Mary Wilson, founding member of chart-topping R&B group the Supremes, passed away in her Henderson, Nevada home on Monday, February 8th. She was 76 years old. The news was confirmed by Jay Schwartz, her publicist. A cause of death has not been revealed at press time.
Wilson was born March 6, 1944 in Greenville, Mississippi, and lived there and in Chicago before her family moved to Detroit when she was 12. She was invited by Florence Ballard to join a vocal group called the Primettes, of which Diana Ross was also a member. They signed to Detroit-based music powerhouse Motown in 1961 and changed their name to the Supremes, two years later scoring their first hit in "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes." In 1964, the group released their first of a landmark twelve No. 1 hit singles, "Where Did Our Love Go."
The group's 1966 album Supremes A' Go-Go was the first full-length by an all-woman group to top the album charts in the United States, and the Supremes were among the first African-American groups to find regular acceptance in white-owned music venues. A year later, Motown decided to rename the band Diana Ross and the Supremes, and the group encountered lineup changes for the next decade, through Ballard's fatal heart-attack in 1976.
Wilson stayed with the Supremes through the group's breakup in 1977 (going back to the name "the Supremes" when Ross departed for a solo career in 1970). She eventually went solo and continued to make music, delved into musical theater, released four books -- including the bestselling memoir Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme -- and competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2019.
Please join us in celebrating the memory of Mary Wilson by revisiting some of our favorite musical moments of hers below.
