1959–1970: The Supremes , as lead singer in 1966 At fifteen, Ross joined the Primettes, the sister group to a male vocal group called the Primes, after she had been brought to the attention of music manager Milton Jenkins by Primes member
Paul Williams. Among the other members of the Primettes were
Florence Ballard,
Mary Wilson, and
Betty McGlown, Williams' girlfriend. After the Primettes won a talent competition in 1960 in
Windsor, Ontario, A&R executive and songwriter,
Robert Bateman invited them to audition for
Tamla Records. Prior to the Bateman offer, Ross had approached her former neighbor Smokey Robinson about setting up the audition. In turn, Robinson agreed as long as they allowed him and his group, the Miracles, to hire the Primettes' guitarist,
Marv Tarplin, whom Ross had discovered, for an upcoming tour. Tarplin ended up playing in Robinson's band(s) for the next 30-plus years. In her autobiography,
Secrets of a Sparrow, Ross wrote that she felt that this had been "a fair trade". According to
Berry Gordy in his autobiography,
To Be Loved, he recalled that he had been heading to a business meeting when he happened to hear Ross singing "
There Goes My Baby", and that Ross's voice "stopped me in my tracks". He approached the group and asked them to perform it again, but, after learning how young they were, Gordy advised them to finish high school before trying to get signed by Motown. With help from Richard Morris, the group recorded two tracks for
Lu Pine Records, with Ross singing lead on one of them. During this time, the group began coming to Gordy's
Hitsville U.S.A. headquarters every day, offering to provide extra help for Motown's recordings, often including hand claps and background vocals. During the group's early years, Ross served as its hairstylist, make-up artist, seamstress, and costume designer. In late 1960, having replaced McGlown with
Barbara Martin, the Primettes were allowed to record their own songs at Hitsville, including the doo-wop ballads "
After All", "I Want a Guy" and "
Who's Loving You". In January 1961, Gordy agreed to sign the group on the condition they change their name. Songwriter and Motown secretary
Janie Bradford approached Florence Ballard, the only group member at the studio at the time, to pick out a new name for the group. Ballard chose "Supremes", reportedly, because it was the only name on the list that did not end with "ette". Upon hearing the new name, the other members were not impressed, with Ross telling Ballard she feared the group would be mistaken for a male vocal group (a male vocal group was, indeed, named the Supremes). Gordy signed the group under their new name on the Motown imprint on January 15, 1961. The group reduced to a trio in 1962 after Martin left the group. In late 1963, the group had their first hit with "
When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes", peaking at No. 23 on the
Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. At the end of the year, Gordy made Ross the group's lead singer. in 1967 In June 1964, while on tour with
Dick Clark's Cavalcade of Stars, the group scored their first number-one hit with "
Where Did Our Love Go", paving the way for unprecedented success. Between August 1964 and May 1967, Ross, Wilson, and Ballard sang on ten
number-one hit singles, all of which also made the UK Top 40. Following difficulties with comportment, weight, and alcoholism, Florence Ballard was fired from the Supremes by Gordy in July 1967, hiring
Cindy Birdsong from
Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles as Ballard's replacement. Gordy renamed the group
Diana Ross & the Supremes, making it easier to charge a larger performance fee for a solo star and a backing group, as it did for other renamed Motown groups. Gordy initially considered having Ross leave the Supremes for a solo career in 1966, eventually changing his mind because he felt the group's success was still too significant for Ross to pursue solo obligations. Ross remained with the Supremes until early 1970. The group appeared as a trio of singing nuns in a 1968 episode of the popular
NBC TV series
Tarzan. Between their early 1968 single "
Forever Came Today" and their final single with Ross, "
Someday We'll Be Together", Ross would be the only Supremes member to be featured on many of their recordings, often accompanied by
session singers
the Andantes or, as in the case of "Someday We'll Be Together", Julia and Maxine Waters and Johnny Bristol. Still, Wilson and Birdsong continued to sing on recordings. Gordy drove Ross relentlessly throughout this period and Ross, due to anxiety arising from Gordy's demands, began suffering from
anorexia nervosa, according to her autobiography,
Secrets of a Sparrow. During a 1967 performance in Boston, Massachusetts, Ross collapsed onstage and had to be hospitalized for exhaustion. In 1968, Ross began to perform as a solo artist on television specials, including the Supremes' own specials such as
TCB and
G.I.T. on Broadway,
The Dinah Shore Show, and a
Bob Hope special, among others. In mid-1969, Gordy decided that Ross would depart the group by the end of that year, and Ross began recording her initial solo work that July. One of the first plans for Ross to establish her own solo career was to publicly introduce a new Motown recording act. Though she did not claim their discovery, Motown's publicity department credited Ross with having discovered
the Jackson 5. Ross would introduce the group during several public events, including
The Hollywood Palace. In November, Ross confirmed a split from the Supremes in
Billboard. Ross's presumed first solo recording, "Someday We'll Be Together", was eventually released as a Supremes recording and became the group's final number-one hit on the Hot 100. It was also the final number-one
Billboard Hot 100 single of the 1960s. Ross made her final appearance with the Supremes at the
Frontier Hotel in
Las Vegas,
Nevada on January 14, 1970.
