I guess there really is a place and a time for everything. I have always liked
Diana Ross a lot, but I had never really heard much of her material, except for her biggest hits. So when my boyfriend gave me
this wonderful CD a couple of months ago, I was really in for a treat. I discovered I liked pretty much every single song and that I had apperantly somewhat underestimated both the back catalog and the talent of Miss Ross!
So I have been spending the last months buying her back catalog - not easy mind you when the artist in question will celebrate her 50th year in the business in 2013! Many of her albums are out of print and hard to get, but I am on a mission that has been going well so far...
While I could fill pages writing about her long career, I thought I would post a look at her solo discography instead.
27 of Diana's solo singles reached the
Billboard Top 40 in the US, 12 of them the Top 10, and six of those reaching number-one (placing her in a tie for fifth among the top female solo performers who have reached the top spot there). Additinally he also had 12 (!) US number 1 singles with The Supremes, taking her tally of total number 1 US singles to 18. 17 albums reached the
Billboard Top 40, four of those the Top 10, and one album topping the chart.
In the UK, she amassed a total of 46 Top 40 singles with 19 of them reaching the Top 10 and two of those reaching number-one. 24 albums reached the Top 40, eight of those the Top Ten, and one album topping the chart. Ross sang lead on a hit single at least once every year from 1964 to 1996 in the UK, a period of 33 consecutive years and a record for any performer.
She received a Best Actress
Academy Award nomination and a
Golden Globe award for her role as
Billie Holiday in
Lady Sings the Blues in 1972. She has won 8
American Music Awards, garnered twelve
Grammy Award nominations, and won a
Tony Award for her one-woman show,
An Evening with Diana Ross, in 1977.
In 1976,
Billboard magazine named her the "Female Entertainer of the Century and in 1993, the
Guinness Book of World Records declared Diana Ross the most successful female music artist in history for having more hits than any female artist in the charts. Miss Ross has sold more than 100 million records worldwide and she has been honoured with every imaginable awards and honours throughout the years. And here is a look at some of her body of work:
And some of the best compilation albums out there - there are quite a few well worth having, often including exclusive and unreleased songs:
A wonderful Diana Ross site with a fantastic discography (includes The Supremes, singles etc):
http://www.diana-web.com/index.html
