PLEASURE WORLD

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

Diane Ernestine Earle Ross (misspelled Diana on her birth certificate, which she later adopted) was born on March 26, 1944 in Detroit, Michigan. She teamed up with three high school friends to form the Primettes in 1959, and the group did their first recording for the Lupine music label in 1960, then signed with Motown Records later that same year.

In 1961, they changed their name to the Supremes and were reduced to a trio, consisting of Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard. Their first few singles flopped, but by the summer of ’64 the Holland-Dozier-Holland production team had assumed creative control of the Supremes and were propelling them to international stardom.

Diana Ross and the supremes

Beginning with “Where Did Our Love Go,” Diana and the Supremes scored hit after solid hit through the remainder of the ’60s. Twelve of their singles went on to top the Billboard pop charts, while seven of those also hit No. 1 on the R&B charts, including “Baby Love,” “Stop! In The Name Of Love,” “You Can’t Hurry Love,” “You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” and “Love Is Here & Now You’re Gone.”

By the summer of 1967, much of the public’s attention was focused on the lead singer, prompting Motown to begin crediting the group as Diana Ross & the Supremes. Two years later, Diana recorded her final track with the Supremes, “Someday We’ll Be Together.” By 1970 she had embarked on a solo career, which saw a strong start with the release of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” This song earned Diana her first Grammy nomination as a soloist.

In 1971, Diana married music promoter Bob Ellis, and she gave birth to daughter Rhonda Suzanne later that year. Years later, it was revealed that Motown president Berry Gordy was the child’s true father. Ellis did father two other children, Tracee Joy in 1972 and Chudney Lane in 1975. The couple divorced in 1977.

Diana Ross and marvin gaye

In 1971, NBC presented the variety special Diana!, in which the lady of honor performed alongside guests such as Bill Cosby and the Jackson 5. In 1972, she portrayed jazz legend Billie Holliday in Lady Sings the Blues. The soundtrack album went to No. 1, and Ross earned a Golden Globe as Most Promising Newcomer and was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her role. On the musical front, the hits kept coming, including another pop chart topper, “Touch Me In The Morning.” She also recorded a duet album with Marvin Gaye entitled Diana & Marvin, which produced three chart hits, including “My Mistake.”

Diana landed her second starring role in 1975′s Mahogany, and this soundtrack produced her third No. 1 solo smash, “Do You Know Where You’re Going To?”. The disco-oriented track, “Love Hangover,” followed shortly thereafter.

Diana Ross and michael jackson

In 1978, Diana was cast as Dorothy in The Wiz, which produced a hit duet, “Ease On Down The Road,” with the film’s other star, Michael Jackson. Her first solo album to go gold was 1979′s The Boss, while 1980′s Diana went platinum. After 20 years with Motown, Diana left to sign with RCA in 1981.

1982′s Silk Electric went gold, in part on the strength of the Top 10 hit “Muscles,” written and produced by Michael Jackson. Diana reunited with the Supremes for Motown’s 25th Anniversary TV Special on NBC in 1983.

By the mid-’80s, the hits became fewer and further between, though Diana managed to score an R&B Top 10 with “Eaten Alive” (1985, co-written and co-produced by Jackson) and hit No. 1 in the UK with the Motown-sounding “Chain Reaction” (1986). Some years after a relationship with fellow musician Gene Simmons, Diana married Norwegian shipping magnate Arne Naess in October 1985 in the U.S., and had a second ceremony in Switzerland roughly three months later. The marriage produced two sons, Ross Arne and Evan Olaf, born the following August. The couple divorced in February of 2000.

Diana Ross in the hall of fame

In 1988, the Supremes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, although Diana didn’t show up for the ceremony. Forever Diana, a four-disc retrospective, was released in October of 1993. That same year, Diana’s autobiography, Secrets of a Sparrow, was published, and she made her TV movie debut in Out of Darkness. Diana’s 1995 album Take Me Higher failed to produce any major hits; nor did her 1999 release, Every Day Is a New Day. She co-starred with Brandy in the ABC TV movie Double Platinum (1999), and released the album Gift of Love in 2000. That same year, she embarked on a reunion tour with “The Supremes,” although neither of the other two vocaIists were original group members. The tour was abruptly canceled after less than a dozen performances. In 2002, the diva checked into Promises, a Malibu rehab center, citing “personal issues.”