1970–1980: Solo career and films , on the
Danny Thomas television program
Make Room for Granddaddy in 1971 In May 1970, Ross released her eponymous
debut solo album. While her debut solo single, "
Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)", was a moderate top 20 hit, her second single, a striking new arrangement of
Ashford & Simpson's "
Ain't No Mountain High Enough" became her first
number-one solo single on the
Billboard Hot 100 and was her first song to receive a Grammy nomination. Despite the debut's success, Ross only experienced moderate US chart success with her two subsequent studio albums,
Everything Is Everything and
Surrender. Ross' chart success was much more impressive in the
UK where she scored her first number one solo hit there with the soul ballad "
I'm Still Waiting". In the first two years of her solo career, Ross recorded five top 20 UK singles and four top ten singles out of six releases. Later in 1971, Ross starred in her first solo
television special,
Diana!, which included
the Jackson 5. In 1972, Ross made her first film venture with
Lady Sings the Blues, a loosely based biography on singer
Billie Holiday. Following its opening that October, Ross won critical acclaim for her performance in the film. Jazz critic
Leonard Feather, a friend of Holiday's, praised Ross for "expertly capturing the essence of Lady Day". Ross's role in the film won her
Golden Globe Award and
Academy Award nominations for Best Actress. The
soundtrack to
Lady Sings the Blues became just as successful, reaching number one on the
Billboard 200, staying there for two weeks, and selling two million units. In November 1972, Ross sung the song "When We Grow Up" for the children's album,
Free to Be... You and Me. In 1973, three years after her first US chart-topper, Ross returned to the top of the US pop charts with the
Michael Masser-produced ballad "
Touch Me in the Morning". Its
subsequent parent album of the same name became her first top ten album on the
Billboard 200. Later in the year, a highly anticipated duet album with label mate
Marvin Gaye,
Diana & Marvin, found international success. During her first solo world tour that year, Ross became the first entertainer in Japan's history to receive an invitation to the
Imperial Palace for a private audience with the
Empress Nagako, wife of Emperor
Hirohito. In April 1974, Ross became the first African-American woman to co-host the
Academy Awards, with
John Huston,
Burt Reynolds, and
David Niven. photographing Ross in the film trailer for
Mahogany (1975) Ross returned to the big screen with her second film,
Mahogany, in 1975. The film reunited her with
Billy Dee Williams, her co-star in
Lady Sings the Blues and featured costumes designed by Ross herself. The story of an aspiring fashion designer who becomes a runway model and the toast of the industry,
Mahogany was a troubled production from its inception. The film's original director,
Tony Richardson, was fired during production, and Berry Gordy took over as director. Gordy and Ross clashed during filming, with Ross leaving the production before shooting was completed, forcing Gordy to use secretary Edna Anderson as a body double for Ross. While a box-office success, the film was not well received by the critics:
Time magazine's review of the film chastised Gordy for "squandering one of America's most natural resources: Diana Ross". In May 1976, Ross scored her fourth solo number-one hit, "
Love Hangover", a sensual, dramatic mid-tempo song that bursts into an uptempo disco tune. Ross launched her "An Evening with Diana Ross" tour later that year. The tour's success led to a two-week stint at
