Editing Diana Ross (section)

===1970–1980: Solo career and films===
[[File:Diana Ross Roosevelt Grier Danny Thomas Make Room for Granddaddy 1971.JPG|thumb|Ross as a guest star with football player and actor [[Rosey Grier]], on the [[Danny Thomas]] television program ''[[Make Room for Granddaddy]]'' in 1971]]
In May 1970, Ross released her eponymous [[Diana Ross (1970 album)|debut solo album]], which included her [[List of signature songs|signature songs]], "[[Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)]]" and "[[Ain't No Mountain High Enough]]", the latter becoming Ross's first [[Billboard Hot 100|number-one solo single]]. Follow-up albums, ''[[Everything Is Everything (Diana Ross album)|Everything Is Everything]]'' (1970) and ''[[Surrender (Diana Ross album)|Surrender]]'' (1971) came out shortly afterwards. In 1971, the ballad "[[I'm Still Waiting (Diana Ross song)|I'm Still Waiting]]" became her first number-one single in the [[UK Singles Chart|UK]]. Later in 1971, Ross starred in her first solo [[television special]], ''Diana!'', which included [[the Jackson 5]].

In 1971, Diana Ross began working on her first film, ''[[Lady Sings the Blues (film)|Lady Sings the Blues]]'' (1972), which was a loosely based biography on singer [[Billie Holiday]]. Despite some criticism of her for taking the role, once the film opened in October 1972, Ross won critical acclaim for her performance in the film. Jazz critic [[Leonard Feather]], a friend of Holiday's, praised Ross for "expertly capturing the essence of Lady Day". Ross's role in the film won her [[Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe Award]] and [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nominations for Best Actress. The [[Lady Sings the Blues (soundtrack)|soundtrack]] to ''Lady Sings the Blues'' became just as successful, reaching No. 1 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]], staying there for two weeks, and selling two million units. In November 1972, Ross sung the song "When We Grow Up" for the children's album, ''[[Free to Be... You and Me]]''.

In 1973, Ross had her second number-one hit in the U.S. with the ballad "[[Touch Me in the Morning (song)|Touch Me in the Morning]]". Later in the year, Motown issued ''[[Diana & Marvin]]'', a duet album with fellow Motown artist [[Marvin Gaye]]. The album became an international hit. Touring throughout 1973, Ross became the first entertainer in Japan's history to receive an invitation to the [[Tokyo Imperial Palace|Imperial Palace]] for a private audience with the [[Empress Kōjun|Empress Nagako]], wife of Emperor [[Hirohito]]. In April 1974, Ross became the first African-American woman to co-host the [[46th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]], with [[John Huston]], [[Burt Reynolds]], and [[David Niven]].

[[File:AnthonyPerkinsDianaRossMahoganyTrailer.jpg|thumb|left|Actor [[Anthony Perkins]] photographing Ross in the film trailer for ''[[Mahogany (film)|Mahogany]]'' (1975)]]
After the release of a modestly successful album, ''[[Last Time I Saw Him]]'' (1973), Ross's second film, ''[[Mahogany (film)|Mahogany]]'', was released in 1975.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=October 1975 |title=Spectacular New Film For Diana Ross: Mahogany |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jw14Q2YAspMC&lpg=PA145&dq=diana%20ross%20ebony%201975&pg=PA144#v=snippet&q=Mahogany&f=false |journal=Ebony |volume=30 |issue=12 |pages=144-150}}</ref> The film reunited her with [[Billy Dee Williams]], her co-star in ''Lady Sings the Blues'' and featured costumes designed by Ross herself.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 25, 1975 |title=Fashion Corner: "Mahogany" Is Fashion |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-voice-diana-ross-costume-des/170530555/ |work=The Atlanta Voice |pages=6}}</ref> The story of an aspiring fashion designer who becomes a runway model and the toast of the industry, ''Mahogany'' was a troubled production from its inception. The film's original director, [[Tony Richardson]], was fired during production, and Berry Gordy assumed the director's chair himself.<ref name="Posner, Gerald p. 286">Posner, Gerald. ''Motown: Music, Money, Sex, and Power'', p. 286.</ref>

Gordy and Ross clashed during filming, with Ross leaving the production before shooting was completed, forcing Gordy to use secretary Edna Anderson as a body double for Ross. While a box-office success, the film was not well received by the critics: ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine's review of the film chastised Gordy for "squandering one of America's most natural resources: Diana Ross".<ref name="Posner, Gerald p. 286"/>
Nonetheless, Ross had her third number-one hit in the U.S. with "[[Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)]]".