Diana Ross is arrested

Diana’s first run with the law came in 1999 after she tried to frisk an airport security guard at Heathrow Airport. No charges were pressed in this instance, but Diana wasn’t so lucky in December of 2002, when she faced three DUI-related charges. She pleaded no contest in March 2004, and arranged to serve her 48-hour sentence in Greenwich, Connecticut, where she resides.

Albums

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

Soundtracks

Other albums

Singles

Top Ten singles

The following singles reached the Top Ten on either the United States Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart or the United Kingdom UK Singles Chart.

• 1970: “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” (US #1, UK #6)
• 1970: “Remember Me” (UK #7)
• 1971: “I’m Still Waiting” (UK #1)
• 1971: “Surrender” (UK #10)
• 1973: “Touch Me in the Morning”(US #1, UK #9)
• 1973: “All Of My Life” (UK #9)
• 1974: “You Are Everything” (with Marvin Gaye) (UK #5)
• 1975: “Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To)” (US #1, UK #5)
• 1976: “Love Hangover” (US #1, UK #10)
• 1980: “Upside Down” (US #1, UK #2)
• 1980: “I’m Coming Out” (US #5)
• 1980: “My Old Piano” (UK #5)
• 1980: “It’s My Turn” (US #9)
• 1981: “Endless Love” (with Lionel Richie) (US #1, UK #7)
• 1981: “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” (US #7, UK #4)
• 1982: “Mirror Mirror” (US #8)
• 1982: “Work That Body” (UK #7)
• 1982: “Muscles” (US #10)
• 1985: “Missing You” (US #10)
• 1986: “Chain Reaction” (UK #1)
• 1991: “When You Tell Me That You Love Me” (UK #2)
• 1992: “One Shining Moment” (UK #10)
• 1999: “Not Over You Yet” (UK #9)
• 2005: “When You Tell Me That You Love Me” (with Westlife) (UK #2)

Top Ten albums

The following albums reached the Top Ten on either the United States albums chart, including the R&B charts or the United Kingdom pop albums chart.

• 1970: Diana Ross (US #1 R&B)
• 1971: I’m Still Waiting (a/k/a Surrender) (UK #10)
• 1973: Lady Sings the Blues (US #1)
• 1973: Touch Me in the Morning (US #5; UK #7)
• 1973: Diana & Marvin (with Marvin Gaye) (UK #6)
• 1976: Diana Ross (US #5; UK #4)
• 1976: Greatest Hits (UK #2)
• 1979: 20 Golden Greats (UK #2)
• 1980: diana (US #2)
• 1981: Endless Love (US #9)
• 1982: Love Songs (UK #5)
• 1983: Portrait (UK #8)
• 1993: One Woman: The Ultimate Collection (UK #1)
• 1995: Take Me Higher (UK #10)

Filmography

• 1964: T.A.M.I. Show (with The Supremes)
• 1965: Beach Ball (with The Supremes)
• 1972: Lady Sings the Blues
• 1975: Mahogany
• 1978: The Wiz
• 1994: Out of Darkness
• 1999: Double Platinum
• 2002: The Making and Meaning of We Are Family (documentary)
• 2010: Met With Sandra Ellison and Tamia Holmes

Television

• 1968: [Tarzan (TV Series)] (with The Supremes)
• 1968: T.C.B. (with The Supremes)
• 1969: G.I.T. on Broadway (with The Supremes)
• 1971: Diana!
• 1977: The Big Event: An Evening with Diana Ross
• 1979: Diana Ross in Concert!
• 1981: diana
• 1981: Standing Room Only: Diana Ross
• 1983: Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever
• 1983: For One And For All – Diana Ross Live! in Central Park
• 1987: Diana Ross: Red Hot Rhythm and Blues
• 1989: Diana Ross: Workin’ Overtime
• 1992: Diana Ross Live! The Lady Sings… Jazz & Blues: Stolen Moments
• 1994: Out of Darkness
• 1996: Super Bowl XXX
• 1999: Double Platinum
• 2000: VH1 Divas 2000: A Tribute to Diana Ross
• 2005: Tsunami Aid
• 2007: BET Awards 2007
• 2007: Kennedy Center Honors
• 2008: Nobel Peace Prize Concert

Autobiographies

• Ross, Diana (October 1993). Secrets of a Sparrow. Random House. ISBN 0679428747.
• Ross, Diana; Rosanne Shelnutt (ed.) (December 2002). Diana Ross: Going Back. New York: Universe. ISBN 0789307979. (A scrapbook-style collection of photographs)

To buy a cigarette is the perfect type of a perfect pleasure. It is exquisite, and it leaves one unsatisfied. What more can one want?