Editing The Supremes (section)

=== Reunions ===
Fan interest made the idea of a Supremes reunion tour a very profitable one during the 1980s. In 1982, around the time that Motown reunited all of the Temptations, it was rumored that Motown would reunite the Supremes. The 1974 line-up of the Supremes (Wilson, Birdsong and Payne) was considered for this reunion, which was to include new recordings and a tour. Under advisement from Berry Gordy, Wilson declined to reunite, and the idea was scrapped. Ross briefly reunited with Wilson and Birdsong to perform "Someday We'll Be Together" on the ''[[Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever]]'' television special, taped on March 25, 1983, and broadcast on [[NBC]] on May 16, 1983.<ref>{{cite news|last=Pareles|first=Jon|author-link=Jon Pareles|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/05/arts/stop-in-the-name-of-nostalgia.html |title=Stop! In the Name of Nostalgia|newspaper=The New York Times|date= April 5, 2000|access-date= July 10, 2008}}</ref>

In 2000, plans were made for Ross to join Wilson and Birdsong for a planned "Diana Ross & the Supremes: Return to Love" reunion tour. However, Wilson passed on the idea, because while the promoters offered Ross $15&nbsp;million to perform, Wilson was offered $4&nbsp;million and Birdsong less than $1&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/702634.stm|title=Supremes return for tour|website=BBC News|date= April 5, 2000|access-date= July 4, 2008}}</ref> Ross herself offered to double the amounts both Wilson and Birdsong had originally been offered, but while Birdsong accepted, Wilson remained adamant, and as a result the deal fell through with both former Supremes. Eventually, the "Return to Love" tour went on as scheduled, but with Payne and Laurence joining Ross, although none of the three had ever been in the group at the same time and neither Payne nor Laurence had sung on any of the original hit recordings that they were now singing live. Susaye Greene was also considered for this tour, but refused to audition for it. The music critics cried foul and many fans were disappointed by both this and the shows' high ticket prices. Though the tour did well in larger markets including near capacity at the opening night in Philadelphia and a sellout at [[Madison Square Garden]] in New York, it under performed in smaller/medium markets. The tour was canceled after playing only half of the dates on itinerary.<ref>Posner, 331.</ref>

With the death of Florence Ballard in 1976 and the death of Mary Wilson on February 8, 2021, there is no longer any possible reunion of the original classic lineup.<ref name="Benjaminson 2008 168"/><ref>"[https://marywilson.com/about/ About: Mary Wilson] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205213655/https://marywilson.com/about |date=December 5, 2021 }}.  Retrieved December 5, 2021.</ref>