Diana Ernestine Earle Ross was born on March 26, 1944, in Detroit, Michigan, to African-American parents Ernestine Lillian Moten, a schoolteacher, and Fred Earl Ross, a veteran of the army. She was the second of six children.
As a teenager, Ross started singing in the gospel choir of a Baptist church. With friends Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard, and Barbara Martin, she formed a vocal group called The Primettes at the age of 15. After Barbara left the group, the remaining three girls signed a deal with Motown Records and were renamed The Supremes.
Ross wasn't chosen as the lead singer until Motown founder Berry Gordy decided it was the right time, and from then on, he referred to the group as "Diana Ross and the Supremes." From 1965 to 1969, the group had a string of #1 records.
In 1970, Ross left the group to pursue a solo career. Her first two solo songs, written by Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson, reached #1 on both the pop and R&B charts. She won the title role in the Billie Holiday biopic Lady Sings the Blues (1972) and had the distinction of being nominated for an Academy Award for her first film.
Despite her success, her next two big films, Mahogany (1975) and The Wiz (1978),didn't meet with the same success. However, she had a #1 hit single with "Mahogany" to make up for it.
In February 1976, Ross was devastated when her singing partner and friend, Florence Ballard, died at the age of 32. Ross recovered from the loss and continued to focus on her singing career, having more #1 songs, including "Upside Down."
The following year, she performed the theme song from Endless Love (1981),which was composed by Lionel Richie. She left Motown Records and signed contracts with various record companies across the globe, and formed her own production company.
Ross scored another #1 song in 1986 in the UK with "Chain Reaction," which was written and produced by The Bee Gees. After an eight-year absence, she returned to Motown in 1989.
Ross had gained more fame through concert appearances over the years, and in April 1993, she became a best-selling author with her first and only children's book, "When You Dream," which featured a CD with four songs dedicated to the book. That same year, she was declared by the Guinness Book of World Records to be the most successful female singer of all time.
Two years later, she was honored with the Heritage Award for Lifetime Achievement on the Soul Train Awards. After receiving those honors, she returned to the studio in 1999 with "Every Day Is A New Day," and the song reached the UK Top 10.
In 2002, Ross was arrested in Tucson, Arizona, for driving under the influence and was sentenced to two days in jail, 36 hours of counseling, and one year probation. Today, she is hard at work finishing her forthcoming book, "Upside Down: Wrong Turns, Right Turns and the Road Ahead."
