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Born March 26, 1944, in Detroit, Michigan. For ten years, Ross was the lead singer with the Supremes, the most successful female trio of the 1960s and was second only to the Beatles in record sales during the 1960s.

In 1967, Motown Records president Berry Gordy Jr. strategically positioned Ross as the charismatic center of the group, changing its name to Diana Ross and the Supremes. Three years later, Ross left the group at Gordy's urgings and began a solo career. Her debut single, "Reach Out and Touch," became a major hit in 1970; her second single, a new version of the Martin Gaye-Tammi Terrell song "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" made it to No. 1 on the pop charts. In 1972, Ross made her acting debut, playing the legendary singer Billie Holliday in the feature film Lady Sings the Blues which enabled her earn an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.

the Supremes-- the most successful female trio of the 1960s

After a couple of disappointing years in the late 1970s, Ross came back with two hit albums: The Boss (1979) and Diana, which went platinum in 1980. Over the next several years, Ross made several notable albums, including Silk Electric (1982), which featured the Top 10 single "Muscles", but her later albums were less successful. By 1989, Ross had returned to Motown to become a corporate officer and part owner of the recording company. Unfortunately, she suffered several spiny years, and in 1994, the damage was compounded somewhat by the withdrawal from the market of the 4-CD retrospective, Forever Diana, because of poor sound quality, and the disappointing reception of her autobiography, Secrets of a Sparrow.

Ross returned to acting in the 1999 ABC drama Double Platinum, starring opposite a younger pop diva, Brandy, who played the neglected daughter of Ross's character. Also in 1999, Ross released a new album, Every Day is a New Day, and signed a deal to produce a four-part TV miniseries based on her own life.

Ross, who now lives in Connecticut, has three daughters: Rhonda, from a relationship with Berry Gordy Jr., and Tracee and Chudney, from her first marriage. In 1985, she married Arne Naess, a Norwegian businessman. The couple, who have two sons, Ross and Evan, announced their separation in April 1999.