Florence Ballard
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Florence Glenda Ballard Chapman, nicknamed "Flo", (June 30 1943 – February 22 1976) was an American singer, best known as the founder and original lead singer of Motown act The Supremes.
Referred to by music journalist Richie Unterberger as "one of rock's greatest tragedies"Template:Ref, Ballard was replaced as lead singer of the Supremes by her bandmate Diana Ross, who was felt to have more crossover appeal than Ballard. After a series of depressions and problems with performance, Ballard was dropped from the Supremes in mid-1967 and replaced with Cindy Birdsong. Ballard attempted a solo career, which was unsuccessful, and the singer spent much of the later parts of her life in poverty before dying in 1976 at the age of thirty-two.
Contents |
Biography
Early life
Ballard was born in Rosetta, Mississippi, but before the age of ten, her family moved to Detroit, Michigan to take advantage of the booming job market. Ballard, nicknamed "Blondie" because of her auburn hair and light complexion, founded The Primettes, an all-girl singing group spin-off of The Primes (later known as The Temptations), in 1959. The Primettes would sign to the Motown label in 1961 and go on to make music history as The Supremes.
The Supremes
Main article: The Supremes
In the early days of The Supremes, all three girls took turns singing lead vocals, with Ballard singing lead on songs such as "Buttered Popcorn", "Ain't That Good News", "Silent Night", "Heavenly Father", and her specialty number, "People." Also, before the Supremes became famous, Ballard toured as a member of The Marvelettes while one of the members was on maternity leave.
Diana Ross was made the permanent lead singer of the Supremes in 1964 because Motown chief Berry Gordy believed that her voice, with its higher register, would attract white audiences to the group. Ross, Ballard, and Mary Wilson recorded ten number-one US pop hits between 1964 and 1967, all of which featured Ross on lead vocals. Resentful and depressed for being pushed out of the spotlight, Ballard became a heavy drinker and gained weight until she no longer fit many of her costumes and gowns. In July 1967, she was fired from The Supremes and from Motown; Cindy Birdsong took her place in the group, which was renamed Diana Ross & The Supremes shortly before Ballard's departure.
Solo career
Ballard married Thomas Chapman, a former chauffeur for Motown, in 1968, and signed with ABC Records in 1968, two weeks after negotiating her release from Motown on February 22, 1968. Ballard received a one-time payment of $139,804.94 in royalties and earnings from Motown for her six-year tenure with the label. [1]
Billed as Florence "Flo" Ballard and with her husband serving as her manager, Ballard released the singles "It Doesn't Matter How I Say It" and "Love Ain't Love" on ABC Records, but the album she recorded was shelved. After that, Ballard's musical career went into extreme decline, and the $139 thousand was depleted by Chapman and Ballard's management agency.
However, Ballard continued with her solo career. On October 20, 1968, she was the featured personality of Detroit's magazine, Detroit. In September of that year as well, she performed alongside Bill Cosby at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago. Ballard also rode in a Chicago parade with comedian Godfrey Cambridge. On January 20, 1969, Ballard performed at Richard Nixon's inauguration ball in Washington, DC. In October 1968, Ballard gave birth to twin girls, Michelle Chapman and Nicole Chapman, the first of her three children.
In 1971, Ballard sued Motown for royalty payments she felt were due her. However, the judges ruled in favor of Motown.
Decline and death
In 1973, Ballard gave birth to her third child, Lisa Chapman. Soon after, Chapman left Ballard, Ballard's house was foreclosed upon, and her career ended. She had three daughters to feed, and was forced to move in with her mother. Deeply depressed, she continued to drink, allowing her health to deteriorate.
Mary Wilson, who had continued a rapport with Ballard over the years, invited Ballard in 1974 to fly out to California and perform with The Supremes, now with Scherrie Payne as lead singer. Ballard's appearance onstage brought significant praise from the crowd, but later that night, she told Wilson that she had no desire to keep trying at a career in music.
When she returned to Detroit, Ballard's situation continued to decline. She had more financial problems and was unable to return to the entertainment business. Soon, Ballard applied for welfare, and the news hit the newspapers instantly.
In 1975, Ballard received a settlement from a slip-and-fall incident in which she had broken her leg after slipping on a patch of ice. Ballard took the money, got herself cleaned up and back in shape, and began making steps towards a comeback. She also reconciled with Chapman. On June 25, 1975, Ballard performed in Detroit as a part of the Joan Little Defense League at the Henry and Edsel Ford Auditorium, with The Deadly Nightshades as her backup, to a highly receptive crowd. She sang Helen Reddy's I Am Woman, and when the audience wanted an encore - a Supremes encore - Flo sang Come See About Me.
However, on February 21 1976, Ballard entered Mt. Carmel Mercy Hospital, complaining of numbness in her extremities. The next day, she died of coronary thrombosis, a blood clot in one of her coronary arteries. She was thirty-two years old. She is buried in Detroit Memorial Park Cemetery located in Warren, Michigan.
Florence Ballard: Forever Faithful!, a biography of Ballard written by Randall Wilson, was printed in 1999. In 2002, The Supreme Florence "Flo" Ballard, which included all the tracks from the album she recorded on ABC Records in 1968, was released by a London-based company on compact disc.
Discography
Album
- 1968: The Supreme Florence "Flo" Ballard (shelved originally as You Don't Have To, issued in 2002)
Singles
- 1968: "It Doesn't Matter How I Say It"
- 1968: "Love Ain't Love"
Notes
- Template:Note Unterberger, Richie (2005). The Supremes. In All Music Guide. Ann Arbor, MI: All Media Guide.
External links
{{Persondata |NAME=Ballard, Florence |ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Flo Ballard, Florence Chapman |SHORT DESCRIPTION=American singer |DATE OF BIRTH=June 30 1943 |PLACE OF BIRTH=Detroit, Michigan |DATE OF DEATH=February 22 1976 |PLACE OF DEATH=Detroit, Michigan }}fr:Florence Ballard
Categories: 1943 births | 1976 deaths | African-American singers | American female singers | American R&B singers | American R&B musicians | American soul musicians | Deaths from cardiovascular disease | Entertainers who died in their 30s | People from Mississippi | People from Detroit, Michigan | R&B vocalists | Supremes members