The Supremes
In 1958, Mary Wilson met Florence Ballard while both attended junior high school. They quickly became close friends with a mutual interest in music. When Milton Jenkins, manager of male vocal group The Primes, decided to form a female spin-off called The Primettes, he recruited Ballard, who recruited Wilson. Wilson then recruited a new friend of hers, Diana Ross, and Jenkins added Betty McGlown to complete the lineup.
By 1961, The Primettes had signed to Motown Records, replaced McGlown with Barbara Martin, and changed their name to The Supremes. Even in the early days, the girls barely traded lead vocals (Wilson sings lead on about ten songs during the sixties). The Supremes went two years without a Top 40 hit, finally scoring with "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through his Eyes" in 1963. By late 1963, Diana Ross became the official lead singer of the group, which finally began a long streak of Holland-Dozier-Holland-helmed Top 10 hits, including ten US #1 hits, beginning
More about Mary Wilson (From Wikipedia)
Early Life
Mary Wilson was the first child born to Sam and Johnnie Mae Wilson. The Wilson's later had a son (Roosevelt) and a daughter (Catherine "Cat"). As a baby, she moved first to St. Louis read more...
The Supremes
In 1958, Mary Wilson met Florence Ballard while both attended junior high school. They quickly became close friends with a mutual interest in music. When Milton Jenkins, manager read more...
Lead Vocals With The Supremes
From the very first recording sessions for Lu-Pine Records back in 1960, Mary Wilson was featured on lead vocals on albums and later singles too, right-up until the demise of the read more...
The Solo Years
In the fall of 1977, Mary Wilson (with assistance by Cindy Birdsong and Debbie Sharpe) was forced to fulfill tour dates in South America that had originally been booked in advance read more...
Later Years
In the years since, Wilson has released other singles, namely "U" (1995) and "Turn Around" (1996) for various labels. Like her previous solo singles, they didn't chart anywhere. read more...
Other Work
In recent years, Wilson has made headlines for proposing a bill to ban impostor groups to perform under the name of 1950s and 1960s rock groups, including Motown groups such as The read more...
Personal Life
During the mid-1960s, Wilson dated Four Tops member Abdul "Duke" Fakir. Mary has also been romantically linked to Tom Jones, Steve McQueen, and Flip Wilson.
During the late read more...
Mary Wilson (born March 6, 1944) is an American singer best known as a member of the Motown soul and pop group The Supremes. Wilson was the only Supreme who remained in the group read more...