Editing Diana Ross (section)

===1959–1970: The Supremes===
{{Main|The Supremes}}
[[File:1966 The Supremes.JPG|thumb|right|Ross (far right) performing with [[the Supremes]], as lead singer in 1966]]

When she was fifteen, Ross joined the Primettes, the sister group to a male vocal group called the Primes, after she had been brought to the attention of music manager Milton Jenkins by Primes member [[Paul Williams (The Temptations singer)|Paul Williams]]. Among the other members of the Primettes were [[Florence Ballard]] (the first group member hired by Jenkins), [[Mary Wilson (singer)|Mary Wilson]], and [[Betty McGlown]], Williams' girlfriend. After the Primettes won a talent competition in 1960 in [[Windsor, Ontario]], A&R executive and songwriter, [[Robert Bateman (songwriter)|Robert Bateman]] invited them to audition for Motown Records.

Later, following the success of her live performances at [[sock hop]]s and similar events, Ross approached William "Smokey" Robinson, her former neighbor about auditioning for Motown; he insisted that the group audition for him first. Robinson then agreed to bring the Primettes to Motown, on condition that they allow him and his group, the Miracles, to hire the Primettes' guitarist, [[Marv Tarplin]] (who had been discovered by Ross) for an upcoming tour. Tarplin ended up playing in Robinson's band(s) for the next 30-plus years. In her autobiography, ''Secrets of a Sparrow'', Ross wrote that she felt that this had been "a fair trade".

The Primettes later auditioned for [[Motown]], before various Motown executives. In [[Berry Gordy]]'s autobiography, ''To Be Loved'', Gordy recalled that he had been heading to a business meeting when he happened to hear Ross singing "[[There Goes My Baby (The Drifters song)|There Goes My Baby]]", and that Ross's voice "stopped me in my tracks". He approached the group and asked them to perform it again, but, after learning how young they were, Gordy advised them to finish high school before trying to get signed by Motown.<ref name="pc26">{{Pop Chronicles |26 |4}}</ref>

Undeterred, the group began coming to Motown's [[Hitsville U.S.A.]] headquarters every day, offering to provide extra help for Motown's recordings, often including hand claps and background vocals. That year, the group recorded two tracks for [[Lu Pine Records]], with Ross singing lead on one of them. During the group's early years, Ross served as its hairstylist, make-up artist, seamstress, and costume designer. In late 1960, having replaced McGlown with [[Barbara Martin (singer)|Barbara Martin]], the Primettes were allowed to record their own songs at Hitsville studio, many written by "Smokey" Robinson, who, by then, was vice president of Motown ("[[Your Heart Belongs to Me]]" and "[[A Breathtaking Guy]]"). Gordy, too, composed songs for the trio, including "[[Buttered Popcorn]]" (featuring Ballard on lead) and "[[Let Me Go the Right Way]]". While these songs were regional hits, they were not nationwide successes.

In January 1961, Gordy agreed to sign the group on the condition they change their name. Songwriter and Motown secretary [[Janie Bradford]] approached Florence Ballard, the only group member at the studio at the time, to pick out a new name for the group. Ballard chose "Supremes", reportedly, because it was the only name on the list that did not end with "ette". Upon hearing the new name, the other members weren't impressed, with Ross telling Ballard she feared the group would be mistaken for a male vocal group (a male vocal group was, indeed, named the Supremes). Gordy signed the group under their new name on January 15, 1961. A year later, Barbara Martin left the group, reducing the quartet to a trio. In late 1963, the group had their first hit with "[[When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes]]", peaking at No. 23 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 pop chart. At the end of the year, Gordy made Ross the group's lead singer.

[[File:The Supremes 1967.JPG|thumb|Ross with [[the Supremes]] in 1967]]
In June 1964, while on tour with [[Dick Clark]]'s Cavalcade of Stars, the group scored their first number-one hit with "[[Where Did Our Love Go]]", paving the way for unprecedented success. Between August 1964 and May 1967, Ross, Wilson, and Ballard sang on ten [[Billboard Hot 100|number-one hit singles]], all of which also made the UK Top 40.<ref name="pc26" /> The group had become a hit with audiences domestically and abroad, going on to be Motown's most successful vocal act throughout the sixties.

