Diana Ernestine Earle Ross
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7
Awards
Diana Ross amassed 18 US #1 hits as a solo artist and with The Supremes, making her the most successful female recording artist of all time. She earned an Academy Award nomination for her film debut in Lady Sings the Blues 1972 and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016. Ross was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Supremes in 1988.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Diana Ross — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Diana Ross by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Diana Ross — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
At 15, Diana Ross formed The Primettes with Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard, and Barbara Martin. She was born on March 26, 1944, in Detroit, Michigan, the second of six children of Ernestine Lillian and Fred Earl Ross. She grew up in the Brewster housing projects and began singing in a Baptist church gospel choir. The Primettes later became The Supremes after signing with Motown Records.
Diana Ross became the lead singer of The Supremes in the mid-1960s under the direction of Motown founder Berry Gordy. From 1965 to 1969, the group scored a string of 12 #1 hits, including Where Did Our Love Go and Baby Love. In 1970, Ross left The Supremes for a solo career, immediately achieving #1 hits with songs like Reach Out and Touch Somebody’s Hand and Ain’t No Mountain High Enough. She made her film debut in 1972 with Lady Sings the Blues, earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Despite mixed success with later films Mahogany 1975 and The Wiz 1978, she continued to produce hit singles, including Love Hangover 1976 and Upside Down 1980. In 1981, she performed the theme song for Endless Love, written by Lionel Richie. Ross left Motown in 1981 and later returned in 1989. She scored a UK #1 in 1986 with Chain Reaction, produced by the Bee Gees.
Diana Ross married Robert Ellis Silberstein in January 1971, and they had two daughters: Tracee Ellis Ross born 1972 and Chudney Ross born 1975. She also had a daughter, Rhonda Ross Kendrick, with Motown founder Berry Gordy, though Rhonda was raised as Silberstein’s daughter. She divorced Silberstein in 1977. In 1985, she married Norwegian shipping millionaire Arne Naess Jr., with whom she had two sons: Ross Naess born 1987 and Evan Ross born 1988. They divorced in 2000. Naess died in a climbing accident in 2004. She has five children in total and is the mother-in-law of Ashlee Simpson.
Diana Ross notched 18 #1 hits on the US charts, among the best-selling female artists. She won the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016. As a member of The Supremes, she entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. Her influence extends to numerous artists, and she is remembered as the glamorous lead of The Supremes and a pioneering solo artist who broke barriers for African American women in entertainment.
The complete filmography of Diana Ross — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Diana Ross — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Diana Ross — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
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.
The First Time I Heard a Billie Holiday Record, I Thought, ‘What’s so Great About Billie Holiday?’
Little-known facts about Diana Ross — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Ross has received 12 Grammy nominations but never won in a competitive category; she won her first Grammy, the Lifetime Achievement Award, in 2012.
She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for her work with The Supremes and one for her solo career.
Her hit song Missing You was written in memory of her close friend Marvin Gaye.
She intended to name her third daughter Chutney but misspelled it as Chudney on the birth certificate.
In 1993, the Guinness Book of World Records recognized her as the most successful female singer of all time.
As of 2010, following Lena Horne’s death, Ross became the last surviving principal cast member of the 1978 film The Wiz.
She is the mother of Rhonda Ross Kendrick with Berry Gordy but raised as Robert Silberstein’s daughter, Tracee Ellis Ross born 1972, Chudney Ross born 1975, Ross Naess born 1987, and Evan Ross born 1988.
Ross is one of nine African-American actresses nominated for the Best Actress Oscar; the others include Dorothy Dandridge, Halle Berry, and Viola Davis.
She made her first solo television appearance with Lucille Ball and Dinah Shore.
With 18 US #1 hits and 70 top ten hits since 1964, she is the most successful female recording artist ever.
In the summer of 1983, she performed a memorable free concert in New York’s Central Park during a terrible storm, and later paid for the storm damage to the park.
She won her first Grammy Award in 2012, the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Ten days after the September 11 attacks in 2001, she sang God Bless America at Shea Stadium in New York City.
In 2013, she sold out the Hollywood Bowl with 20,000 seats.
Billboard Magazine named her the Female Entertainer of the Century.
She was a recipient of the 2007 Kennedy Center Honors alongside Leon Fleisher, Steve Martin, Martin Scorsese, and Brian Wilson.
Her siblings include Barbara Ross doctor, Rita Ross schoolteacher, Fred Ross Jr., Arthur T-Boy Ross songwriter, and Wilbert Chico Ross dancer on her tours.
She and The Supremes appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show 17 times between 1964 and 1969.
She is the mother-in-law of singer Ashlee Simpson.
In May 2002, she entered the Promises drug and alcohol rehab center in Malibu, California, before a global summer tour.
She lives in Manhattan’s Beresford apartment building, which is also home to Jerry Seinfeld and Glenn Close.
She was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Supremes in 1988.
In 1972, she and Cicely Tyson were both nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars, the second time two African-American actresses were nominated in that category.
She was a member of The Supremes from January 15, 1961, to January 14, 1970.
When she was with The Supremes, the group had 12 #1 songs and 18 top ten songs in the United States.
Her decision to become a singer initially infuriated her father.
Her daughter Tracee Ellis Ross is known for her role as Rainbow Johnson on Black-ish.
In 1983, she introduced a line of pantyhose called Diana Ross Ultra Sheers.
She serves on the board of A Better Chance, a program that places inner-city children in preparatory schools.
She was a classmate and neighbor of Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson, who later joined her in The Supremes.
Her ex-husband Arne Naess Jr. died on January 13, 2004, in a climbing accident in South Africa.
She renewed vows with Arne Naess Jr. on February 1, 1986, in Switzerland.
In January 1965, Music Business Magazine named The Supremes the #1 Female Soul Artist.
The Supremes received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7060 Hollywood Boulevard.
She released a book titled Secrets of a Sparrow: Memories.
She sang the National Anthem at Super Bowl XVI in 1982.
Ross grew up in Detroit’s Brewster Housing Projects, moving there on her fourteenth birthday in 1958.
She received the BET Walk of Fame Award.
She was ranked #38 on VH1’s Greatest Women of Rock N Roll.
Her last concert with The Supremes was on January 14, 1970, at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas.
She was ranked #86 on VH1’s 100 Sexiest Artists in 2002.
She won a Special Tony Award in 1977.
She was portrayed by Holly Robinson Peete in the TV miniseries The Jacksons: An American Dream.
In 1991, she headlined the Royal Variety Performance in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London.
Her 1981 song I’m Coming Out was used in the trailer for The Princess Diaries and in the film Maid in Manhattan.
She performed at the Super Bowl halftime show.
She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for recording at 6712 Hollywood Boulevard.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Diana Ross.
Celebrities similar to Diana Ross — same craft, ranked by reach.
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