A year later, in 1976, Ross released her fourth solo number-one hit, "[[Love Hangover]]", a sensual, dramatic mid-tempo song that bursts into an uptempo disco tune.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-09-05 |title=The Number Ones: Diana Ross' "Love Hangover" |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2057118/the-number-ones-diana-ross-love-hangover/columns/the-number-ones/ |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=Stereogum |language=en}}</ref> Later that year, Ross launched her "An Evening with Diana Ross" tour.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Eder |first=Shirley |date=January 30, 1977 |title=Diana Comes Home With an Armful of Kids And a Box-Office Smash |pages=8–F |work=Detroit Free Press}}</ref> The tour's success led to a two-week stint at [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]]'s [[Palace Theatre (New York City)|Palace Theatre]] and a 90-minute, [[Emmy Awards|Emmy]]-nominated television special of the same name,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Eder |first=Shirley |date=January 27, 1977 |title=Diana Ross Special Set |pages=4B |work=The Macon Telegraph}}</ref> featuring special make-up effects by [[Stan Winston]], for a scene in which Ross portrayed legendary cabaret artist [[Josephine Baker]] and blues singers [[Bessie Smith]] and [[Ethel Waters]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtpJnC2Yblg|title=An Evening With Diana Ross (1977 - TV Special) [Full Show]|last=Diana Ross Fan Club|date=July 24, 2016|publisher=[[YouTube]]|access-date=October 30, 2016|archive-date=June 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190613034541/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtpJnC2Yblg|url-status=live}}</ref> and a [[Special Tony Award]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvamSHzyJQE|title=Diana Ross - Receiving Special Tony Award - 31th Annual Tony Awards 1977|last=Nandy Ross|date=June 20, 2015|publisher=[[YouTube]]|access-date=October 30, 2016|archive-date=December 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214031401/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvamSHzyJQE|url-status=live}}</ref>

The albums ''[[Baby It's Me]]'' (1977) and ''[[Ross (1978 album)|Ross]]'' (1978) sold modestly. Around this period, Motown had acquired the film rights to the Broadway play ''[[The Wiz]]'', an African-American reinterpretation of [[L. Frank Baum]]'s ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]''. The film initially was to include the stage actors who had performed on the play, but producer [[Rob Cohen]] could not garner the interest of any major Hollywood film studios. It was not until Ross convinced Cohen to cast her (instead of [[Stephanie Mills]], who portrayed Dorothy on Broadway) as Dorothy that [[Universal Pictures]] agreed to finance the production.

This casting decision led to a change in the film's script, in which Dorothy went from a schoolgirl to a schoolteacher. The role of the Scarecrow, also performed by someone else onstage, was eventually given to Ross's former Motown labelmate, [[Michael Jackson]].  Ross and Jackson had a modest dance hit with their recording for the film of "[[Ease on Down the Road]]". Their second duet, actually as part of the ensemble of ''The Wiz'', "Brand New Day", found some success overseas.