Ross began to dominate interviews with the media, answering questions aimed at Ballard or Wilson. She pushed for more pay than her colleagues. In 1965, she began using the name Diana from the mistake on her birth certificate, surprising Ballard and Wilson who had only known her as Diane.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Mary |author-link=Mary Wilson (singer) |date=1999 |title=Dreamgirl & Supreme Faith: My Life as a Supreme |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |pages=169–170 |isbn=9780815410003}}</ref> Following difficulties with comportment, weight, and alcoholism, Florence Ballard was fired from the Supremes by Gordy in July 1967, hiring [[Cindy Birdsong]] from [[Labelle|Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles]] as Ballard's replacement. Gordy renamed the group ''Diana Ross & the Supremes'', making it easier to charge a larger performance fee for a solo star and a backing group, as it did for other renamed Motown groups. Gordy initially considered having Ross leave the Supremes for a solo career in 1966, eventually changing his mind because he felt the group's success was still too significant for Ross to pursue solo obligations. Ross remained with the Supremes until early 1970.

{{quote box|quoted=1|quote=As the lead voice of the Supremes, she was really only the soul—or perhaps ''[[élan vital]]''—of a machine, ready to plug into whatever arrangement, lyric, or show dress Berry Gordy and the Motown organization provided. She sang of the pain of love without appearing to suffer, but, that doesn't mean that the catch-phrases—'[[You Keep Me Hangin' On|You keep me hanging on]],' '[[Where Did Our Love Go|Where did our love go?]]' '[[Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart|Love is like an itching in my heart, and I can't scratch it]]'—were softened or somehow corrupted. Instead, they were transcended with the vivacity that is Diana Ross' great gift. No matter how she is stylized, no matter what phony truism she mouths, this woman always lets you know she is alive.|source=— [[Robert Christgau]], 1973<ref>{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=February 25, 1973|url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/news/nd730225.php|title=Diana Ross and THE Supreme|newspaper=[[Newsday]]|access-date=March 23, 2019|archive-date=March 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323214657/https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/news/nd730225.php|url-status=live}}</ref>|width=29%|align=right|style=padding:8px;}}

The group appeared as a trio of singing nuns in a 1968 episode of the popular [[NBC]] TV series ''[[Tarzan (1966 TV series)|Tarzan]]''. Between their early 1968 single "[[Forever Came Today]]" and their final single with Ross, "[[Someday We'll Be Together]]", Ross would be the only Supremes member to be featured on many of their recordings, often accompanied by [[Session musician|session singer]]s [[the Andantes]] or, as in the case of "Someday We'll Be Together", Julia and Maxine Waters and Johnny Bristol.<ref>Benjaminson, Peter. ''The Lost Supreme: The Life of Dreamgirl Florence Ballard''. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, November 2007. 75–79. {{ISBN|1-55652-705-5}}</ref> Still, Wilson and Birdsong continued to sing on recordings. Gordy drove Ross relentlessly throughout this period and Ross, due to anxiety arising from Gordy's demands, began suffering from [[anorexia nervosa]], according to her autobiography, ''Secrets of a Sparrow''. During a 1967 performance in Boston, Massachusetts, Ross collapsed onstage and had to be hospitalized for exhaustion.

In 1968, Ross began to perform as a solo artist on television specials, including the Supremes' own specials such as ''[[TCB (TV program)|TCB]]'' and ''[[G.I.T. on Broadway]]'', ''[[The Dinah Shore Show]]'', and a [[Bob Hope]] special, among others. In mid-1969, Gordy decided that Ross would depart the group by the end of that year, and Ross began recording her initial solo work that July. One of the first plans for Ross to establish her own solo career was to publicly introduce a new Motown recording act.

Though she did not claim their discovery, Motown's publicity department credited Ross with having discovered [[the Jackson 5]]. Ross would introduce the group during several public events, including ''[[The Hollywood Palace]]''.<ref name="Jackson5">{{cite book|last=George|first=Nelson|title=Where Did Our Love Go? The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound|year=2007|publisher=University of Illinois Press|location=Urbana and Chicago|isbn=978-0-252-07498-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/wheredidourloveg0000geor/page/159 159–60, 183–88]|url=https://archive.org/details/wheredidourloveg0000geor/page/159}}</ref> In November, Ross confirmed a split from the Supremes in ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''. Ross's presumed first solo recording, "Someday We'll Be Together", was eventually released as a Supremes recording and became the group's final number-one hit on the Hot 100. It was also the final number-one ''Billboard'' Hot 100 single of the 1960s. Ross made her final appearance with the Supremes at the [[New Frontier Hotel and Casino|Frontier Hotel]] in [[Las Vegas]], [[Nevada]] on January 14, 1970.<ref>{{Cite web|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=Diana Ross and the Supremes perform their final concert|url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/diana-ross-and-the-supremes-perform-their-final-concert|access-date=February 20, 2021|website=HISTORY|language=en|archive-date=February 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227012538/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/diana-ross-and-the-supremes-perform-their-final-concert|url-status=live}}</ref>