Mary Wilson (born March 6 1944 in Greenville, Mississippi) is a African American singer best known for her work as a member of the Motown soul and pop group The Supremes. Wilson was the only Supreme who was there from the very beginning in 1959,when the group was known as The Primettes, until the very end, when the group was dissolved in 1977. As a member of the Supremes, Mary (along with Florence Ballard, Diana Ross, and later, Cindy Birdsong) enjoyed 12 US #1 hit records.

Biography

The Supremes

Main article: The Supremes

When Diana Ross left the group in 1970 for a solo career, singer Jean Terrell was brought in as her replacement. The "New" Supremes--Wilson, Terrell, and Birdsong--continued their hit-making process from 1970 through 1972 with big hits like "Up The Ladder To The Roof," "Stoned Love", "River Deep-Moutain High" (with The Four Tops), "Nathan Jones", and "Floy Joy".

Cindy Birdsong left the group in April 1972 to start a family and was replaced by singer Lynda Laurence, formerly of Stevie Wonder's Wonderlove group. This pairing didn't last long. After Stevie Wonder's "Bad Weather" failed to ignite much interest, both Jean and Lynda departed the group. Mary enlisted Scherrie Payne (Freda's younger sister) and welcomed back Cindy Birdsong to carry on the group.

Mary took charge of the Supremes, sharing lead vocal duties with Scherrie. This trio continued on until 1976, when Cindy was replaced by Susaye Greene, also a former Wonderlove member. With Susaye, the Supremes recorded two more albums before they disbanded and gave their final performance at the Drury Theatre in London.

Solo career

Mary Wilson continued on as a solo artist, releasing her debut album on Motown Records entitled, Mary Wilson, and the single, "Red Hot," which hit #95 on the R&B/Soul charts in 1979. It wasn't long before she was on tour as "The Supremes' Mary Wilson." Motown dropped her from her contract in 1980, and Mary sought deals with Atlantic and the Boardwalk labels. In 1986, she released her first autobiography, Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme, a New York Times Best Seller for months that was also eventually released in paperback. Mary appeared on countless talk shows to promote the book, which was termed "Diana Dearest" by many, because of how it presented a lot of unknown information about Diana Ross, similar to Mommie Dearest, Christina Crawford's exposé of her mother, Joan Crawford.

In England, Mary recorded the dance single, "Don't Get Mad, Get Even" on the Motorcity label. In 1990, her second book, Supreme Faith: Someday, We'll Be Together, was released. She continued to tour, appearing in Vegas, Reno, Tahoe and other venues alongside comedians such as Jay Leno, Don Rickles, and Joan Rivers. In the early 1990s, Mary recorded her first solo album in 12 years, Walk the Line, on CEO Records. Two singles were released, "One Night With You," and the title track, "Walk the Line." The record company, unfortunately, folded shortly after Mary's album was released.

On January 29, 1994, tragedy struck Mary when she fell asleep at the wheel of her Jeep Cherokee which hit the central barrier of a highway in California. As a result, Mary suffered somewhat-critical injuries, but the youngest of her 3 children, 14-year-old Rafael Ferrer, died in the accident.

Later years

In the years since, Mary has released other records, namely "U" (1995) and "Turn Around" (1996) for various labels; both were hits in Europe. She continues to tour 9-10 months out of every year, singing those "old, old Supremes songs." In 1997, she moved to New York City and enrolled at New York University. She graduated from New York University in May of 2001 with an associate's degree in liberal arts. In April of 2001, she performed in the musical Leader of the Pack at the Shubert Theatre in Boston. The year after, she starred in the national touring company of Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies. In March of 2003, she performed in The Vagina Monologues at the Detroit Opera House. Mary is divorced and has 2 children and 5 grandchildren. Currently, she is recording an album of songs taken from her personal diaries for the Holland brothers, co-writers of many of The Supremes' #1 hits of the 1960s.

Discography

Albums

Motown releases

• 1979: Mary Wilson
• 1979: Red Hot

CEO release

• 1991: Walk the Line

Singles

Motown release

• 1979: "Red Hot"

CEO releases

• 1991: "One Night With You"
• 1991: "Walk the Line"

Other releases

• 1995: "U"
• 1996: "Turn Around"

External links

• Official site (http://www.marywilson.com/)