The [[The Wiz (film)|film adaptation of ''The Wiz'']] had been a $24&nbsp;million production, but upon its October 1978 release, it earned only $21,049,053 at the box office.<ref name="sharp">{{cite book |last=Sharp |first=Kathleen |title=Mr. and Mrs. Hollywood: Edie and Lew Wasserman and Their Entertainment Empire |publisher=Carroll & Graf Publishers |year=2003 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/mrmrshollywooded00shar/page/357 357–58] |isbn=0-7867-1220-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/mrmrshollywooded00shar/page/357}}</ref><ref name="harpole" /><ref name="dreamgirl">{{cite book |last=Adrahtas |first=Thomas |title=A Lifetime to Get Here: Diana Ross: The American Dreamgirl |publisher=AuthorHouse |year=2006 |pages=163–67 |isbn=1-4259-7140-7}}</ref> Though pre-release television broadcast rights had been sold to [[CBS]] for over $10&nbsp;million, the film produced a net loss of $10.4&nbsp;million for Motown and Universal.<ref name="harpole">{{cite book |last=Harpole |first=Charles |title=History of the American Cinema |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2003 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofamerica0000unse_x8l5/page/64 64, 65, 219, 220, 290] | isbn=0-684-80463-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofamerica0000unse_x8l5/page/64}}</ref><ref name="dreamgirl" /> At the time, it was the most expensive film musical ever made.<ref name="skow">{{cite magazine |last=Skow |first=John |title=Nowhere Over the Rainbow |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=October 30, 1978 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,912236,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205190138/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,912236,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 5, 2008 |access-date=November 6, 2007}}</ref> The film's failure ended Ross's short career on the big screen and contributed to the Hollywood studios' reluctance to produce the all-black film projects which had become popular during the [[blaxploitation]] era of the early to mid-1970s for several years.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Moon |first1=Spencer |first2=George |last2=Hill |title=Reel Black Talk: A Sourcebook of 50 American Filmmakers |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=1997 |isbn=0-313-29830-0 |no-pp=true |page=xii |url=https://archive.org/details/reelblacktalksou00moon}}</ref><ref name="benshoff">{{cite book |last1=Benshoff |first1=Harry M. |first2=Sean |last2=Griffin |title=America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality at the Movies |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |year=2004 |isbn=0-631-22583-8 |page=88}}</ref><ref name="George">{{cite book |last=George |first=Nelson |title=Where Did Our Love Go? The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=1985 |page=193}}</ref>

In 1979, Ross released ''[[The Boss (Diana Ross album)|The Boss]]'', continuing her popularity with dance audiences, as [[The Boss (Diana Ross song)|the title song]] became a number-one dance single. On July 16, 1979, Ross guest-hosted an episode of Johnny Carson's ''[[The Tonight Show]]'', featuring [[Lynda Carter]], [[George Carlin]], and [[Muhammad Ali]] as guests.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy_bRxK7mNM|title=Diana Ross guest host of the Tonight Show - July 16, 1979 (Full Episode)|last=Diana Ross Fan Club|date=August 14, 2016|publisher=[[YouTube]]|access-date=October 30, 2016|archive-date=September 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190902014416/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy_bRxK7mNM&gl=US&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref> Later that year, Ross hosted the [[HBO]] special, ''Standing Room Only'', filmed at [[Caesars Palace]]'s Circus Maximus Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada, during her "Tour '79" concert tour.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XICDjK_I5_k|title=Diana Ross - "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" - Caesar's Palace, 1979 Opening (Part 1 of 17)|last=TheReturnOfStephan1|date=June 13, 2009|publisher=[[YouTube]]|access-date=October 30, 2016|archive-date=September 4, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904064540/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XICDjK_I5_k&feature=related|url-status=live}}</ref> This concert special is noted for its opening, during which Ross literally makes her entrance through a movie screen. In November of that year, Ross performed "The Boss" as a featured artist during the [[Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade]], in [[New York City]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zavCUPbL7ME|title=The Boss (Macy's Parade)|last=Scott Pangburn|date=December 22, 2015|publisher=[[YouTube]]|access-date=October 30, 2016|archive-date=November 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171122124329/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zavCUPbL7ME|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1980, Ross released her most successful album to date, ''[[Diana (album)|Diana]]''. Composed by [[Chic (band)|Chic]]'s guitarist [[Nile Rodgers]] and bassist [[Bernard Edwards]], the album included the hits "[[I'm Coming Out]]" and "[[Upside Down (Diana Ross song)|Upside Down]]", the latter becoming her fifth chart-topping single in the U.S. Ross scored a Top 10 hit in late 1980 with the theme song to the film ''[[It's My Turn (film)|It's My Turn]]''. Continuing her connections with Hollywood, Ross recorded the duet ballad "[[Endless Love (song)|Endless Love]]", with [[Lionel Richie]]. The song would become her sixth and final single to reach number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.