This is the story of the pretty native of Detroit who became a superstar while she was just a teenager.
Music is a universal language that anyone may use to communicate with anyone else, no matter where they are from in the world. It may take you to places you had never imagined going and reawaken emotions you were unaware you had.
Diana Ross is a legendary Motown vocalist who is constantly donating. Even at the age of 77, listening to her sing still makes my skin tingle.
Diana Ross started her career in Detroit and quickly advanced to prominence. She currently has numerous million-dollar houses scattered around the US. The road to fame hasn’t always been easy, and she likely faced some personal obstacles along the way.
How precisely did she get to where she is now, then? This is the story of the adored.
Diana Ross, one of Fred and Ernestine Ross’s six children, was born on March 26, 1944, in Detroit’s Hutzel Women’s Hospital. Her mother worked as a teacher, and her father had served in the US Army.
At the Cass Technical High School in midtown Detroit, Diana first became interested in design and pattern-making when she was a young child. But by the time she received her diploma in 1962, her interests had changed to music. At the time, she was already a rising star.
Ross volunteered at the enormous Hudson Department Store in Detroit when she was a teenager. It was the second-largest department store in the US, just after Macy’s in New York, at an astounding 2,124,316 square feet.
Although Diana Ross was raised in a close-knit family, she was surrounded by many other great musicians. She grew up in the Brewster-Douglass neighborhood and befriended people like Smokey Robinson and Aretha Franklin.
Ross was invited to join a club named The Primettes when she was still a senior in high school by her friend Mary Wilson. We’ll get to their incredible success story in a moment, but they would soon perform as The Supremes.
Diana Ross had recently joined the group at that point, and she wanted Smokey Robinson, a friend, to hear them.
Smokey remarked on Steve Harvey’s TV show, “She’s my kid; I’ve known her since I was maybe eight years old.
She was my gift to Motown. When she was about to receive her high school diploma, she called and said, “Hey Smokey, I got a group, I want you to hear us.”
Diana then sang with her group at Smokey’s residence.
Smokey said, “I loved them.
They were really impressive in Smokey Robinson’s opinion. Since he was previously a member of the band The Miracles, he was already acquainted with many influential figures in the music business, most notably the late iconic producer and label founder Berry Gordy Jr.
He scheduled a test for Diana and the other members of her band. They soon began a project that put them in competition with The Beatles.
a Motown Records contract
The Supremes would soon take the place of The Primettes. Motown Records, owned by Gordy Jr., signed the band. Where Did Our Love Go was their first No. 1 song, coming in 1961.
The group carried on performing, and in 1964 they created history. the 1964 singles Baby Love, Come See About Me, and Stop! The Supremes made history by becoming the first musical group to have four additional singles at the top of the charts with In the Name of Love (1965) and Back In My Arms Again (1965).
Diana Ross and her adored trio would reach new heights in 1966 when the mega tune You Can’t Hurry Love was released.
It ended up being a groundbreaking release from the Beatles, which was by this point unstoppable. There was one performance that musicians had to be at if they wanted to connect with a larger audience.
The Beatles’ first US appearance was on The Ed Sullivan Show, where The Supremes were frequent guests and a favorite of Ed’s. More than any other Motown group, they made more than 16 appearances on the program.
“At first, being young, there was a little distance, but when he saw we were kind of, you know, nice girls, he became really close to us. Mary Wilson of the Supremes recalled, “He really enjoyed that.
The Supremes received aid from Ed Sullivan in order to become well-known and earn national recognition. At the top of the charts in 1964, they competed with The Beatles.
However, there was discussion about the members going in various paths three years later. Ross quit the band in November of 1969.
She made her last and final performance in January 1970, after the group had been renamed Diana Ross and the Supremes a few years earlier.
Diana Ross needed to start performing alone. She had already achieved popularity with her girl group, but as we have seen throughout history, it can be difficult for certain musicians to make the shift to being a solo act.
That wasn’t the situation with Diana Ross.
Diana Ross, her self-titled debut album, was released in May 1970. With songs like Ain’t No Mountain High Enough and Reach Out and Touch Somebody’s Hand, it soared fast through the charts.
Her first solo No. 1 song was the first of those two. Later, she would be considered for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance.
It didn’t take long for Ross to start working in the Hollywood film industry. She portrayed Billie Holiday in Billie Holiday Lady Sings the Blues, and for her work, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.
Later, she performed in movies like Mahogany (1973), and she shared a role in The Wiz (1978) alongside Anthony Perkins and Billy Dee Williams.
Diana Ross’ subsequent major breakthrough album was released in 1980. The album Diana was created by Nile Rodgers, and it was a great hit. The hit single Upside Down, which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard chart, and the No. 5 song I’m Coming Out were both included on the platinum-selling album.
I’m Coming Out was written by Neil Rodger. He was moved to write the song after visiting a transgender nightclub where many Diana Ross impersonators were present.
The phrase “I’m Coming Out”
He was astounded to learn how popular the LGBT community was for the Motown icon.
