 100 artist of all time.[5][6] Her hits as a Supreme and a solo artist combined put Ross among the top-five artists on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart from 1955 to 2018.[7] She had a top 10 UK hit in every one of the last five decades, and sang lead on a top 75 hit single at least once every year from 1964 to 1996 in the UK, a period of 33 consecutive years and a record for any performer. In 1988, Ross was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Supremes, and is one of the rare performers to have two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was the recipient of a Special Tony Award in 1977, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 and 2023 (becoming the first woman to win the award twice, the latter as a member of The Supremes), and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.
Personal life[edit]
Relationships and family[edit]
Ross has been married twice and has five children.
Ross became romantically involved with Motown CEO Berry Gordy in 1965. The relationship lasted several years, resulting in the birth of Ross's eldest child, Rhonda Suzanne Silberstein, in August 1971. Two months into her pregnancy with Rhonda, in January 1971, Ross married music executive Robert Ellis Silberstein,[110] who raised Rhonda as his own daughter, despite knowing her true paternity. Ross told Rhonda that Gordy was her biological father when Rhonda was 13 years old. Beforehand, Rhonda referred to Gordy as "Uncle B.B."
Ross has two daughters with Silberstein, Tracee Joy Silberstein (Tracee Ellis Ross) and Chudney Lane Silberstein, born in 1972 and 1975, respectively.[111] Ross and Silberstein divorced in 1977.[112]
In 2023, Smokey Robinson said in an interview that he and Ross had an affair lasting approximately one year while Robinson was married to his first wife, Claudette. According to Robinson, Ross ended the affair as Robinson admitted to still being in love with Claudette, a friend of Ross's. When asked about Robinson's story, Ross's representative had no comment.[113][114]
Ross dated Gene Simmons, bassist and co-lead singer for the band Kiss, from 1980 to 1983.[115] They began dating after Cher, who had remained friends with Simmons following their break-up, suggested he ask Ross to help him choose her Christmas present. Simmons, in his autobiography, contends that he was not dating Cher when he met Ross. Ross ended her relationship with Simmons when he gave Ross the erroneous impression that he had resumed his relationship with Cher. Simmons' story differed in 2015 when he revealed that he fell in love with Ross while dating Cher, which ended Ross and Cher's friendship.[116]
Ross met her second husband, Norwegian shipping magnate Arne Næss Jr., in 1985, and married him the following year. She became stepmother to his three elder children; Katinka, Christoffer, and folk singer Leona Naess. They have two sons together: Ross Arne (born in 1987) and Evan Olav (born in 1988). Ross and Næss divorced in 2000, after press reports revealed that Næss had fathered a child with another woman in Norway.[117] Ross considers Næss the love of her life.[118] Næss fell to his death in a South African mountain climbing accident in 2004.[119] Ross remains close with her three ex-stepchildren.
Ross has seven grandchildren: grandson Raif-Henok (born in 2009 to her daughter Rhonda); grandsons Leif (born on June 5, 2016) and Indigo (born 2017), born to her son Ross Næss;[120] granddaughters Callaway Lane (born in 2012) and Everlee (born October 2019) born to Ross's daughter Chudney;[121] granddaughter Jagger Snow (born in 2015), and grandson Ziggy (born in 2020) to her son Evan.[122][123]
Religious views[edit]
Diana Ross was raised in the Baptist church. According to her 1993 autobiography, Secrets of a Sparrow,[12] her initial performances were in the Bessemer Baptist Church of Bessemer, Alabama, led by her maternal grandfather, Pastor William Moten, who (with his wife) raised her and her siblings there during their mother's bouts with tuberculosis.
2002 arrest[edit]
Diana Ross was arrested for DUI on December 30, 2002, in Tucson, Arizona, while undergoing substance abuse treatment at a local rehabilitation facility.[124] She later served a two-day sentence near her Connecticut estate.[125]
Headlining
Co-headlining tours
Residency shows
