Remembering The Supremes’ Mary Wilson

Photo credit: Dancing With The Stars

Co-founder of The Supremes, Mary Wilson, has sadly passed away at the age of 76 at her Nevada home.

Wilson was 15 years old when she founded the Motown group in Detroit alongside Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Barbara Martin, when they were known as The Primettes.

The Supremes became the most successful Motown group of the 1960’s, when they had 12 number one singles in America including ‘Baby Love’ and ‘Stop! In The Name Of Love’.

Martin left the group before they became successful, Ballard was replaced by Cindy Birdsong in 1967 and Diana Ross left to carve out her solo career in 1970, leaving Wilson as the only original member. She continued performing with Birdsong and new member Jean Terrell until the group disbanded in 1977.

Further interest in the group’s legacy grew with the release of the Dreamgirls film in 2006, starring Beyonce Knowles and Jennifer Hudson, which was based on The Supremes story but was not entirely factual.

Her career was brought onto the stage in the 2013 Broadway show Motown the Musical, which opened in the West End in 2016 and embarked on a UK tour in 2018. Wilson also appeared in musical theatre productions such as Beehive, Dancing in the Streets and Supreme Soul during the 1980’s. She appeared on Dancing With The Stars in the US in 2019.

Only a few days ago, Wilson announced that she was working on new solo material.

Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this difficult time.