Early life and career Terrell was born on 26 November 1947 in
Belzoni, Mississippi, United States. She was born into a family of ten children, whose father was a Mississippi sharecropper who during Terrell's childhood moved the family north to Chicago when he found employment in the factories. She is the sister of the former
WBA heavyweight boxing champion Ernie Terrell, who fought
Muhammad Ali. Before her career with the Supremes, she sang with her brother Ernie in the group Ernie Terrell and the Knockouts (sometimes the Heavyweights).
The Supremes (1970–1973) Motown president
Berry Gordy discovered Terrell in 1969 in
Miami, where she was performing with her brother at a club. Looking for a replacement for
Diana Ross, who was leaving the group she had fronted during most of the 1960s, the Supremes, for a solo career, Gordy first signed Terrell to Motown as a solo artist, but decided to join her with the Supremes as Ross's replacement alongside
Mary Wilson and
Cindy Birdsong, as announced in 1969. After Ross's farewell show with the group at the
Frontier Hotel in
Las Vegas on January 14, 1970, Terrell joined the group on stage to be presented to the press and public. After this introduction, according to Mary Wilson, Gordy changed his mind about Terrell leading the group and suggested replacing her with
Syreeta Wright. Wilson vetoed this move, instead wanting to continue the group with Terrell. The group 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", "
River Deep – Mountain High" (with the
Four Tops), "
Nathan Jones", and "
Floy Joy". Despite the successes, towards the end of 1972, Terrell and Laurence decided that it would be best for the Supremes to leave Motown and seek another record label. However, Motown owned the name "Supremes" and Wilson was reluctant to leave, so both Terrell and Laurence departed the group that year. All three Supremes were not happy with Motown's seeming lack of interest in promoting this line-up of the group. In addition, Laurence was expecting a child at the time. and
Cindy Birdsong returned to replace Laurence in 1973.
Solo career Signing a contract with
A&M Records, A&M issued a solo album by Terrell,
I Had to Fall in Love, in 1978, which did not make impact on any charts, however she did promote the title track on the
Dinah! show in July 1978. In the early 1980s, Terrell put together a one-woman show, and did limited touring throughout the United States, and her act consisted of several Supremes songs, songs from her solo album and cover versions of songs by
Bette Midler and
Lionel Richie.
Former Ladies of the Supremes In 1985, eight years after the Supremes officially broke up in 1977, Payne was signed to SuperStar International Records, a Los Angeles-based record label. However, the label did not have national distribution, the song failed to chart and the label folded after. The group began touring and performing in shows around this time, making their debut at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles in 1987. By then, they recorded several singles for the
United Kingdom-based
Motorcity Records label for
Ian Levine throughout 1989 and 1990, joining a roster of former Motown artists. In 1996, Tucker left the trio and Terrell made a brief comeback to the group, reuniting with both Payne and Laurence for two special concerts held at the Industry Cafe in Los Angeles. This reunion ended with the recruitment of Freddi Poole in July 1996. In 2004, Terrell released a biographical DVD, "Through the Eyes of a Supreme", and has continued to sing onstage with various jazz musicians. ==Personal life==