Diana Ross Singles Discography
Jonelle Rycroft
The discography of American rhythm and blues singer Diana Ross, the former lead singer of the Supremes, consists of 26 studio albums and 116 singles. Throughout her career, Ross has sold over 100 million records worldwide.[1] Billboard ranked her as the 47th Greatest Artist of all time and the 11th Greatest Hot 100 Female Artist of all time.[2] In 1993, Guinness World Records crowned Ross as the "most successful female artist in music history".[3] Her 11th studio album "Diana" remains the best-selling album of her career, selling more than 10 million copies and album-equivalent units around the world.[4]
27 of her singles reached the Billboard top 40 in the US, 12 of them the Billboard top 10, and six of those reaching number one, placing her in a tie for fifth among the top female solo performers who have reached the top spot there. In the UK, she amassed a total of 47 top 40 singles with 20 of them reaching the top 10 and two of those reaching number one. In the US, 17 albums reached the Billboard top 40, four of those the top 10, and one album topping the chart. In the UK, 26 albums reached the top 40, eight of those the top 10, and one album topping the chart.
Ross sang lead on a top 75 hit single at least once every year from 1964 to 1997 in the UK, a period of 33 consecutive years and a record for any performer. She is among a select group of artists whose albums and singles combined have spent more than 1000 weeks on the official UK charts, with her singles totalling 569 weeks (10.9 years) and her albums spending a total of 634 weeks (12 years) on the charts. As of 2024[update] Diana Ross has 36 albums certified by the BPI (11 Silver, 18 Gold, 6 Platinum, 1 Multi-Platinum).[citation needed]
As Motown was not affiliated with the RIAA until 1978 her albums released before that date have never been certified in the US, although six of these sold enough to reach gold status and one sold enough to reach platinum.
Dance Club Play chart entriesFrom the inception of the Billboard Dance Club Play chart (also known as Club Play Singles, and formerly known as Hot Dance Club Play and Hot Dance/Disco) until the week of February 16, 1991, several (or even all) songs on an EP or album could occupy the same position if more than one track from a release was receiving significant play in clubs. Beginning with the February 23, 1991 issue, the dance chart became "song specific", meaning only one song could occupy each position at a time. Therefore;
Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She was the lead singer of the vocal group The Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. They remain the best-charting female group in history,[2] with a total of 12 number-one pop singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, including "Where Did Our Love Go," "Baby Love," "Come See About Me," "Stop! In the Name of Love," "You Keep Me Hangin' On," and "Love Child."[3]
Ross was named the "Female Entertainer of the Century" by Billboard in 1976. Since her solo career began in 1970, Ross has released 25 studio albums, numerous singles, and compilations that have sold more than 100 million records worldwide.[4] She is the only woman artist to have had U.S. number-one pop singles on the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo artist, as the other half of a duet, as a member of a trio, and as an ensemble member, a total of 18. In 2021, Billboard ranked her the 30th greatest Hot 100 artist of all time.[5][6] Her hits as a Supreme and a solo artist combined put Ross among the top-five artists on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart from 1955 to 2018.[7]
She had a top 10 UK hit in every one of the last five decades, and sang lead on a top 75 hit single at least once every year from 1964 to 1996 in the UK, a period of 33 consecutive years and a record for any performer. In 1988, Ross was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Supremes, and is one of the rare performers to have two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was the recipient of a Special Tony Award in 1977, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 and 2023 (becoming the first woman to win the award twice, the latter as a member of The Supremes), and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.
Ross and her family originally resided at 635 Belmont St., in the North End section of Detroit, near Highland Park, Michigan, where her neighbor was Smokey Robinson. When Ross was seven, her mother contracted tuberculosis, causing her to become seriously ill. Ross's parents sent their children to live with Ernestine's parents, the Reverend (pastor of Bessemer Baptist Church) and Mrs. William Moton in Bessemer, Alabama. After her mother recovered, she and her siblings returned to Detroit.
On her 14th birthday, in 1958, her family relocated to the working-class Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects, settling at St. Antoine Street. Ross attended Cass Technical High School,[13] a four-year college and preparatory magnet school, in downtown Detroit, and, aspiring to become a fashion designer, she took classes in clothing design, millinery, pattern making, and tailoring. In the evenings and on weekends she also took modeling and cosmetology classes (Ross has written that Robinson loaned her the funds required to attend these), and participated in several of the school's extracurricular activities, including its swim team. In 1960, Hudson's downtown Detroit store hired Ross as its first African American bus girl.[14] For extra income, she also provided hairdressing services to her neighbors. Ross graduated from Cass Tech in January 1962.
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. Among the other members of the Primettes were Florence Ballard (the first group member hired by Jenkins), Mary Wilson, and Betty McGlown, Williams' then-girlfriend. After the Primettes won a talent competition in 1960 in Windsor, Ontario, A&R executive and songwriter, Robert Bateman invited them to audition for Motown Records.
Later, following the success of her live performances at sock hops 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", 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.[15]
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, 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 assigned Ross the role of the group's lead singer.
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 number-one hit singles, all of which also made the UK Top 40.[15] The group had also become a hit with audiences both domestically and abroad, going on to become 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.[16] Following significant issues with comportment, weight, and alcoholism, Florence Ballard was fired from the Supremes by Gordy in July 1967, hiring Cindy Birdsong from 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.
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