Music / Film & TV
Diana Ross
born 1944
· singer, actress
Detroit-born lead singer of the Supremes, Motown's biggest 1960s act, who grew up in the North End and the Brewster-Douglass projects before a long solo and film career.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 82- Birth name
- Diane Ernestine Earle Ross
- Also known as
- Diane Ross
- Detroit years
- 1944–1971
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Diana Ross was born in Detroit in 1944, when her family lived in Black Bottom, and grew up in the North End, where Smokey Robinson lived nearby. When she turned 14 the family moved into the Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects. At Cass Technical High School she studied clothing design, millinery and tailoring, and in 1960 Hudson's downtown store hired her as its first African-American bus girl. With Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson she sang in the Primettes, a teenage group that hung around Hitsville U.S.A. offering hand claps and backing vocals. Berry Gordy signed them as the Supremes in January 1961, a year before she graduated from Cass Tech. The group became Motown's most successful act of the decade, with 12 No. 1 pop singles. She went solo in 1970, won an Oscar nomination for playing Billie Holiday, and returned to Motown as a part-owner in 1988.
Highlights
- Lead singer of the Supremes: 12 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles
- Signed to Motown as a Supreme on January 15, 1961
- Graduated from Cass Technical High School in January 1962
- Oscar nomination for Lady Sings the Blues (1972)
- Six solo No. 1 hits, including “Ain't No Mountain High Enough” and “Upside Down”
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 5
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Recorded here · 1960–1971
Motown Museum
As teenagers the Primettes came here daily to help on sessions; the Supremes recorded their 1960s hits in Studio A. Now the Motown Museum.
Studied here · 1958–1962
Cass Technical High School
She studied fashion design and tailoring here and graduated in January 1962. The school moved into a new building next to the old one in 2005.
Lived here · 1958–1960s
Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects
Demolished · 1938–2008
The public housing complex east of downtown where her family moved in 1958; Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard also lived here. The towers were demolished in 2013–2014.
Worked here · 1960
J.L. Hudson's Department Store
Demolished · 1911–1983
Hired in 1960 as the store's first African-American bus girl. The building was imploded in 1998; the Hudson's Detroit tower now stands on the site.
Lived here · 1940s–1958
North End, Detroit
The neighborhood near Highland Park where she spent her childhood; Smokey Robinson was a neighbor.