The Tragedy of Florence Ballard: How the Founder of Motown’s Greatest Girl Group Was Left Behind

If you’re talking about great Black music, you have to talk about the Motown sound. And you can’t talk about Motown without talking about The Supremes, one of the label’s most successful groups, who topped the charts in the 1960s with hits like “Baby Love” and “Where Did Our Love Go.” 

The group consisted of three young ladies from Detroit with powerful voices and stage presence for days. But behind their glamorous gowns and pitch-perfect harmony was something much darker – a rift in the group fueled by jealousy. With the help of Berry Gordy, Diana Ross emerged as the lead singer and the group’s biggest star, leaving her bandmate Florence Ballard to feel that her light was being dimmed. Her depression drove her to lash out and ultimately leave her music career and her childhood friends behind.

Often called “The Lost Supreme,” Florence Ballard’s life was tragically cut short at age 32. In honor of Black Music Month and what would have been her 83rd birthday on June 30, we’re looking at the true story of Florence Ballard.

A Voice Trained in the Church

Detroit native Florence Ballard was born on June 30, 1943. One of 15 children, Ballard’s parents raised her in the city’s Brewster-Douglass Projects. She started singing at a young age in her church choir and local talent shows. It was through those performances that she met her future bandmate, Mary Wilson, who was often her competition. 

Making the Band

Milton Jenkins, a promoter and manager who was working with a local group of male singers called The Primes (who would later become known as The Temptations), discovered Ballard’s voice in 1958. Jenkins thought Ballard would be perfect for a sister act for a group he was putting together called “The Primettes.”

A high school junior at the time, Ballard recruited her friend Mary Wilson, who brought in Diana Ross. Betty McGlown would join the group later as a fourth member. 

A Life-Changing Event

Just as her career was taking off, a traumatic incident in 1960 changed a then-17-year-old Ballard for life. Florence went to a local dance with her brother. At the end of the night, the pair got separated, and Ballard took a ride from someone she thought she knew. The man threatened her with a knife and raped her in an empty parking lot. The incident changed Ballard’s personality and her relationship with her friends in the group. Mary Wilson said the incident “totally destroyed” her.

“We couldn’t understand what was happening,” she said. “And it really hurt us.”

Ballard stopped singing for a while, and it took a lot for her bandmates to get her back.

4 Slide

A big break for The Primettes came in 1960 when, with the help of Diana Ross’ neighbor, Smokey Robinson. The group got the chance to audition for Berry Gordy of Motown Records. Gordy was impressed with the group, but wanted the teens to finish high school before they started making music, so he waited to sign them to the label in 1961. But Gordy thought the group needed a new name, and after lots of brainstorming, they settled on The Supremes, which was Ballard’s suggestion.

Related: All About Alice Walker, Tracy Chapman’s Messy Love Affair

Who is the Lead?

The Supremes had their Motown deal inked, but the group got off to a slow start as they struggled to find a hit. In the early days, the group didn’t have an official lead singer, and the members took turns filling the role. 

But it was hard not to notice that the ladies’ voices had completely different sounds. Diana Ross was known for her high-pitched singing voice, while Mary Wilson compared Ballard’s deep, soulful voice to that of Etta James or Aretha Franklin, in an episode of “Unsung.” The Supremes finally scored their first number one hit with Diana Ross singing lead on 1964’s Where Did Our Love Go,” and the group had no idea how high Ross’ star was about to rise. 

Cracks in the Foundation

Commercial success opened up a whole new world for The Supremes. But cracks began to form in the group’s foundation as Diana Ross emerged as the lead singer on a string of hit songs. Ballard didn’t like that she and her friends were no longer a group, and Berry Gordy had a clear favorite.

“Diana wanted to be the lead singer. I felt that I was suited better doing some tunes, and I felt that the relationship, as close as I thought we were, it just should have been spread around. But it wasn’t. Diana was the complete lead, in complete control of the group,” Ballard said in an interview.

Constant Criticism

As Ballard’s resentment with Diana Ross’ placement in the spotlight grew, she began to rebel. She started drinking, which some believe led her temper to explode. By the late 1960s, Ballard was fed up with Gordy’s constant criticism, including his comments about her weight and calling her fat.

“He would say to me, ‘Florence, you’re too fat.’ Well, I was a size 12, and I guess next to Diane, maybe I was fat. But as far as I was concerned, I was pretty damn stacked,” she said in a 1975 interview with author Peter Benjaminson of the Detroit Free Press. “I knew I was well put together because the guys’ reactions in the audience were something else.”

Puppet on a String

Ballard said Gordy knew exactly how to upset her, threatening her place in the group if she didn’t do what he wanted. But Ballard’s will was just as strong, making it almost impossible for her to remain a member of the group she helped put together. It didn’t help that the name was changed to “Diana Ross and The Supremes.”

“He always said he wanted to control me, and if he couldn’t control me then he didn’t want me around,” Ballard told Benjaminson in 1975. “I guess by being controlled I was supposed to be a puppet on a string and he was supposed to pull my string and I danced to his tune. I’m not that type of person. I don’t dance to anyone’s tune unless I want to.”

Parting Ways

Eventually, the tension with Gordy became too much for Ballard, and she left the group in 1967 after an appearance at The Flamingo in Las Vegas. Ballard, who had been drinking, said she was tired of being called fat and poked her stomach out on stage. Gordy was outraged by her behavior and sent her home after the show. She was replaced by Cindy Birdsong, whom Ballard told Peter Benjaminson that Berry Gordy was priming to take her place.

Letting Go of the Name

After leaving The Supremes, Ballard signed a release that gave her $15,000 and kept her from using the group’s name or collecting royalties from their music. Without the advice of legal counsel, Ballard had no idea how bad that decision would prove to be for her career.

Starting Over

Florence Ballard loved to sing and was trying to restart her career in the music industry after leaving The Supremes. In 1968, she married Tommy Chapman, who tried to help her launch her solo career. But Tommy didn’t have the experience to manage his wife. Her first two singles weren’t successful, and many people believe it was because she wasn’t able to use The Supremes’ name to market herself. She lost her record contract and her fortune.

A Lasting Legacy

With little money left, Florence Ballard lost her marriage and eventually her home. Believing she had hit rock bottom, her drinking got worse. Ballard passed away on February 22, 1976, in Detroit, Michigan, at 32 years old. The tragedy surrounding Ballard’s untimely death brought Mary Wilson and Diana Ross, who had barely spoken since The Supremes broke up, together to pay their last respects to their friend and bandmate.

Florence Ballard may be gone, but her legacy lives on. At the 2007 Golden Globes, actress-singer Jennifer Hudson dedicated her Best Supporting Actress win to Florence Ballard, who provided the inspiration for “Effie,” Hudson’s character in “Dreamgirls.”

“I just want to dedicate this award to a lady who never really got a fair chance,” Hudson said in her acceptance speech. “This award is for Florence Ballard. You will never be forgotten.”