The Supremes got off to a slow start in the early 1960s, but their name soon became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Synonymous with virtually every term with which they're classified -- Motown act, girl group, pop-soul, and soul, absolutely soul -- their unparalleled legacy was built by
Florence Ballard,
Mary Wilson, and
Diana Ross, the most successful of the group's many lineups. Partnered with the songwriting/production team
Holland-Dozier-Holland, these three women topped the Billboard pop chart ten times from 1964 through 1967 with eternal classics such as "Where Did Our Love Go," "Baby Love," "Stop! In the Name of Love," and "You Keep Me Hanging On," and in the process set a new standard for glamour. The group eventually became known as
Diana Ross & the Supremes, hinting at
Ross' departure for a fruitful solo career. It was during this 1967-1968 phase that the group showed they were as suited for psychedelic production techniques and providing a voice for the otherwise unheard, exemplified respectively by "Reflections" and "Love Child," as they were for boisterous love songs and cooing ballads. It was the
Ballard,
Wilson, and
Ross lineup of
the Supremes that was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, yet the group -- with
Wilson the linchpin -- lasted well into the disco era and achieved their final Top 40 hit in 1976, the year before they ceased.
Detroit teenagers
Florence Ballard,
Mary Wilson,
Diana Ross, and Betty McGlown performed and recorded together first as the Primettes, the sister group of
Temptations precursors the Primes. All teenagers from the city's Brewster-Douglass housing project, the Primettes formed in 1959, and the next year released their lone single under that name on the local Lupine label. McGlown left following her engagement and was replaced by Barbara Martin. The Primettes had auditioned without success for Motown founder Berry Gordy, but that didn't prevent them from frequenting the label's West Grand Boulevard headquarters, where they ingratiated themselves by adding background vocals and handclaps for studio sessions. In January 1961, they achieved their goal of signing with Motown. Instructed to rename themselves and handed a list of options, the Primettes became
the Supremes. That year,
the Supremes released their first two singles, "I Want a Guy" and "Buttered Popcorn," on Motown subsidiary Tamla. The group moved to Motown proper the next year with their third single, "Your Heart Belongs to Me." It was fitting that this was their first entry on the Billboard pop chart, given that it was written and produced by the man who introduced
the Pipettes to Gordy,
Smokey Robinson. "Let Me Go the Right Way," which also charted, as well as the full-length
Meet the Supremes, were both out by the end of 1962. The cover of
Meet the Supremes indicated that the group were a trio. Martin had departed that spring to start a family.
Ballard,
Wilson, and
Ross were subsequently paired with the songwriting/production team of
Brian and
Eddie Holland and
Lamont Dozier, known as
Holland-Dozier-Holland. They immediately hit the Top 40 together in 1963 with "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes." An extraordinary hot streak followed across 1964 and 1965.
The Supremes and
Holland-Dozier-Holland strung together five consecutive number one pop hits: "Where Did Our Love Go," the Grammy-nominated "Baby Love," "Come See About Me," second Grammy-nominated recording "Stop! In the Name of Love," and "Back in My Arms Again." These and other hits were scattered across the Top Ten albums
Where Did Our Love Go and
More Hits by the Supremes. Between the two LPs, a sequence of themed studio albums -- namely
A Bit of Liverpool,
The Supremes Sing Country Western & Pop, and
We Remember Sam Cooke -- demonstrated the women's versatility beyond pop-soul.
Further success and change occurred in 1966 and 1967. The albums
I Hear a Symphony,
The Supremes A' Go-Go, and
The Supremes Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland all peaked within the Top Ten, with the second of the trio a chart-topper. Seven A-sides issued during this period were similarly successful, and included four straight number ones with "You Can't Hurry Love," "You Keep Me Hanging On," "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone," and "The Happening," all collaborations with
Holland-Dozier-Holland. During the latter year, Berry Gordy started priming
Ross for a solo career by presenting the group as the Supremes with Diana Ross, and then as
Diana Ross & the Supremes. Gordy also dealt with a period of instability by replacing
Florence Ballard with
Cindy Birdsong, previously of the Bluebelles.
As
Diana Ross & the Supremes, a billing that lasted from late 1967 through mid-January 1970, the group remained very popular, notching another Top Ten album with Diana Ross & the Supremes Join the Temptations, and reaching the top with TCB, the soundtrack to the television special of the same name. Moreover, there were six additional Top Ten hits, including "Reflections" and the chart-toppers "Love Child" and "Someday We'll Be Together." The second of the three mentioned songs, a groundbreaking narrative, was the first big hit written and produced by the Clan, a team consisting of
R. Dean Taylor,
Frank Wilson,
Pam Sawyer,
Deke Richards, and
Henry Cosby. The third one was
Ross' studio farewell. When
the Supremes performed with
Ross for the last time,
Jean Terrell -- a Gordy discovery -- was introduced as a new member. Without
Ross, they rebounded instantly with the Top Ten hit "Up the Ladder to the Roof" and the Top 40 entry "Everybody's Got the Right to Love." Those two
Frank Wilson-produced singles anchored
Right On, the first of seven
Supremes studio LPs featuring the lineup of
Mary Wilson,
Cindy Birdsong, and
Terrell. Among the other six was a trilogy cut with
the Four Tops.
Well into 1972,
the Supremes unloaded an additional haul of Top 40 entries highlighted by "Stoned Love," the group's last single to peak in the Top Ten.
Cindy Birdsong left after the sessions for the '72 LP
Floy Joy, the cover of which displays the lineup with temporary replacement Lynda Laurence, who had sung backup for
Stevie Wonder. Laurence spelled
Birdsong until late 1973, also the year of
Terrell's departure.
Terrell's final LP was the anomalous
The Supremes Produced and Arranged by Jimmy Webb, issued the previous year.
Scherrie Payne, formerly of
the Glass House (and the sister of
Freda Payne), joined
Wilson and
Birdsong, and this trio lasted into 1976, releasing only one album as a unit,
The Supremes.
Susaye Greene joined for the '76 albums
High Energy and Mary, Scherrie & Susaye, though the outgoing
Birdsong was present for the recording of the former. The biggest single off these two final
Supremes LPs was a reunion with
Brian and
Eddie Holland, "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking," that touched the Top 40. Mary, Scherrie & Susaye featured a mesmerizing collaboration with the Hollands and
Richard Davis, "Come Into My Life," among other songs with commercial potential, but the album received little in the way of promotion. At Drury Lane in London the following June,
the Supremes performed what turned out to be their farewell concert.
By the end of the '70s,
Scherrie Payne and
Mary Wilson made their solo Motown debuts.
Payne and
Susaye Greene also recorded the 1979 album
Partners as a Motown duo. Subsequent
Supremes reunions have been either one-off occasions or partial. The 1983 television special Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever featured
Diana Ross,
Wilson, and
Cindy Birdsong performing "Someday We'll Be Together." Starting in 1986, various lineups -- starting with
Jean Terrell,
Payne, and Lynda Laurence -- have performed as the Former Ladies of the Supremes (or FLOS). In 2000,
Ross, Laurence, and
Payne -- no combination of which had been in the same
Supremes lineup -- teamed up for a lengthy U.S. tour that was cut short before the halfway point.
Florence Ballard, who released a pair of solo singles on ABC in 1968, died from cardiac arrest in 1976. Betty McGlown died of diabetes in 2008. Barbara Martin died in 2020.
Wilson, who had continued to record as a solo artist and hit the New York Times best-seller list with her first book, Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme, died from heart disease in 2021. ~ Andy Kellman