13

One of the first concerts I ever attended was a DIANA ROSS concert with my Dad. I remember the stage was in the round and DIANA teased the audience with a 10-minute intro of “I’m Coming Out”. When she finally arrived center stage, DIANA was stunning in a flowing red gown and the crowd went wild. And judging by my Dad’s reaction, she melted the hearts of every man in attendance.

Without a doubt, DIANA possesses that certain indescribable something that made her a superstar with a career spanning over 40 years. She’s won American Music Awards, a Tony, and is an Oscar-nominated actress, yet somehow much of her life has been spent focused on her family.

In sharing my style icons with you, I’ve realized that these incredibly talented and successful women all have one thing in common–they seldom grant interviews– and in the age of reality TV, well, that says alot about what the term superstar really means and have no doubt, MS ROSS is a superstar.

Born DIANE ERNESTINE EARLE ROSS in Detroit, as a teenager, DIANA joined a girl group and her childhood neighbor, Smokey Robinson would help the girls secure an audition with his record label Motown.

Initially, Berry Gordy decided not to offer the girls a recording contract because of their age, but DIANA, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard would eventually become The Supremes and they would record several chart-topping hits together for over a decade. In 1988, The Supremes were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

In 1970, DIANA left The Supremes and released her first single “Reach Out and Touch”, but it would be her second single, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” that would become her first #1 hit.

DIANA has recorded 67 albums and sold 100 million records which have garnered her two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as a member of The Supremes and as a solo artist.

1n 1972, DIANA won a Golden Globe for her groundbreaking performance as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings The Blues. She would lose the Oscar to Liza Minnelli’s performance in Caberet.

DIANA’S other movie successes included Mahogany with Anthony Perkins and Billy Dee Williams and The Wiz with Michael Jackson, Lena Horne and Nipsey Russell. And her duet with Lionel Ritchie titled “Endless Love” from the movie with the same name was #1 internationally for weeks.

DIANA is credited with introducing the world to the Jackson 5 and she would continue to work with Michael in The Wiz and the USA for Africa project “We Are The World”.

Media mogul Oprah has cited DIANA’S appearance with The Supremes on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 as THE significant emotional event in her life that allowed her to dream big dreams.

In a rare personal interview, when Oprah asked DIANA what she knows for sure, DIANA said that “love is everlasting” and when Oprah asked how she aged so gracefully, DIANA said, “Vitality and your energy of who you are comes from the inside. I like my lines.”