Broadway's
Palace Theatre and a 90-minute,
Emmy-nominated television special of the same name, featuring special make-up effects by
Stan Winston, for a scene in which Ross portrayed legendary cabaret artist
Josephine Baker and blues singers
Bessie Smith and
Ethel Waters. Due to this success, Ross was honored with a
Special Tony Award. Ross struggled with her next two albums, ''
Baby It's Me (1977) and Ross'' (1978), which failed to produce a hit single. Around this period, Motown had acquired the film rights to the Broadway play
The Wiz, an African-American reinterpretation of
L. Frank Baum's
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The film initially was to include the stage actors who had performed on the play, but producer
Rob Cohen could not garner the interest of any major Hollywood film studios. It was not until Ross convinced Cohen to cast her as Dorothy that
Universal Pictures agreed to finance the production. This casting decision led to a change in the film's script, in which Dorothy went from a schoolgirl to a schoolteacher. The role of the Scarecrow, also performed by someone else onstage, was eventually given to Ross's former Motown labelmate,
Michael Jackson. The Ross-Jackson duet of "
Ease on Down the Road" won the duo a Grammy nomination. The
film adaptation of The Wiz had been a $24 million production, but upon its October 1978 release, it earned only $21,049,053 at the box office. Though pre-release television broadcast rights had been sold to
CBS for over $10 million, the film produced a net loss of $10.4 million for Motown and Universal. The film's failure ended Ross's short career in the big screen and contributed to the Hollywood studios' reluctance to produce the all-black film projects which had become popular during the
blaxploitation era of the early to mid-1970s for several years. Ross released her tenth studio album,
The Boss, in 1979. The Ashford & Simpson-produced album was her biggest success in three years and resulted in her very first gold-certified album.
The title song was her first top 20 pop hit since "Love Hangover" and also topped the dance charts. On July 16, 1979, Ross guest-hosted an episode of Johnny Carson's
The Tonight Show, featuring
Lynda Carter,
George Carlin, and
Muhammad Ali as guests. Later that year, Ross hosted the
HBO special,
Standing Room Only, filmed at
Caesars Palace's Circus Maximus Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada, during her "Tour '79" concert tour. This concert special is noted for its opening, during which Ross literally makes her entrance through a movie screen. In November of that year, Ross performed "The Boss" as a featured artist during the
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, in
New York City. In 1980, Ross released her most successful album to date,
Diana. Composed by
Chic's guitarist
Nile Rodgers and bassist
Bernard Edwards, the album included the hits "
I'm Coming Out" and "
Upside Down", the latter becoming her fifth chart-topping single in the U.S. Ross scored a Top 10 hit in late 1980 with the theme song to the film ''
It's My Turn. Continuing her connections with Hollywood, Ross recorded the duet ballad "Endless Love", with Lionel Richie. The song would become her sixth and final single to reach number one on the Billboard'' Hot 100.
1981–1987: Leaving Motown and RCA years Ross began negotiations to leave Motown at the end of 1980. After over 20 years with the label, Ross received only US$250,000 as severance.
