Early life Birdsong was born in
Mount Holly, New Jersey on December 15, 1939, as the eldest child of Lloyd Green Birdsong Sr. and Annie Birdsong. After living in
Philadelphia for a duration of her childhood, the family returned to New Jersey, settling in
Camden. Birdsong set her sights on becoming a nurse and attending college in Pennsylvania. When she returned to Philadelphia, she was contacted by a longtime friend,
Patsy Holte, in 1960 to replace
Sundray Tucker in Holt's singing group the Ordettes. At 20 years of age, Birdsong was the oldest member of the group; the other group members were still in their mid-teens.
Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles By 1962, the Ordettes gained two new members,
Sarah Dash and
Nona Hendryx, both of whom previously sang for a vocal group that had disbanded. In the same year, they auditioned for local record label owner Harold Robinson. Robinson agreed to work with the group after hearing LaBelle sing "
I Sold My Heart to the Junkman". Shortly after Robinson signed them, he had them record as the Blue Belles and they were selected to promote "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman", which had been recorded by
the Starlets. It was ultimately recorded by the Bluebelles due to a conflict between record labels. The Starlets' manager sued Robinson after the Blue Belles were seen performing a lip-synched version of the song on the TV music show
American Bandstand. After settling out of court, Robinson altered the group's name to "Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles". Initially, a
Billboard magazine ad cited the group as "Patti Bell and the Blue Bells". In 1963, the group scored their first hit single with the ballad "
Down the Aisle". Later in the year, they recorded their rendition of "
You'll Never Walk Alone"; the single was later re-released on
Cameo-Parkway Records, where the group scored a second hit with the song on the pop charts in 1964. Another charted single, "
Danny Boy", was released that same year. In 1965, after Cameo-Parkway folded, the group signed with
Atlantic Records, where they recorded 12 singles for the label, including the modest hits "All or Nothing" and "Take Me for a Little While". The group's Atlantic tenure included their rendition of "
Over the Rainbow" and a version of the song "
Groovy Kind of Love".
Diana Ross & the Supremes (1967–1970) were recognized with a star on
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7060
Hollywood Blvd. By this time, Birdsong was contacted by
Berry Gordy in April 1967. She was being considered by
Diana Ross as a replacement for
Florence Ballard due to Ballard's reported "erratic behavior". Birdsong said: All I was told was they wanted me there. I was met at the airport by Motown executives and driven to
Berry Gordy's house where the group was having a meeting with him. I was a still a member of Patti's group and didn't even tell her that I was going to Detroit. So, the door of the room swung open and Florence came out in tears. Her mother came out with her. Oh, she was so upset, so shaken, she didn't even see me. It was then I realized that I was to replace her. I felt so bad, but later on Florence understood why I did it. During her tenure with the group, Berry Gordy mostly used
the Andantes on background vocals to accompany Ross instead of Birdsong and Wilson. However, when the single "
Someday We'll Be Together" hit number one, the group performed it together on
The Ed Sullivan Show for their final television appearance with Ross on December 21, 1969.
Post Diana Ross: The "new" Supremes (1970–1972; 1973–1976) In 1970,
Jean Terrell replaced Ross as lead singer of the Supremes. However, at first,
Syreeta Wright was considered a replacement but Terrell was chosen instead. In the new group, both Wilson and Birdsong's voices were heard more prominently, including the three albums the group recorded with the
Four Tops. The group had a hit with the Four Tops with a cover version of
Ike & Tina Turner's "
River Deep – Mountain High". They scored more chart success at the beginning of the new decade, scoring hits in the
United Kingdom, while having several pop and soul hits in the United States, including "
Up the Ladder to the Roof", "
Everybody's Got the Right to Love", "
Stoned Love", "
Nathan Jones", and "
Floy Joy". However, Birdsong left to have her first child and was replaced by
Lynda Laurence. Birdsong later returned to replace Laurence in 1973 after Laurence left to start a family with her husband
Trevor Lawrence. It was also when
Scherrie Payne joined the group as well, replacing
Jean Terrell. During that period, Birdsong contributed to two albums:
The Supremes (1975) and
High Energy (1976). Birdsong was later fired from the Supremes in February 1976.
Later career In June 1977, Mary Wilson performed a "farewell" concert with the Supremes (by then Scherrie Payne and Susaye Greene) and thereafter embarked on a solo career. In the fall of that year, Wilson was forced to play several Supremes dates, most notably in South America, that Payne and Greene could not fulfill on such short notice. Rather than risk lawsuits, Wilson recruited Birdsong and Debbie Sharpe as her backups, performing under the name "Mary Wilson of the Supremes". After leaving the Supremes, Birdsong worked at
UCLA Medical Center under her married name of Cindy Hewlett, then went to work for
Suzanne de Passe at
Motown Records. In 1983, Birdsong joined former Supremes Mary Wilson and Diana Ross in a one-off reunion on the
Motown 25 anniversary television special. In 1986, she was a member of the
Former Ladies of the Supremes along with Terrell and Payne but left to pursue a solo career in music. In 2004, Birdsong joined Mary Wilson and
Kelly Rowland (of
Destiny's Child) to perform a medley of Supremes hits for the
Motown 45 anniversary television special. ==Personal life==