Florence Ballard

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Florence Ballard
Ballard in 1965
Born
Florence Glenda Ballard

(1943-06-30)June 30, 1943
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
DiedFebruary 22, 1976(1976-02-22) (aged 32)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Resting placeDetroit Memorial Park Cemetery
Other namesFlorence Chapman
OccupationSinger
Years active1959–1970, 1975–1976
Spouse
Thomas Chapman
​
(m. 1968)​
Children3
Musical career
Genres
Instrument(s)Vocals
LabelsABC

Florence Glenda Chapman (

née Ballard; June 30, 1943 – February 22, 1976) was an American singer and a founding member of the Motown vocal female group the Supremes. She sang on 16 top 40 singles with the group, including ten number-one hits. After being removed from the Supremes in 1967, Ballard tried an unsuccessful solo career with ABC Records
before she was dropped from the label at the end of the decade.

Ballard struggled with alcoholism, depression, and poverty for three years. She was making an attempt at a musical comeback when she died of a heart attack in February 1976 at the age of 32.[1] Ballard's death was considered by one critic as "one of rock's greatest tragedies".[2] Ballard was posthumously inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Supremes in 1988.

Early life

Florence Glenda Ballard was born in Detroit, Michigan on June 30, 1943 to Lurlee (

Brewster-Douglass housing projects, and the next year Jesse Lambert Ballard died of cancer.[15]

Named "Blondie" and "Flo" by family and friends, Ballard attended Northeastern High School and was coached vocally by Abraham Silver. Ballard met future singing partner

Motown Records in 1960.[18] Berry Gordy, head of Motown, advised the group to graduate from high school before auditioning again.[19] Ballard eventually dropped out of high school though her groupmates graduated.[20]

In 1960, Ballard was allegedly raped at knifepoint by local high-school basketball player

Woodward Avenue. Ballard reacted by secluding herself in her house and refusing to come outside, which worried her groupmates. Weeks later, Ballard told Wilson and Ross what had happened, and they were sympathetic. Both Wilson and Jesse Green, an early boyfriend of Florence's, had described her as a "generally happy if somewhat mischievous and sassy teenager." Wilson believes that the incident heavily contributed to the self-destructive aspects of Ballard's adult personality, like cynicism, pessimism, and fear and distrust of others,[22] but the rape was never mentioned again.[23]

Career

The Supremes (1959–1967)

Main article: The Supremes
In 1994, the Supremes were recognized with a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7060 Hollywood Blvd.

Later in 1960, the Primettes signed a contract with Lu Pine Records, issuing two songs that failed to perform well. During that year, they kept pursuing a Motown contract and agreed to do anything that was required, including adding handclaps and vocal backgrounds.[24][25] By the end of the year, Berry Gordy agreed to have the group record songs in the studio.[26] In early 1961, Gordy agreed to sign them on the condition they change their name. Janie Bradford approached Ballard with a list of names to choose from before Ballard chose "Supremes".[27] The other members were displeased when they heard the new name. Diana Ross worried they would be mistaken for a male vocal group, but Gordy agreed to sign them under that name on January 15, 1961.[28]

The group struggled in their early years with the label,

Meet the Supremes, Barbara Martin, who had replaced Betty McGlown a year before they signed to Motown, left the group and it became a trio. After the hit success of 1963's "When the Love Light Starts Shining Through His Eyes", Diana Ross became the group's lead singer.[30]

In the spring of 1964, the group released "

People". According to Mary Wilson, Ballard's vocals were so loud she was made to stand 17 feet away from her microphone during recording sessions.[31] Marvin Gaye, for whom Ballard sang backing vocals on occasion, described her as "a hell of a singer, probably the strongest of the three girls."[32]
Overall, Ballard contributed vocals to ten number-one pop hits and 16 top forty hit singles between 1963 and 1967.

Exit from the Supremes and solo career (1967–1970)

Ballard expressed dissatisfaction with the group's direction throughout its successful times. She would also claim that their schedule had forced the group members to drift apart.

Flamingo Hotel
.