RCA Records offered Ross a $20 million, seven-year recording contract, which gave her complete production control of her albums. Before signing onto the label, Ross allegedly asked Berry Gordy if he could match RCA's offer. Gordy stated that doing so was "impossible". Ross signed with RCA on May 18, 1981. At the time, the contract was music history's most expensive recording deal. In October 1981, Ross released her first RCA album,
Why Do Fools Fall in Love. The album sold over a million copies and featured hit singles such as her remake of the
classic hit of the same name and "
Mirror Mirror". Shortly thereafter, Ross established her production company, named Anaid Productions ("Diana" spelled backwards), and also began investing in real estate and touring extensively in the United States and abroad. Before the release of
Why Do Fools Fall in Love, Ross hosted her first TV special in four years,
Diana. Directed by
Steve Binder, the concert portions of the special were filmed at
Inglewood, California's 17,500-seat
The Forum indoor stadium and featured performances by
Michael Jackson,
Muhammad Ali,
Dallas actor
Larry Hagman, music impresario
Quincy Jones and members of the
Joffrey Ballet. In early 1982, Ross sang "
The Star-Spangled Banner" at
Super Bowl XVI and appeared on the musical variety show
Soul Train. The episode, devoted completely to her, featured Ross performing several songs from
Why Do Fools Fall in Love. On May 6, 1982, Ross was honored with a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame. She followed up the success of
Why Do Fools Fall in Love with
Silk Electric, which featured the Michael Jackson-written and -produced "
Muscles", resulting in another Top 10 Grammy nominated success for Ross. The album eventually went gold on the strength of that song. In 1983, Ross ventured further out of her earlier soul-based sound for a more
pop rock-oriented sound following the release of the
Ross album. Though the album featured the Top 40 hit single, "
Pieces of Ice", the
Ross album did not generate any more hits or achieve gold status. On July 21, 1983, Ross performed a free concert on
Central Park's
Great Lawn, aired live worldwide by
Showtime. Proceeds of the concert would be donated to build a playground in the singer's name. Midway through the beginning of the show, a torrential downpour began. Ross tried to continue performing, but the severe weather forced the show to be stopped after 45 minutes. Ross urged the large crowd to exit the venue safely, promising to perform the next day. The next day's concert suffered no rain, but the memorabilia that was supposed to be sold to raise money for the playground had already been destroyed by the storm. When journalists discovered the exorbitant costs of the two concerts, Ross faced criticism from Mayor
Ed Koch and the Parks Department commissioner. During a subsequent mayoral press conference, Ross handed Koch a check for US$250,000 for the project. The
Diana Ross Playground was built three years later. In 1984, Ross released
Swept Away. The album featured "
All of You", a duet with friend
Julio Iglesias. The single was featured on both Ross's album and Iglesias's
1100 Bel Air Place, his first English-language album. It became an international hit, as did the
Lionel Richie-penned ballad "
Missing You", composed as a tribute to
Marvin Gaye, who
had been killed earlier that year.
Swept Away garnered gold record sales status. Her 1985 album
Eaten Alive, produced by
Barry Gibb of the
Bee Gees, garnered a number-one single overseas and a Top 20 spot on the album charts. The song "
Chain Reaction" reached number one in the U.K., Australia, South Africa, Israel and Ireland, and
the title track, a collaboration with Michael Jackson and Gibb, also performed well. Both songs had strong music videos that propelled the tracks to success. The "Eaten Alive" video was patterned after the 1970s horror film
The Island of Dr. Moreau, while the one for "
Chain Reaction" saluted the 1960s
American Bandstand-style TV shows. The video for "Experience", the third single from the album, reignited the "Eaten Alive" romantic storyline with Ross and actor
Joseph Gian. Earlier in 1985, Ross appeared as part of USA for Africa's "
We Are the World" charity single, which sold over 20 million copies worldwide. Ross's 1987 follow-up to
Eaten Alive,
Red Hot Rhythm & Blues found less success; it reached No. 39 on the
Billboard Top R&B Albums chart and No. 12 in Sweden. However, the album's accompanying television special was nominated for three Emmy Awards and won two: Outstanding Costume Design for a Variety or Music Program (
Ray Aghayan and
Ret Turner) and Outstanding Lighting Direction (Electronic) for a Miniseries or a Special (Greg Brunton). On January 27, 1986, Ross hosted the
13th annual American Music Awards. Ross returned the next year to host the
14th annual telecast.