“I had the thought, “Wait a second. This would be a significant record if I wrote a song for Diana Ross that talked about a disenchanted segment of her fan base and sort of made it for them, according to Rodgers.
“No one necessarily thinks of Diana Ross on the frontlines of this, but [the gay] community and her [gay] fans love and idolize her.”
The biggest radio personality in the world at the time, Frankie Crocker, didn’t enjoy the album. She was worried that if people thought Diana was really coming out, it would destroy her career. But it turned out to be a popular tune and one of her favorite songs.
Rodgers continued, “Diana is clearly not homophobic, that much is clear. She is among the most awesome people you will ever meet. All of a sudden, she believed that we were announcing her coming out.
Diana Ross kept up her musical career, putting out several albums and appearing in films like Double Platinum (1999) and Out of Darkness (1994). Ross continuously released albums and successful songs. She was nominated for 12 Grammy Awards in total, but she didn’t take home a single trophy.
She would, however, be presented with music’s highest prize in 2012. After winning a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement, Diana Ross was given an exclusive invitation to the White House four years later.
President Barack Obama presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom there, the highest civilian honor. She also received Lifetime Achievement recognition at the 2017 American Music Awards.
Oprah Winfrey interviewed Diana Ross in 2011. The adored talk show presenter began by discussing how much Diana Ross meant to her, and tears were shed at the conclusion.
In a world where there were no Black people on television, Oprah remarked, “Imagine, for me, being 10 years old watching The Ed Sullivan Show on welfare, with no prospect that I could ever sing, and witnessing her for the first time.
“When you first see somebody on television like Diana Ross, who was glamorous and beautiful and literally represented possibility and hope—it was life-changing for me.”
Diana Ross has had two marriages. She got married to music manager Robert Ellis Silberstein in 1971. They had two kids together.
Their first child, Tracee Ellis Ross, was born in 1972, and their second, Chudney Ross, was born three years later.
Also born was Rhonda Ross Kendrick, a kid Diana Ross had with Berry Gordy, the man behind Motown Records. When she was born in 1971, they chose Diana and her then-husband Robert to be her parents.
She did marry a Norwegian businessman named Arne Naess Jr. nonetheless, following their divorce. Their sons, Ross Naess and Evan Ross, arrived in 1987 and 1988, respectively.
Diana Ross, 77, is currently made smile every day by her plethora of grandchildren. The biggest star among her children, all of whom have more or less entered the entertainment industry, may be her daughter Tracee Ellis Roos.
She claimed that as a child, she had always wanted to be a singer. But because of her famous family name, she was worried about failing.
Tracee, who earned a Golden Globe for her performance in the 2014 television series Black-ish, recalls an emotional experience with her mother when speaking to Oprah Winfrey in the early 2020s.
Diana Ross’s reaction when she first heard her daughter perform.
It was “one of the most beautiful moments” in Tracee’s life, she said.
“She came out of the house, came out of the garage, got in my car, closed the windows, and I was, like, ‘Okay, here it is, mom, here’s me,'” Tracee recalled.
“She shoved my arm, then turned to face me with tears streaming down her face. Then she added, “Finally.”
Diana Ross was born and raised in Detroit. A little more than ten years ago, the investor put her childhood house up for sale, asking $132,500 in return.
Darin McLeskey, a real estate broker, claims that the investor was unaware that the property was originally Diana Ross’s childhood home, but it undoubtedly raised its value. It was said that he had bought it for $1,800 only eight months earlier.
The facade of the four-bedroom, 2,112 square foot house at 633 Belmont St. is composed of light-colored stone.
According to realtor Darin McLeskey, “it’s generating a lot of interest.” But there are also a lot of folks who are simply generally inquisitive and want access to a famous person’s home.
So where does Diana Ross currently reside?
First off, it is easy to say that the well-known musician has done a terrific job of keeping things quiet given how challenging it is to ascertain where she actually resides.
Ross has long resided in the exclusive Belle Haven district of Greenwich, Connecticut.
She bought her oceanfront property from the 1920s in Belle Haven in 2006, according to the Greenwich Time. In addition to 11 bedrooms, six bathrooms, five fireplaces, a hot tub, a pool, and a tennis court, the estate has two apartments. But a year later, they put the house on the market for $39.5 million.
In 2009, Ross’s home, dubbed “Quarry Farm,” had to cut its asking prices due to the housing crisis.
Greenwich ranked seventh in Bloomberg’s annual study of the 100 richest cities in America for 2018.
According to Mark Pruner, a sales representative for Berkshire Hathaway N.E. Properties, “a ton of senior-level executives live here.” It usually is quieter money. There aren’t many boldface names among us. Old Greenwich residents prefer not to have their names in the media.
According to rumors, Diana Ross renovated a home in West Hollywood prior to her son Evan’s wedding.
We are huge fans of Diana Ross and her music. She is a singular person and a revered Motown diva whose voice will never fade.
Please share this story with your loved ones!
