Diana Ross Celebrates Major Milestone

The legendary Diana Ross celebrated her 80th birthday on Tuesday, giving fans a moment to pause and thank the Detroit native for lighting up the stage and the soundtracks to their lives all these years.

News of the “I’m Coming Out” singer’s big day was shared in a tribute by her second eldest daughter Tracee Ellis Ross, who wrote that her mother was central to some of the biggest experiences in Black culture throughout the 70s and 80s, including shooting 1978’s “The Wiz” and the 1983 Central Park concert which drew more than 800,000 visitors to New York for days of music and good times.

“Did you know that from 1976 to 1985 (Rhonda was born ’71, me ’72, & Chudney ’74), my mama @dianaross put out an album a year, did multiple tours, produced and starred in a variety of TV specials, shot Mahogany and The Wiz, produced her legendary 1983 Central Park concert with an estimated 800,000 attendees,” Tracee Ross wrote in an Instagram post obtained by the Daily Mail.

“When the first night of the show got rained out, she chose to pay for and re-do it the next night. [She also] left Motown, purchased an entire floor of a prestigious Fifth Avenue building, bought an estate outside of New York, and an office building where she where she manufactured Diana Ross Pantyhose and other merchandise, and other huge personal life moments?,” she added.

WATCH:

Born in 1944, Ross was set back from the start. Her mother intended to name the future singer Diane, but her daughter’s birth certificate was errantly filled out with the name “Diana.” Her Baptist upbringing provided Ross with the opportunities to hone her vocal chords, and by high school, she was performing and auditioning for Motown Records while still in her teenage years.

As lead singer for the Supremes, Ross led the all-Black female trio to a series of crossover hits that climbed the Billboard Top 100 hits of the 1960s, including “When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes” and “Where Did Our Love Go.” By 1970 she struck out on her own, launching a solo career that shined a spotlight on her ability to transcend the recording studio. She played the lead role of Dorothy in “The Wiz,” which despite earning massive losses at the box office has become an iconic entrant in the annals of Black cinema.

She earned her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1982, and the following year helped organize a boisterous 1983 New York concert that culminated with Ross paying Mayor Ed Roch for the renovation of ruined playgrounds near the stage, later renamed in her honor.

Through her childhood, Tracee Ross recalls her mother raising three little girls despite “a huge iconic career on her shoulders with no manager and no partner.”

“She was also waking us up for school (she is the best waker-upper), having family dinner and bath time, recording while we slept, planning our birthday parties, play dates, doctor’s appointments, settling arguments between siblings – you know, all the mom stuff,’ the American Fiction actress wrote.

“Amidst shattering records, breaking glass ceilings, and setting a new bar for style and glamour, we, her children, were always her priority. As I often say, ‘Diana Ross’ the beloved global icon is legendary but she doesn’t hold a candle to my mama,” she added in her post.