1988–1999: Return to Motown In 1988, Ross chose to not renew her RCA contract and had been in talks with her former mentor Berry Gordy to return to Motown. When she learned of Gordy's plans to sell Motown, Ross tried advising him against the decision, though he ended up selling it to
MCA Records in June of that year. Following the sale of the company, Ross was asked to return to the Motown label with the condition that she have shares in the company as a part-owner; Ross accepted the offer. That same year, Ross was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Supremes alongside her former singing partners Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard. She also recorded the theme song to animated adventure drama film
The Land Before Time (1988). "
If We Hold on Together" became an international hit, reaching number one in Japan. Ross's next album, 1989's ''
Workin' Overtime, was not a commercial success, despite the title track reaching the top three of the Billboard
s Hot Black Singles chart. The album peaked at No. 34 on the Billboard
Hot R&B Albums chart, and achieved top 25 chart placings in Japan and the UK. Subsequent releases, The Force Behind the Power (1991), Take Me Higher (1995), and Every Day Is a New Day'' (1999) all failed to achieve major success in America, selling around 100,000 copies each. In 1991, Ross became one of the few American artists to have headlined the annual
Royal Variety Performance, performing a selection of her UK hits before
Queen Elizabeth II and
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at the
Victoria Palace Theatre, London. This marked her second appearance at the Royal Variety Performance, the first being in 1968 with the Supremes.
The Force Behind the Power sparked a comeback when the album went
platinum in the UK. led by the No. 2 UK hit single "
When You Tell Me That You Love Me". The album produced 9 singles across international territories, including another Top 10 UK hit "One Shining Moment". In 1993, Ross returned to acting with a dramatic role in the television film,
Out of Darkness. Ross won acclaim for her role in the TV movie and earned her third
Golden Globe nomination. In 1994,
One Woman: The Ultimate Collection, a career retrospective compilation, became a number one hit in the UK, selling quadruple platinum. The retrospective was EMI's alternative to Motown's box set
Forever Diana: Musical Memoirs. Ross performed during the opening ceremony of the
1994 FIFA World Cup held in
Chicago, and during the pre-match entertainment of the
1995 Rugby League World Cup final at
Wembley Stadium. The World Cup ceremony had her take a
penalty kick that was staged for her to score, and the goalposts were intended to fall down from the power of her shot. She infamously missed the penalty instead. On January 28, 1996, Ross performed at the
Super Bowl XXX halftime show, held at the
Sun Devil Stadium in
Tempe, Arizona. Earlier that month, Ross's Tokyo concert,
Diana Ross: Live in Japan, filmed live at the city's Nippon Budokan Stadium, was released. In May 1996, Ross received the
World Music Awards' Lifelong Contribution to the Music Industry Award. On November 29,
EMI released the compilation album,
Voice of Love, featuring the singles "In the Ones You Love", "You Are Not Alone" and "I Hear (The Voice of Love)". On February 8, 1997, EMI released the Japanese edition of Ross's album,
A Gift of Love, featuring the single, "Promise Me You'll Try". In May, she performed with operatic tenors
Plácido Domingo and
José Carreras again at the Superconcert of the Century concert, held in
Taipei, Taiwan. She later inducted
the Jackson 5 into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on May 6. On February 19, 1998, Ross hosted the Motown 40 telecast on ABC. In 1999, Ross was named the most successful female singer in the history of the United Kingdom charts, based upon a tally of her career hits.
Madonna would soon succeed Ross as the most successful female artist in the UK. Later that year, Ross presented at the
1999 MTV Video Music Awards in September of the year and shocked the audience by touching rapper
Lil' Kim's exposed breast and pasty-covered nipple, amazed at the young rapper's brashness. In 1999, she and
Brandy Norwood co-starred in the television movie,
Double Platinum, which was aired prior to the release of Ross's album,
Every Day Is a New Day. From that album, Ross scored a Top 10 hit in the UK in November that year with "
Not Over You Yet".
