{"id":13087,"date":"2021-02-09T20:15:33","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T20:15:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=13087"},"modified":"2021-02-10T00:52:48","modified_gmt":"2021-02-10T00:52:48","slug":"mary-wilson-supremes-dead","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/mary-wilson-supremes-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"Mary Wilson, Founding Member of the Supremes, Has Died \u2013 But Her Influence Will Live On"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mary
HOLLYWOOD – SEPTEMBER 02: Mary Wilson performs at the Catalina Bar and Grill on September 2, 2010 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Noel Vasquez\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Tuesday,\u00a0February 9th\u00a0the news broke that legendary Mary Wilson, one of the founding members of Motown’s iconic singing<\/a> group, The Supremes, died at her home in Henderson, Nevada. She was 76. Wilson\u2019s longtime publicist, Jay Schwartz, confirmed the news to CNN<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

At 15, Wilson, along with Diana Ross, Florence Ballard, and Betty McGlown ,came together in 1959 originally as the Primettes in Detroit before evolving into the Supremes with just Ross and Ballard. \u201cWe had no clue what was coming,\u201d Wilson told the Detroit Free Press\u00a0<\/a><\/em>in 2015. \u201cWe were just doing this as fun. It was not something like, \u2018Oh, we\u2019re going to become singers,\u2019 like today where everyone wants to be a star.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
NEW YORK – JANUARY 26: Motown group The Supremes (L-R Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson and Diana Ross) perform on the NBC TV music show ‘Hullabaloo’ on January 26, 1965 in New York City, New York. (Photo by Hullabaloo Archive\/Michael Ochs Archives\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Motown founder, Berry Gordy, signed the Supremes in 1961. The trio went on to have 12 No. 1 singles, 5 consecutively (including “Where Did Our Love Go<\/a>,” “Baby Love<\/a>,” “Come See About Me<\/a>,” and “Stop! In The Name Of Love<\/a>“) from 1964 to 1965, making history as one of Motown\u2019s most successful music groups \u2014 and setting the standard for what was possible for women in the recording industry.<\/p>\n

Together, Wilson, Ross, and Ballard redefined what performers looked like, wearing costume jewelry and voluminous false eyelashes with their coordinating (often, sequin) cocktail dresses. \u201cThe aim, radical in its day, was to inject a little sophistication into the raw world of rhythm and blues,”\u00a0Wilson told\u00a0the New York Times<\/a><\/em>\u00a0in 2006. \u201cThat standard of sophistication was defined by white society.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely started that trend of glamour, of girl groups getting dressed up,\u201d Wilson said in the same interview. \u201cJust like in the \u2018Dreamgirls\u2019 movie, when they were trying to make us into a classier kind of group that could play the clubs,\u201d she said. \u201cWe did that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Supremes have been, and will always remain, the blueprint for not only the classic “girl group,” but for Black women becoming pop stars, explains Naima Cockrane, music + culture editor<\/a>. “Their style, their poise, and their polished presentation helped inform an era of music, but also impacted groups to come \u2014 case in point, another of the bestselling female groups of all time, Destiny’s Child. The Supremes’ story is almost a full playbook \u2014 from signing through evolution to stardom \u2014 of artist development and the dynamics of a hit pop group.”<\/p>\n

Although Diana Ross is usually The Supremes member singled out, Mary Wilson “was the bedrock of the group as the longest consistent original member through all the various personnel changes over the years,” Cockrane continues.<\/p>\n

“Diana was the superstar diva, but Mary was the accessible girl-next-door pop star. She was the heart of the group; warm, funny, friendly, with a smile and laugh that charmed all. The Supremes formula worked not just because of music and aesthetic, but because of personality. A group full of Dianas doesn’t work \u2014 you need the balance of a Mary. Like DC wouldn’t work if B\u00e9yonce didn’t have Kelly.”<\/p>\n