On July 1, the day after her 24th birthday, Ballard showed up inebriated during the group's third performance at the Flamingo and her stomach bulged under her suit. Angered, Gordy ordered her to return to Detroit, and Birdsong officially replaced her, abruptly ending her tenure with the Supremes.[34] It had been decided as early as May that Birdsong would replace Ballard once Birdsong's contract with the Bluebelles was bought out.[35] In August 1967, the Detroit Free Press reported that Ballard had taken a temporary leave of absence from the group due to "exhaustion".[36] Ballard married her boyfriend, Thomas Chapman, on February 29, 1968. A week earlier, on February 22, Ballard and Motown negotiated for her release from the label. Her attorney in the matter received a one-time payment of $139,804.94 in royalties and earnings from Motown. As part of the settlement, Ballard was advised not to promote herself by using her former membership in the Supremes. In March 1968, Ballard signed with ABC Records and released two unsuccessful singles.

In 1968, Florence Ballard put her unique spin on the hit "Walk on By", originally sung by

Walk on By
", made famous by Warwick and also written by Bacharach and David, debuted as a single in April 1964.

After an album for the label was shelved, her settlement money was depleted from the Chapmans' management agency, Talent Management, Inc. The agency had been led by Leonard Baun, the attorney who had helped to settle Ballard's departure from Motown. Following news that Baun was facing multiple embezzlement charges, Ballard fired him. She continued to perform as a solo artist. In January 1969, Ballard performed at one of newly elected President Richard Nixon's inaugural balls. Ballard was dropped by ABC in 1970.

Decline (1971–1974)

In July 1971, Ballard sued Motown for additional royalty payments she believed she was due to receive but she was defeated in court by Motown.

welfare application leaked out. Around that time, Ballard entered Henry Ford Hospital
for rehab treatment. Following six weeks of treatment, Ballard slowly recovered.

Comeback (1975–1976)

In early 1975, Ballard received a settlement from her former attorney's insurance company. The money helped her buy a house on Shaftsbury Avenue. Inspired by the financial success, Ballard decided to return to singing and reconciled with her husband. Ballard's first concert performance in more than five years took place at the Henry and Edsel Ford Auditorium in Detroit on June 25, 1975. Ballard performed as part of the Joan Little Defense League and was backed by female rock group the Deadly Nightshade. Afterwards, she began receiving interview requests; Jet magazine was one of the first to report on Ballard and her recovery.[38]

Death

On February 21, 1976, Ballard entered Mt. Carmel Mercy Hospital, complaining of numbness in her extremities. She died at 10:05 ET the next morning from cardiac arrest[39] caused by a coronary thrombosis (a blood clot in one of her coronary arteries),[40] at the age of 32.[40] Ballard is buried in Detroit Memorial Park Cemetery in Warren, Michigan.

On June 30, 2021, a headstone was placed at Florence Ballard's gravesite in honor of her birthday. Although she had a basic gravestone from the time of her burial, it was not until this date that a proper memorial headstone was dedicated to her legacy.

Legacy

Florence Ballard's story has been referenced in a number of works by other artists. The 1980 song "Romeo's Tune", from Steve Forbert's album Jackrabbit Slim is "dedicated to the memory of Florence Ballard". In his short story "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band", Stephen King, through the late disc jockey Alan Freed, includes Ballard as one of the deceased artists who performs in a town called "Rock and Roll Heaven".

Paul Williams, all former Motown artists who had died. In 1988, Ballard was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Supremes alongside Diana Ross and Mary Wilson
.

In February 2020, a new play about Ballard by Vincent Victoria entitled Dreamgirl Deferred premiered in Houston on the anniversary of her death.[43]

In the 2013 Motown: The Musical Broadway stage play that launched on April 14, Ballard was portrayed by Sydney Morton.

As a member of The Supremes, Ballard was named as one of eight recipients to receive a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in 2023.[44]

Personal life

Ballard began dating Thomas Chapman, a Motown Records chauffeur, in 1967; they married in a private celebration in Hawaii on February 29, 1968, and had three daughters: twins Michelle Denise, Nichole Rene (b. 1968)[45] and Lisa Sabrina (b. 1972). Ballard reportedly had several domestic disputes with her husband and filed for divorce in 1973, but they reconciled in late 1975, prior to her death. Besides her three daughters, Ballard's family included her cousin, rhythm and blues singer and songwriter Hank Ballard, and his grandnephew, NFL player Christian Ballard; she was also an aunt of the Detroit electronic musician Omar-S.[46]