2000–2003: Supremes reunion Ross reunited with
Mary Wilson first in 1976 to attend the funeral service of
Florence Ballard, who had died in February of that year. In March 1983, Ross agreed to reunite with Wilson and
Cindy Birdsong for the television special
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever. The Supremes did not rehearse their performance for that evening, due to time constraints. A scheduled medley of hits was cancelled. Instead of following producer
Suzanne de Passe's instructions to recreate their choreography from their final
Ed Sullivan Show appearance, Wilson (according to her autobiography) planned with Birdsong to take a step forward every time Ross did the same, then began to sing lead on the group's final number-one hit song, "
Someday We'll Be Together", on which Wilson did not perform. Later, Wilson introduced Berry Gordy from the stage (unaware that the program's script called for Ross to introduce Gordy), at which point Ross subtly pushed down Wilson's hand-held microphone, stating, "It's been taken care of." Ross then re-introduced Gordy. These moments were excised from the final edit of the taped special, but still made their way into the news media;
People magazine reported that "Ross [did] some elbowing to get Wilson out of the spotlight." In 1999, Ross and mega-tour promoter SFX Entertainment (which later became
Live Nation) began negotiations regarding a Diana Ross tour which would include a Supremes segment. During negotiations with Ross, the promoters considered the creation of a Supremes tour, instead. Ross agreed. As the tour's co-producer, Ross invited all living former Supremes to participate. Neither
Jean Terrell nor late 1970s member
Susaye Greene chose to participate. 70s Supremes
Lynda Laurence and
Scherrie Payne were then touring as
Former Ladies of the Supremes. Ross contacted Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong, who then began negotiations with SFX. Negotiations with Wilson and Birdsong (who allowed Wilson to negotiate on her behalf) failed when Wilson refused SFX's and Ross's offer of $4 million for 30 performances. Following the passage of SFX's final deadline for Wilson to accept their offer, Payne and Laurence, already negotiating with SFX, signed on to perform with Ross on the tour. Laurence and Payne would later say that they got along well with Ross. The newly formed group performed together on
Today and
The Oprah Winfrey Show, as well as
VH1's
VH1 Divas 2000: A Tribute to Diana Ross. The
Return to Love Tour launched in June 2000, to a capacity audience in Philadelphia. The tour's final performance was at
New York City's
Madison Square Garden. The tour was cancelled by SFX shortly thereafter, due to mediocre ticket sales, despite glowing reviews from media as varied as
Billboard magazine, the
Detroit Free Press, the
Los Angeles Times and
The Village Voice newspapers. On December 5, 2000, Ross received a Heroes Award from the
National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS). The Heroes Award is the highest distinction bestowed by the New York Chapter. Ross's first public post-RTL appearance was at a fundraiser for former president
Bill Clinton. In January 2001,
Love & Life: The Very Best of Diana Ross was released in the United Kingdom, becoming Ross's 17th gold album in that country. In June, Ross presented costume designer
Bob Mackie with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the American Fashion Awards. Two days before the
September 11 attacks, Ross performed "
God Bless America" at the
US Open before the tournament's women's final, between
Venus and
Serena Williams. Immediately following the attacks, Ross performed the song again at
Shea Stadium, before the
New York Mets first game, after driving cross-country to be with her children (in the wake of the attacks, flying in the U.S. was temporarily restricted.). Ross teamed with legendary singers
Patti LaBelle and
Eartha Kitt, among others, for a Nile Rodgers-produced recording of
Sister Sledge's classic disco hit, "
We Are Family", recorded to benefit the families of 9/11 victims. In May 2002, Ross and all five of her children appeared on
Barbara Walters'
Mother's Day television special. Shortly thereafter, Ross admitted herself into the 30-day substance abuse program at the Promises Institute in
Malibu, California, after friends and family began to notice a burgeoning
alcohol problem. Ross left the program three weeks later and began to fulfill previously scheduled concert dates, beginning with a performance before a 60,000-strong crowd at London's
Hyde Park, for
Prince Charles'
Prince's Trust charity. U.S. ticket sales for the new tour were brisk, from coast to coast. Venues, such as
Long Island's
Westbury Music Fair, California's
Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts and Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay, attempted to add extra shows, due to public demand. Sold-out performances in
Boston followed. In August, shortly after the tour began, however, Ross re-entered the Promises Institute's substance abuse rehabilitation program. That December, during her stay at Arizona's Canyon Ranch Health Resort, Ross was pulled over by Tucson police for driving the wrong way on a one-way street. She failed a
breathalizer test and was arrested for a
DUI. Ross was sentenced in 2004 to 48 hours in jail, which she served near her home in
Greenwich, Connecticut. In January 2003, Ross was honored as Humanitarian of the Year by Nile Rodgers'
We Are Family Foundation. Shortly thereafter, Ross was feted as an honored guest at the National Association of Black-Owned Broadcasters Awards. Later that year, Ross was the guest performer at that year's
Metropolitan Museum of Art's
Costume Institute's annual gala, in an ensemble custom-designed by fashion designer
Tom Ford, followed by an appearance as the surprise celebrity model for American couturier Dennis Basso's runway show. In February 2003, the Supremes were honored by the
Rhythm and Blues Foundation with its Pioneer Award.
