Decades before Beyonce, there was Diana Ross.
Like Queen Bey, the Queen of Motown attained the heights of stardom and career achievement first as the frontwoman for a highly successful and influential female trio (the Supremes), and later as an equally successful — if not more so — solo act.
Ross, 75, will be in town for an all-ages Friday night concert at Promenade Park at 400 Water St. in downtown Toledo, with general admission tickets still available for $25 before the show, and $30 at the gate. The concert begins at 6:15 p.m.
Here's what you need to know before her show:
Detroit born and raised, Ross would form what would later become the Supremes with fellow high schoolers Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard in the late 1950s. The trio, along with singer Betty Travis (nee McGlown), performed as a vocal back-up group, the Primettes, while waiting for their big break, which came after high school and after they rechristened themselves the Supremes in the 1960s.
The Supremes would set a record for consecutive No. 1 singles by an American group in June, 1965. Among their dozen No. 1 hits: "You Can't Hurry Love," "Stop! In the Name of Love," "Where Did Our Love Go," "Baby Love," "Come See About Me," “Back in My Arms Again," and "My World is Empty Without You."
Ross would go it alone in 1970, and score back-to-back hits on her first solo album, including a cover of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." It was the beginning of a run of radio mainstays, popular 45s, and disco standards including "Touch Me in the Morning," "Love Hangover," "Upside Down," "I'm Coming Out," "Endless Love," "Missing You," and "Why Do Fools Fall in Love."
The world-renowned singer has charted hit after hit, but never won a Grammy in a dozen nominations. She did receive the Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012, as well as the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016. The Supremes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988
In addition to her music career, Ross scored an Oscar nomination in her acting debut, starring as Billie Holliday in 1972's Lady Sings the Blues. She would later star in the film musicals Mahogany (1975), with its hit "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" and The Wiz (1978), featuring the Ross-Michael Jackson duet on "Ease on Down the Road."
Earlier this year Ross appeared on the Grammys to perform a medley of her hits, months before launching her summer tour, which includes more dates at the Wynn Las Vegas hotel-casino in Las Vegas. A set list of a recent Ross concert in Baltimore was big on hits, including "I'm Coming Out," "Stop! In the Name of Love," "You Can't Hurry Love," "Love Hangover," "Ease on Down the Road," Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)," and a cover of Gloria Gaynor's disco classic, "I Will Survive."
First Published July 11, 2019, 12:00 p.m.