Discography

Album

Singles

  • 1968: "It Doesn't Matter How I Say It (It's What I Say That Matters)" b/w "Goin' Out of My Head" (ABC Records #45-11074A/B)
  • 1968: "Love Ain't Love" b/w "Forever Faithful" (ABC Records #45-11144A/B)

References

Notes

  1. ^ "The Death and Life of a Dream Girl" Ebony, February 1990, p. 164.
  2. ^ Unterberger, Richie (2005). The Supremes. In Allmusic. Ann Arbor, MI: All Media Guide.
  3. ^ "Florence Ballard". Archived from the original on January 22, 2018. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  4. ^ "Florence Ballard, The First Supreme". Archived from the original on August 19, 2018. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
  5. ^ "Florence Ballard | Music Videos, News, Photos, Tour Dates | MTV". MTV Artists. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  6. ^ "Florence Ballard – Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  7. ^ Gustafson, Sven (February 25, 2007). "Oscar-nominated film renews interest in Florence Ballard, the real 'Dreamgirl'". Archive.sltrib.com. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  8. ^ "Florence Ballard". Biography. May 31, 2019. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  9. ^ a b c Rivera 2001, p. 16.
  10. ^ a b c d Benjaminson 2009, p. 1.
  11. ^ a b Benjaminson 2009, p. 2.
  12. ^ "The Great Migration: Journey That Reshaped America". NPR. October 2, 2010. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  13. ^ Benjaminson 2009, pp. 2–3.
  14. ^ Benjaminson 2009, p. 3.
  15. ^ Benjaminson 2009, p. 13.
  16. ^ Wilson 1986, p. 29.
  17. ^ Wilson 1986, p. 30.
  18. ^ Wilson 1986, p. 31.
  19. ^ Wilson 1986, pp. 53–56.
  20. ^ Benjaminson 2009, p. 24.
  21. ^ Benjaminson 2009, pp. 22–23.
  22. ^ Wilson 1986, p. 66.
  23. ^ Wilson 1986, pp. 65–66.
  24. ^ Benjaminson 2009, pp. 21–23.
  25. ^ Wilson 1986, p. 50-51.
  26. ^ Benjaminson 2009, p. 25.
  27. ^ Wilson 1986, pp. 84–85.
  28. ^ "The Supremes". The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. 1988. Archived from the original on January 6, 2015. Retrieved July 21, 2008.
  29. ^ a b "Sounds of the Sixties – The Supremes". BBC Radio 2. Archived from the original on June 21, 2020.
  30. ^ Wilson 1986, pp. 141–143.
  31. ^ Wilson 1986, p. 166.
  32. ^ Benjaminson 2009, p. 69.
  33. ^
    TV One
    .
  34. ^ Adrahtas 2011, p. 296.
  35. ISBN 978-0-306-81586-7
    .
  36. Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  37. ^ Cossar, Neil. "The Supremes". Thisdayinmusic.com. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  38. ^ Kisner, Ronald E. (February 20, 1975). "Florence Ballard: Ex-Supreme Fights to Get Off Welfare". Jet. pp. 56–61. Retrieved September 21, 2020 – via Google Books.
  39. ^ "Florence Ballard dead at 32; Original Member of Supremes". The New York Times. February 23, 1976. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  40. ^ a b Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 285. CN 5585.
  41. ^ O'Niel, Tom (October 18, 2006). "Diana's 'Dreamgirls' decision". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 6, 2006. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
  42. ^ Terrell, Ashley G. (February 22, 2016). "Supreme Ever After: The Legacy of Florence Ballard". HuffPost. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  43. ^ "BWW Review: DREAMGIRL DEFERRED Dares to Dream at Vincent Victoria Presents". Broadwayworld.com.
  44. ^ "The Supremes Receive the Lifetime Achievement Award At The 2023 GRAMMYs". Grammy.com. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  45. ^ Company, Johnson Publishing (October 31, 1968). "Jet". Retrieved July 5, 2018 – via Google Books.
  46. ^ "Interview: Omar-S – Page 3 of 3". FACT Magazine. February 25, 2009. Retrieved April 6, 2019.

Bibliography

Further reading

External links
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