2004–2019: I Love You and subsequent projects , Netherlands, 2007 In December 2004, Ross returned to television for the first time since 2002 when she performed for former Motown label mate
Stevie Wonder during his
Billboard Music Awards Century Award tribute. Ross participated at the
Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope TV concert to help raise money for the
tsunami victims of the
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake the following January. Ross launched her M.A.C. Icon makeup collection, as part of the beauty corporation's Icon Series that same month. Ross was honored that year by
Oprah Winfrey as one of 25 black American women in art, entertainment and civil rights to be honored at her "Legends Ball", which later aired in May 2006 on
ABC. Ross returned to the
record charts that year after recording duets with
Rod Stewart and
Westlife. With the former, she recorded the Gershwin standard, "
I've Got a Crush on You", which reached number 19 on the
Billboard Adult Contemporary Songs chart, her first
Billboard chart entry since 2000. With the latter, she re-recorded her 1991 hit, "
When You Tell Me That You Love Me", which re-peaked at number two on the
UK Singles Chart and number one in Ireland. It remains her latest hit in both countries. In March 2006, Ross received the
TV Land Awards' Viewer's Choice for Television's Greatest Music Moment for her
For One & For All 1983 Central Park concerts. In June 2006,
Universal released Ross's shelved 1972
Blue album. It peaked at No. 2 on
Billboards
Top Jazz Albums chart. That year, having signed with
EMI/
Manhattan Records, Ross released the album,
I Love You, her first studio album since
Every Day Is A New Day seven years earlier, where it reached number 32 on the
Billboard 200 and number 16 on the
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Ross promoted the album with a
world tour throughout that year. In June 2007, Ross received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the
BET Awards. Later that December, she received the
Kennedy Center Honors medal. In August 2008, Ross performed at the opening of the
US Open tennis tournament, as part of a tribute to
Billie Jean King. Later in October that year, she headlined the 2008
Nobel Peace Prize Concert in
Oslo, Norway. Ross was the featured performer at the annual
Symphonica in Rosso concert series, held at the
GelreDome Stadium in
Arnhem, Netherlands in October 2009. In 2010, Ross embarked on her first headlining tour in three years titled the
More Today Than Yesterday: The Greatest Hits Tour. Dedicated to the memory of her late friend
Michael Jackson, the concert tour garnered positive reviews nationwide. In 2011, Ross was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame. In February 2012, Ross received her first
Grammy Award, for
Lifetime Achievement, and announced the nominees for the
Album of the Year. In May, a DVD of her Central Park concert performances,
For One & For All, was released. She performed as the marquee and headlining performer at the
White House-hosted
Christmas in Washington concert on December 9, where she performed before former President
Barack Obama, which was broadcast as an annual special on
TNT. On July 3, 2014, Ross was awarded the Ella Fitzgerald Award for "her extraordinary contribution to contemporary jazz vocals", at the
Montreal International Jazz Festival. On April 1, 2015, Ross began the first of nine performances as a part of her mini-residency,
The Essential Diana Ross: Some Memories Never Fade at
The Venetian in
Las Vegas, Nevada. On November 22, 2016, Ross was awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom by
President Obama. That December,
Billboard named her the 50th most successful dance club artist of all time. On June 30, 2017, Ross headlined the
Essence Festival in New Orleans, Louisiana, with her daughter Rhonda Ross-Kendrick performing as the opening act. Ross received the
American Music Awards Lifetime Achievement Award in November 2017. In December 2017, Ross appeared on the
Home Shopping Network to promote her first fragrance, Diamond Diana. Ross released a CD retrospective collection of her music titled
Diamond Diana that was released as a tie-in with the fragrance, which sold out within hours. In January 2018,
