Diana Ross

srepac · October 21, 2006

Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross due to a spelling error on her birth certificate)[1]on March 26, 1944) is an American pop, soul, and R&B singer and actress. Ross is one of the most successful female artists of her era due to her solo work and her tenure as lead singer of The Supremes in the 1960s.

In 1976, Billboard magazine named her the female entertainer of the century. In 1993, The Guinness Book Of World Records pronounced her the most successful female music artist ever in the US(the title is now attributed to Mariah Carey), partly due to Ross' combined total of eighteen number-one singles, six of them recorded solo and the remaining dozen from her work with the Supremes.

Ross also crossed over to achieve success in film, earning an Academy Award nomination for her role as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues (1972).

Ross was born the second eldest of six children to Fred and Ernestine Ross in Detroit, Michigan. Her sisters Barbara and Rita didn't venture into show business. Instead, Barbara became a doctor while Rita became a schoolteacher. Ross' younger brother Arthur "T-Boy" Ross was a successful songwriter for Motown composing hits alongside Leon Ware. Among the acts who had hits with the duo included Michael Jackson and Marvin Gaye. Ross' youngest brother Wilbert Ross, a/k/a Chico, was a dancer for her at her tours.

Ross was romantically linked to Smokey Robinson and Berry Gordy during her Motown days. Ross has been said to have been romantically pursued by Temptations lead singer Eddie Kendricks at one point. Ross eventually married music business manager Robert Ellis Silberstein in 1971. After divorcing in 1977, Ross publicly dated actor Ryan O'Neal and rocker Gene Simmons of the group KISS before marrying Norwegian tycoon Arne N