A charter member of
the Supremes,
Mary Wilson has long contended that she could have been as popular a singer as
Diana Ross, had Motown's
Berry Gordy not determined for extra-musical reasons that only
Ross was to get star treatment.
Ross,
Wilson, and
Florence Ballard were the original
Supremes. They began working together as teens in the Primettes.
Wilson remained a
Supreme from 1960 until 1976. She had an erratic solo career, cutting one LP,
Red Hot, for Motown in 1979 before departing permanently. She co-wrote
Dreamgirl, My Life as a Supreme to document what she felt were the widespread abuses artists suffered during Motown's heyday.
Wilson was featured on numerous talk shows and programs during 1987, and she also recorded a single for Britain's Motorcity label that year, "Don't Get Mad, Get Even." She followed it with a cover of
the Five Stairsteps' "Oooh Child" in 1989. The following year,
Wilson published the second volume of her memoirs, and a new studio album followed in 1992. Later in the '90s and into the new millennium,
Wilson concentrated on stage and film work, although she did release a number of singles on independent labels and toured frequently.
–
Ron Wynn, Rovi