Diamond Diana returned Ross to the
Billboard 200, peaking at number 30 and stayed for a week and remains her latest album to chart there. The album also peaked at number six on the publication's R&B Albums chart and No. 5 on its Top Album Sales chart. The album featured the song "Ain't No Mountain High Enough 2017", remixed by
Eric Kupper. The remix returned Ross to number one on the
Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. In February 2018, Ross began a new mini-residency at
Wynn Las Vegas. That same year in August, a two-song remix of her 1980 hits "
I'm Coming Out" and "
Upside Down", also by Eric Kupper, titled "I'm Coming Out/Upside Down 2018" topped the Dance Club Songs chart. As a result of her successes on the dance chart that year, Ross ranked third place among the top dance club artists of the year on
Billboard. In November 2018, she participated in the
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 22, 2018. In February 2019, Ross returned to the
Grammy Awards where she performed at the venue for the first time ever at the
61st annual telecast. She performed two songs—her 1993 ballad "The Best Years of My Life" and her 1970 hit "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)". That April, she returned to number one on the
Billboard Dance Club Songs chart with another Eric Kupper remix of her 1979 hit "
The Boss" titled "The Boss 2019".
2020–present: Thank You and Glastonbury In May 2020, Ross released
Supertonic: Mixes, a collection of nine of her greatest hits remixed by
Eric Kupper and featuring her four consecutive number one hits on
Billboard Dance Club Songs chart: "Ain't No Mountain High Enough 2017", "I'm Coming Out/Upside Down 2018", "The Boss 2019", and "Love Hangover 2020". In July, "Supertonic: Mixes" was also released on CD and crystal-clear vinyl LP. Ross released her twenty-fifth studio album
Thank You in November 2021. It was written and recorded during the
COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and contains her first original material since 1999's
Every Day Is a New Day. The album returned Ross to the
UK albums chart where it debuted and peaked at number seven, producing her best chart performance there since
Take Me Higher peaked at number ten in 1995. in
Wiltshire, England, 2022 In May 2022, she released the single "
Turn Up the Sunshine", a collaboration with
psychedelic pop band
Tame Impala. The track is the lead single from the
Jack Antonoff-produced
original soundtrack album of the film
Minions: The Rise of Gru. With the exception of this track, the album primarily features new spins on classic 1970s hits by artists such as
Brittany Howard,
St. Vincent,
H.E.R., and many others. On June 4, 2022, Ross appeared as the finale act at the
Platinum Party at the Palace in celebration of the
Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II. On June 10, Ross kicked off the UK leg of her
Thank You Tour at
Cardiff Castle. On June 26, Ross appeared live on the Pyramid Stage at the
Glastonbury Festival.
Thank You received a Grammy Award nomination in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category, her first competitive Grammy nomination since "Muscles" was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance in 1983. In 2023, Ross returned to London's
Royal Albert Hall for performances on October 14 and 15, and again in April 2024. Ross was among the musicians to participate in an
Eminem-produced concert celebrating the grand reopening of the Michigan Central Station on June 6. The event was streamed live on Peacock. Additionally, a one-hour primetime re-broadcast was shown on NBC on June 9 at 7:00 p.m. On May 5, 2025, Ross appeared at the 2025 Met Gala. Ross announced during her appearance that she was on tour and that her son, Evan had persuaded her to attend. Ross made headlines around the world for her appearance and 18 foot train which was specially designed to include the embroidered names of her children and grandchildren. Earlier in the year, Ross appeared at the 67th Grammy Awards and the 2025 BRIT Awards. On December 31, 2025, Ross performed on the ''
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve'' show, and sang a collection of her greatest hits. ==Personal life==