Diana Ross famously said, "You can’t just sit there and wait for people to give you that golden dream. You’ve got to get out there and make it happen for yourself." And that is exactly what the Michigan-born star did.
With a career spanning over six decades, Diana has achieved worldwide recognition as the lead singer of Motown group The Supremes, a solo artist, record producer and as an Oscar-nominated actress. So, as her 80th birthday approaches on 26 March, she has more than earned some time to take her foot off the pedal.
But the entertainment powerhouse isn’t planning to slow down anytime soon. In fact, Diana – who is estimated to be worth a staggering $250 million – doesn’t even see what she does as work.
“I’m only doing it because I want to do it, so it’s not really work,” she once told Interview magazine. “I mean, it used to be work. Do you know what I mean? Now the show is set and when I walk out on the stage, I’m really having fun.”
Diana’s journey from humble beginnings to untouchable icon has captivated fans across the world – and it is one filled with not only stratospheric success but also systemic racism, sexism and persecution, as she worked her way to the top.
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Diana Ross with Barack Obama (Kevin Dietsch/UPI/REX/Shutterstock)Diana was the second of six children born to Ernestine and Fred Ross Sr in 1944, but her iconic name was an accident – her mother named her Diane, but a typo on her birth certificate meant she was registered “Diana”. The star spent her teenage years with her family in the Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects – accommodation built for the “working poor”.
She later sparked up a friendship with fellow Motown star Smokey Robinson – who shockingly alleged just last year that he had had an “affair” with Diana. That friendship was said to be one of the keys to Diana’s dazzling future, as Smokey introduced her to Motown supremo Berry Gordy.
After she joined a music group named The Primettes, with local girls from her neighbourhood, Smokey brought the band to Motown Records and introduced them to its founder, Berry. They then signed a contract and adopted the name The Supremes. The rest, one might say, is history.
“My father worked hard, but we were still very poor, and I didn’t want anybody arguing about money, so I became the entertainer – the one who wanted everyone to be happy. I didn’t want there to be any problems,” she said of her tough childhood.
From the moment she joined the group, Diana made it her mission to be the lead singer and, in 1967, the trio’s name changed again to Diana Ross & The Supremes. After Let Me Go The Right Way, The Supremes topped the charts with timeless hits such as Baby Love, Stop! In The Name Of Love and You Can’t Hurry Love. Their success was unprecedented, but in 1970, Diana parted ways with the group to pursue a solo career.
She then made her debut solo album and showcased Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, which would go on to become her first No1 hit without the group. Her solo career went from strength to strength, and she went on to release 25 studio albums, numerous singles (including six No1 hits) and compilations that have sold more than 100 million records worldwide. In 1993, she earned a Guinness World Record as the most successful female music artist in history.
When it comes to her career on screen, she earned an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of jazz icon Billie Holiday in Lady Sings The Blues, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama in 2016.
Yet despite her many accolades, which include two Grammys plus a further 13 nominations, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Diana’s thirst for success and drive for perfection were often perceived as negative attributes.
Motown singing group The Supremes (Michael Ochs Archives)
Diana poses for a portrait session on July 3, 1987 in Los Angeles (Getty Images)It’s something she acknowledges in her memoir, Secrets Of A Sparrow. “I demand perfection from myself,” she wrote. “And the best possible job from all those around me.” It was claimed that Diana would write down employees’ mistakes in a notebook, which she carried everywhere.
However, this constant – perhaps impossible – striving for perfection would eventually affect her stage performances. In 1989, at a Wembley Arena concert, Diana appeared frustrated with the sound system. She then stopped the show, shouted at the crew, and kicked one of the sound monitors off the stage.
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Like any so-called “diva”, her personal life also made the headlines. Diana faced intense scrutiny in 1971 in particular. She not only welcomed her first child, Rhonda Suzanne Silberstein, whose father was long-term partner and Motown chief Berry Gordy, but also married music executive Robert Ellis Silberstein before the birth.
Robert went on to raise Rhonda as his own (Diana only told her daughter the truth about
who her biological father was when she was 13 years old). Robert, who Diana affectionately referred to as “Bob”, previously opened up about how his relationship with the star began, saying, “No one introduced us,” and joking that Diana liked to say she “picked him up”.
The singer reportedly met Robert while shopping for a gift for Berry at a shop in Los Angeles and asked for his assistance with selecting the present. She described him as “a rare thing, a gentleman who is young, alive and very handsome – all the fantasy things you think of in a husband”. She also sweetly shared that she knew they were a couple when he bought her some red pyjamas to match his.
Diana and Robert welcomed two daughters, Tracee in 1972 and Chudney in 1975, but sadly their marriage fell apart shortly after, and the couple divorced in 1977. The singer dated Kiss frontman Gene Simmons from 1980 to 1983, but they broke up after she believed he had resumed his relationship with Cher.
Diana was also briefly linked to Michael Jackson when she said on TV that he was “sexy” – although it was reported there was no sexual relationship between the two. Many fans have speculated Michael’s song Dirty Diana may relate to her (which was later denied), and he wrote in his will in 2000 that Diana would take custody of his children if his mother, Katherine, died before him.
It was her second husband, Arne Næss Jr, who she married in 1985, that really captured Diana’s heart. “If I’m with a man, I’m soft and buttery,” she once joked. The star became a stepmother to his three children, Katinka, Christoffer and Leona, and also became a mum to two boys, when they welcomed their sons, Ross and Evan.
However, their love story wasn’t set to last either, and they divorced in 2000. The breakdown of that marriage was the beginning of a downward spiral for the singer, who faced a charge of driving under the influence in 2002 and checked into rehab.
She is philosophical about the dark times, and has said she still believes everything happens for
a reason. “My travels led me to where I am today,” she explained. “Sometimes these steps have felt painful, difficult, but led me to greater happiness and opportunities.”
In 2011, however, Diana gushed to Oprah Winfrey that she still considered Arne, who died in a tragic climbing accident in South Africa in 2004, to be the true love of her life. The singer reportedly remains close to her three stepchildren and now also has eight grandchildren.
As Diana has said many times herself, despite earning a “diva” status in the media, it is her role as a mother that she regards as her greatest achievement in life. “I’ve really had to decide what’s important to me, and it seems to me that my family and my health are top on the list,” she has said.
It’s clear to see that the apple has not fallen far from the tree, as her daughter Tracee Ellis Ross has also carved out her own successful path in Hollywood. The star – who is known for her roles in the TV programmes Girlfriends and Black-ish – now has an estimated net worth of $16 million.
Tracee also hints that, although her mum has given herself to the world for more than 60 years,
fans haven’t even scratched the surface when it comes to knowing who the performer truly
is away from the cameras.
Tracee proudly revealed, “The Diana Ross that the world knows – this global, international icon, who paved the way and changed what glamour looked like and who Black women were in the world, particularly in that capacity – her Diana Ross-ness doesn’t hold a candle to her mom-ness.”
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