From the time Florence Glenda was born to amateur musician Jesse Ballard, he began teaching her to sing while he played along on his guitar. When Florence was 15, her biggest fan and mentor died of cancer, but Flo, as her family called her, continued to train and dream of being a singer. At a school talent show she became fast friends with her future singing partner Mary Wilson.

Ballard decided to pursue her singing aspirations and auditioned for a new trio called The Primes. She nailed it and was signed on the spot. Flo didn’t forget her childhood friend and recruited Wilson to join the group. Wilson also had a friend she wanted to bring along—her neighbor, Diana Ross. SUPREMES original lineup from left Diana Ross Florence Ballard and Mary WilsonA fourth singer was added and the quartet was re-christened The Primettes and began performing in local talent showcases and school parties. The girls made a habit of sticking close together when mingling after performances, but one night when they drifted apart, Ballard was raped at knife-point. Ballard grew afraid to leave the family home—and secluded herself where she felt safe. She eventually told Wilson and Ross about the rape. “Wilson believes that the incident heavily contributed to the more self-destructive aspects of Ballard’s adult personality, like cynicism, pessimism, and fear or distrust of others.”(wikipedia.org) Her two friends were sympathetic about the ordeal and the group never spoke of the rape again.

The next year, Ballard dropped out of high school to pursue her dream of singing. In 1961, Motown signed the group and Ballard chose the group’s new name The Supremes despite Ross’ complaint of the choice.

Floence-BallardThe Supremes got off to a slow start, after releasing eight singles that failed miserably, someone nicknamed them the “no-hit Supremes”. One of the singers left the group and the trio of Ballard, Ross and Wilson kept striving for a hit which finally came in 1963. Their record “When the Love Light Starts Shining Through His Eyes” changed everything. Ross became the lead singer and “Where Did Our Love Go” was the group’s first #1 hit. It set off a streak of four number one songs in a row including “Baby Love” and “Stop! In the Name of Love”.

Five years after The Supremes first signed with Motown, they were international stars. As their fame grew, so did egos and 338169737_1d31ff5a96rumors of solo careers. The group was renamed again to “Diana Ross and the Supremes”. Ballard was very vocal about her dissatisfaction with Barry Gordy making Ross the star.

Ballard slipped into a depression and began relying on alcohol to self-medicate. The more she drank, the more Ballard fought with Ross and Wilson. Ballard began missing live performances and studio recording sessions. Her alcoholism became so bad, that other singers were kept nearby to stand in for Ballard when she was too drunk to sing. The day after celebrating her 24th birthday, Ballard showed up at a live performance drunk and bared her mid-drift while on stage. Gordy was so outraged that he kicked Ballard out of the group and replaced her with one of her stand-ins.

Ballard accepted a contract buyout from Motown of almost $140k and took time off to get married. The following month she launched her solo career under ABC Records and released two solo singles that fell flat. Even though she continued high profiled live performances like opening for Bill Cosby and at President Elect Richard Nixon’s inaugural ball, Ballard wasn’t bringing in the number one hits like at Motown. ABC dropped her in 1970.

The following year, Ballard sued Motown for more royalty payments, but the court ruled in Motown’s favor. It was the beginning of a downward hqdefaultspiral for Ballard. Shortly after giving birth to her third child, her husband left and Ballard’s home was foreclosed. Ballard returned to the comfort of alcohol to cope and shied away from the limelight that she once thrived in. When she applied for welfare, her unfortunate plight became front page news.

Ballard eventually checked into rehab and was slowly regaining some of her life. An insurance settlement helped her rebound enough to buy a new home and Ballard decided to return to her first love—singing. In 1975 she performed with the Joan Little Defense League and told Jet magazine that offers were beginning to pour in. Her celebration was cut short eight months later when Ballard began complaining of numbness in her extremities and checked into Mt. Carmel Mercy Hospital. She died the next morning from a blood clot that put her into cardiac arrest. Ballard was only 32 years old.

Ballard’s sad story has been immortalized in the Broadway play and movie “Dreamgirls” which starred Jenifer Hudson. In her Golden Globe win for the character patterned after the fallen Supreme, Hudson dedicated her win to Florence Ballard.

Source: thereelnetwork.net

Date Posted: Tuesday, September 15th, 2015 , Total Page Views: 5767