Florence Ballard

On February 29, 1968, she married a chauffeur, Thomas Chapman and the couple had twin girls the same year.

In 1971, she gave birth to a third child but was deserted by her husband, which led to a financial crisis in the family.

Although her comeback was a success, she dealt with health problems due to alcoholism. She died of cardiac arrest, at the age of 32, in Mt. Carmel Mercy Hospital. She is buried at the ‘Detroit Memorial Park Cemetery’ in Michigan.

Florence Glenda Ballard was the ninth child born to Jesse and Lurlee Ballard in Detroit, Michigan.

She was introduced to the world of music and trained by her father, who was a musician himself. She attended ‘Northwestern High School’.

After noticing her vocal talent, the manager of a vocal group, ‘Primes’ approached her to join their sister group ‘Primettes’ in 1959. She soon asked her friend, Mary Wilson to audition for the same and the duo were selected. The group became a quartet when the manager brought in singers, Diane Ross and Betty McGlown.

They landed their first audition for American record producer, Berry Gordy’s ‘MoTown Records’ but were advised to graduate from high school as they were too young to become professional singers. Eventually, all the group mates graduated from high school, while Ballard dropped out.

In 1960, she suffered a misery that changed her entire outlook towards life. From the happy and bubbly girl that she was, she became a recluse, after being raped by a local high school basketball player at knifepoint.

The ‘Primettes’ released their first record ‘Tears of Sorrow’ under the label, ‘Lupine Records’ but it didn’t taste great success.

In August 1960, the band recorded the singles, ‘After All’, ‘You Can Depend on Me’ and ‘Buttered Popcorn’, which catapulted them to fame.

On January 1, 1961, the band was renamed to ‘The Supremes’, following which, they signed a contract with ‘MoTown Records’.

In 1962, Ballard left the group and joined an all-girl group, ‘The Marvelettes’ as a vocalist by replacing singer Wanda Young who was on maternity leave.

A few of her never-released singles include ‘Ain’t That Good News’, ‘People’ and ‘It Makes No Difference Now’.

In 1964, she was the lead vocalist for the song ‘People’, which featured in ‘The Supremes’ album, ‘There’s A Place for Us’. It soon became her trademark song and she started performing in auditoriums, for concerts and in nightclubs which lasted for two decades.