MusicBox - The Supremes - Sixties Superstar Sirens

MusicBox - The Supremes - Sixties Superstar Sirens

Jul, 7 2025


Before the girl power explosion of the mid 1990s there was an original girl band that set the tone for future female fronted groups.

Once known as the Primes and forming a Motown sound with key member Diana Ross becoming a significant vocalist. They had infectious hits and performed as a four piece in the early 1960’s.

In the spring of 1962 Barbara Martin left the group to start a family. Thus, the newly named Supremes continued as a trio.

Unfortunately, success didn’t come immediately and they were deemed as the “no-hit Supremes” around Motown’s Hitsville USA offices. However, when Motown Executive Berry Gordy chose Diana Ross in late 1963 to become lead singer it was a radical game changer.

By August 1964 the song ‘Where Did Our Love Go”, which was originally intended for The Marvelettes reached number one on the US pop charts, much to the surprise and delight of the group. It was also their first song to appear on the UK singles chart, where it reached number three.

This was then followed by four consecutive US number one hits –

  • Baby Love
  • Come See About Me
  • Back in my Arms Again
  • Stop! In the name of Love

The latter was a 1965 hit record which held the number 1 position on the Billboard pop singles chart in the United States from March 27, 1965, through April 3, 1965 and reached the number 2 position on the soul chart.

In 2021, it was listed at No. 254 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Let’s remind ourselves of that classic number –

Fast forward 33 years later and the closest thing to The Supremes is The Spice Girls with their single ‘Stop’ – 9th March 1998. Although none of  them were alive at the peak of their career, the comparisons are startling. By 1965, The Supremes were international stars. They toured the world, becoming almost as popular abroad as they were in the US.

As The Spice Girls had Geri Halliwell as leader of the pack, The Supremes had Diana Ross and despite differences in the band both ventured on a solo career and became quite successful.

Diana Ross is still recording and performing in the modern era. You can find the latest information about her at the following website link – https://www.dianaross.com/

On June 12th 1977, The Supremes performed their farewell concern at the Drury Lane Theatre in London and they disbanded not long after. Due to the cultural impact The Supremes had created and their influence of girl bands in the modern era a Broadway musical was launched in 1981 entitled ‘Dreamgirls’ – a work of fiction taking strong inspiration from the history of the Motown record label and it’s superstar act The Supremes. This was later adapted as a film in 2006 starring Beyonce Knowles.

This also marked ten years since the debut release of The Spice Girls single ‘Wannabe’ as they no doubt looked to their predecessors to create something new yet drawing on the past heroes such as The Supremes unlocking the magic of Motown.

^Alex Ashworth CCG UK Blogger