Mary Wilson and the Supremes
Mary Wilson is a living legend. It was her dream of musical stardom as
a Detroit teenager that led Mary Wilson to join her friends,
Florence Ballard, Diana Ross
and Betty McGlown in forming a singing group, The
Primettes. The Primettes were the sister group to a male trio,
The Primes. The Primes later became The
Temptations, and The Primettes (with Barbara Martin
replacing Betty) became THE SUPREMES - the most
successful female vocal in the world. Between 1964 and 1969, The
Supremes charted an incredible string of TWELVE NUMBER ONE HITS,
including “Where Did Our Love Go?” (1964);
“Stop! In The Name Of Love,” (1965); “You Can’t Hurry
Love,” (1966); and “Someday We’ll Be Together,”
(1969). In all, The Supremes produced an INCREDIBLE 33 TOP FORTY
HITS by the time they disbanded in 1977. They are the only
American group to have FIVE CONSECUTIVE NUMBER ONE HITS - all
between 1964 and ’65! The group scored ANOTHER FOUR CONSECUTIVE
NUMBER ONE HITS between mid-1966 and 1967. No other group before
or after The Supremes has accomplished this feat. Recently, it was
announced that while the “girl group” T.L.C. has sold 22 million
records and had four Number Ones, The Supremes are still the all-time
biggest female group.
By
1970, The Supremes had undergone major transitions, with Florence
leaving the group in 1967, being replaced by Cindy Birdsong.
Diana Ross left The Supremes to start a solo career in 1970, being
replaced by Jean Terrell. Mary, Jean and Cindy continued
The Supremes’ hitmaking ways, with a string of Top Twenty,
million-selling records, including “UpThe Ladder To The Roof,”
“Stoned Love,” “Nathan Jones,” “Floy Joy,” and with The Four
Tops, “River Deep, Mountain High.” The only member who
performed with The Supremes from beginning to end was Mary Wilson.
Carrying on the dream that she, Flo and Diana had when they started,
Mary kept singing--teaching new members, including Lynda
Laurence (1972), Scherrie Payne (1974) and the
last member, Susaye Greene (1976), the Supremes’ ways.
In 1977, Mary officially disbanded The Supremes, and set out on her
own as a solo artist. Her first solo album, Mary Wilson ,
yielded the dance classic, “Red Hot.” Simultaneously,
Mary broadened her horizons in the acting world, starring in the
musical, “Beehive,” which toured Canada and the United
States for over a year. In addition, she played roles in the Disney
movie, “Tiger Town,” the TV sitcom “227,”
and the documentary “Brown Sugar,” and “Girl
Groups: The Story of a Sound,” among others. More recently,
she had a starring role in the Lifetime original movie,
“Jackie’s Back.” Earlier this year, Mary co-hosted the
PBS documentary concert special, “American
Soundtrack: Rhythm, Love & Soul,” with Aretha Franklinand
Lou Rawls. She can currently be seen in the
Miramax Films documentary, “Only The Strong Survive.”
Mary also became a New York Times best-selling author
in 1986, when she released her autobiography, Dreamgirl: My
Life As A Supreme. The book sold more than 500,000
hardcover and paperback copies, received rave reviews, and continues
to be the most successful Motown autobiography to date. Dreamgirl
recounted the fairy tale history of Mary’s life as a Supreme, as well
as the struggles she faced in order to achieve her dreams.
The overwhelming response to her first book prompted Mary to write its
1990 sequel, Supreme Faith: Someday We’ll Be Together,
in which Mary recalled her struggles to keep The Supremes together.
She candidly wrote about her personal life, including raising her
family, the tragic death of Florence Ballard, the explosive reunion
with Diana Ross on Motown’s 25th Anniversary television special in
1983, and her abusive marriage. Mary’s third literary project,
released in January, 2000, was entitled, Dreamgirl and Supreme
Faith: My Life As A Supreme, an amalgamation of her first two
books, with an updated chapter added. She is currently working on a
coffee table book about The Supremes, as well as a
cookbook. She is also working on what she terms her ultimate
book on her philosophy of life. “But at age 58,” she says, “I haven’t
lived enough yet!”
In 1992, Mary went back into the recording studio to record her first
album in thirteen years, Walk The Line, debuting
the title track on The Arsenio Hall Show. A second single from
the album, One Night With You, reached the Top
Thirty in several local markets. Much to her surprise, Mary found out
that the independent label had folded just days after the album was
released, halting distribution. Mary is currently putting the
finishing touches on a new, full-length CD, which she
says will “reflect the nuances and shades of my life
experiences.” The CD is being produced by Richard Davis
for the Holland Brothers Group.
Following her own motto that, “dreams do come true,”
Mary began telling her story on the lecture circuit,
speaking in front of groups all over the world. Because of her
experiences, Mary is able to touch individuals with her
motivational speeches, which are tailored to specific groups.
Mary also began participating in various charities, donating her time,
talent and services to organizations including: The Susan G.
Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, The American Cancer Society, The
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (for which she served as
spokesperson in 1996), St. Jude’s Research Hospital, The Easter Seals
Foundation, UNICEF, The NAACP, The People with AIDS Coalition of
Tuscon, Q Circuit, and The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Mary has served as national spokesperson for Pfizer’s “Value
Your Heart” campaign in 2001, traveling around the country to
educate people about the risk factors associated with high blood
pressure and prevention techniques. Currently, Mary serves as the
National Spokesperson for Universal Sisters, a division of
National Speaking of Women’s Health. Mary also serves as
a vice president of F.A.M.E. (Friends Against Musical
Exploitation of Artists), and has testified before
legislatures in Massachusetts, California and Washington, DC, about
the need for legislation to protect the identities and rights of
legendary artists. All of this activity is nestled in-between
100 to 150 concerts a year!
