Mary Wilson, Founding Member Of The Supremes, Has Died

We’re only a little over a month into 2021 and we’ve already lost legend after legend after legend, and yesterday we lost another one. Mary Wilson, an original Supreme and a Queen of Motown, has died. She was 76.

Mary’s publicist Jay Schwartz confirmed the sad news, saying she died at her home in Henderson, Nevada. Jay did not give the cause for Mary’s death.  Motown Records’ founder, Berry Gordy, paid tribute to Mary Wilson in a statement:

“I was extremely shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of a major member of the Motown family, Mary Wilson of the Supreme. The Supremes were always known as the ‘sweethearts of Motown.’  Mary, along with Diana Ross and Florence Ballard, came to Motown in the early 1960s. After an unprecedented string of Number One hits, television and nightclub bookings, they opened doors for themselves, the other Motown acts, and many, many others. … I was always proud of Mary. She was quite a star in her own right and over the years continued to work hard to boost the legacy of the Supremes. Mary Wilson was extremely special to me. She was a trailblazer, a diva and will be deeply missed.”

Fellow original Supreme, Diana Ross, also gave her condolences to Mary’s family on Twitter:

I just woke up to this news , my condolences to you Mary's family ,I am reminded that each day is a gift ,I have so many wonderful memories of our time together "The Supremes " will live on ,in our hearts 💕

— Ms. Ross (@DianaRoss) February 9, 2021

Mary Wilson was born in Greeneville, Mississippi and her family moved around a bit before ending up in Detroit. Detroit is where Mary Wilson first met Florence Ballard in elementary school. They became friends and sang together in school talent shows. Some people’s school talent show groups quickly flame out in someone’s parent’s garage during a rehearsal (and yes, I’m typing from experience), but Mary and Florence obviously went on to much bigger things and that probably had a little to do with them actually having talent, sparkle, and star power.

When Florence was in junior high school, she met Paul Williams and Eddie Kendricks, who were two members of the singing group, the Primes (who later became The Temptations). Florence sang with the Primes, and eventually, their manager decided to create a sister group. Florence recruited Mary Wilson into the girl group and Mary recruited her classmate Diana Ross. It was called the Primettes and was made up of Florence, Mary, Diana, and Paul Williams’ girlfriend Betty McGlown. They performed at talent shows, sock hops, and social clubs in the Detroit area.

The Primettes wanted to land a record deal with Motown, but Berry Gordy felt they were too young and told them to finish high school and come back. They recorded a single which didn’t get much play, and shortly after, Betty McGlown left the group and was replaced by Barbara Martin. The Primettes regularly hung out at Berry Gordy’s Hitsville U.S.A. studio, and in 1961, they eventually convinced him to give them a record deal on one condition: Berry wanted them to change their name. They went with The Supremes. When Barbara left the group, the Supremes became the dynamic trio of Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, and Diana Ross.

At first, The Supremes didn’t deliver any hits, but that all changed in 1964 and they pretty much exploded into the universe and put out hit after hit after hit from Where Did Our Love Go to Baby Love to Stop! In The Name Of Love to Come See About Me to Back In My Arms Again. They became Motown’s most successful act of the 60s and are still the #1 girl group of all-time.

Here are the OG Supremes performing another one of their hits: Love Is Here And Now You’re Gone:

And here’s a complication of performances from the original Supremes:

Mary Wilson sang on all 12 of their #1 hits (which also include I Hear A Symphony, You Can’t Hurry Love, and Love Child).

There were many changes to The Supremes throughout the years. Florence was “removed” from the group in 1967 and Diana left in early 1970, leaving Mary Wilson as the last original member. Mary left the group in 1977 and that was the end of The Supremes. Florence Ballard died in 1976 of cardiac arrest at the age of 32.

Motown released Mary’s disco solo album in 1979 and on that album was the single Red Hot:

After Mary and Motown parted ways, she performed in several musical theater productions. In 1986, Mary released her memoirs, Dreamgirl: My Life As A Supreme, which became a national best-seller. Mary continued to tour and perform. In 2000, there was talk of a Supremes reunion tour starring Mary, Diana, and Cindy Birdsong, but it fell apart due to money. Mary claimed she was offered $2 million for the tour, which was a lot less than what Diana Ross was offered. Diana ended up touring with other former Supremes in 2000’s Return To Love Tour. It played only 13 out of 29 scheduled stops before it was canceled, partly due to poor ticket sales.

Mary Wilson, Diana Ross, and Florence Ballard were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as The Supremes in 1998.

Just last year, Mary did Dancing with the Stars. And just two days ago, she posted a video on her YouTube channel where she celebrated Black History Month and talked about the 60th anniversary of The Supremes and Universe releasing some of her recordings. So because Mary talked about new things to come, her death is both very sad and very sudden.

Mary is survived by her son, daughter, and several grandchildren.

Rest in peace, Mary Wilson.

Pic: Wenn.com