Mary Wilson (singer) Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Mary Wilson (born March 6, 1944) is a American singer. Wilson was born in Greenville, Mississippi. She was a member of the soul and pop group The Supremes. As a member of the Supremes, Mary (along with Florence Ballard, Diana Ross, and later, Cindy Birdsong) enjoyed 12 Number One Records. When Diana left in 1970, singer Jean Terrell replaced her, and the group was known for awhile as The New Supremes.
The Mary-Cindy-Jean trio continued their hit making process with big hits like "Up The Ladder To The Roof," and the Number One single, "Stoned Love". They joined the Four Tops for a series of albums and singles, the biggest being, "River Deep, Mountain High" in 1971. Frank Wilson continued to produce hit records for them like "Nathan Jones," but in 1972, Smokey Robinson gave them "Floy Joy."
Cindy Birdsong left the group to have a baby and was replaced by singer, Lynda Laurence, formerly of Stevie Wonder's Wonderlove group. The new Mary-Jean-Lynda pairing didn't last long. After Stevie Wonder's "Bad Weather," failed to ignite much interest, both Jean and Lynda departed the group. Mary enlisted Scherrie Payne (Freda's younger gifted sister) and welcomed back Cindy Birdsong to carry on the group.
Mary took charge of the Supremes, splitting leads on albums and shows pretty evenly with Scherrie. This trio continued on until 1976, when Cindy was replaced by New York born, gifted singer/songwriter Susaye Greene, also a former Wonder Love member. With Susaye, the Supremes recorded two final Supremes LPs, HIGH ENERGY and MARY,SCHERRIE & SUSAYE. In 1977, the Supremes disbanded and gave their final performance at the Drury Theatre in London.
Mary Wilson continued on as a solo, releasing her debut album on Motown Records entitled, MARY WILSON, and the single, "Red Hot," which hit #95 on the R&B/Soul charts in 1979. It wasn't long before she was on tour as The Supremes' Mary Wilson. Motown dropped her from her contract in 1980, and Mary sought deals with Atlantic and the Boardwalk labels. In 1985, she released DREAMGIRL: My Life As A Supreme, a New York Times Best Seller for months, that was also eventually released in paperback. Mary appeared on countless talk shows to promote the book, which was termed Diana Dearest by those in the know. Still she held out hope for that elusive solo recording contract.
In England, Mary recorded the dance single, "Don't Get Mad, Get Even" on the Motorcity label. In 1988, her second book, SUPREME FAITH: Someday We'll Be Together, was released. She appeared in Vegas, Reno, Tahoe and other places alongside great comedians like Jay Leno, Don Rickles, and Joan Rivers. In the early 1990s, Mary recorded her first solo album in 12 years entitled, WALK THE LINE on CEO Records. Two singles were released, "One Night With You," and the title track, "Walk The Line". Mary did a video and appeared on Entertainment Tonight, the Arsenio Hall Show, Showtime at the Apollo, and numerous others. The record company, unfortunately, folded shortly after Mary's album was released.
In the years since, Mary has released other records, namely "U" which was a hit in Europe and "Turn Around" for various labels. She continues to tour 9-10 months out of every year, singing those "old, old Supremes songs" and wowing audiences with her talent. Mary is divorced and has 2 children and 5 grandchildren. Currently, she is recording an album of songs taken from her personal diaries for the Holland brothers, who gave the Supremes all those wonderful hit records in the 1960s and 1970s.
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