Motown legend Diana Ross has been announced as one of the many artists performing at the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee concert.
The star-studded event will see 78-year-old take to the stage alongside other incredible musicians including Queen, Elton John, Andrea Bocelli, Alicia Keys and Sir Rod Steward.
Diana is set to headline the event which will be broadcast live on the BBC on June 4 at Buckingham Palace.
This will be the first time in 15 years that the soul singer will be taking to the UK stage as she hasn’t performed here since 2007 during her I Love You tour.
Ahead of her upcoming Jubilee performance, we’re taking a look back at her life from being in The Supremes to being nominated for an Oscar.
(Image: Getty Images)
Diana was the second eldest of six children to her parents Ernestine and Fred Ross.
Growing up in Michigan, the star joined a singing group in high school called the Primettes alongside Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson and Barbara Martin.
Motown records invited the girls to audition after they won a talent competition in 1960.
They were signed in 1961 and changed their name to ‘The Supremes’, however, Barbara Martin decided to leave before the group took off and the band was now a trio.
In 1963, the founder of Motown Records Berry Gordy decided it would be Diana who would be the lead singer of the band.
(Image: Michael Ochs Archives)
The girls then released a string of hits including When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes, Lovelight, Where Did Our Love Go, Baby Love and Stop! In the Name of Love.
They then made history as by 1965 The Supremes had five consecutive number one hits and become international stars touring around the world.
During this time, Diana became romantically involved with Berry Gordy who she was with for several years.
The duo had a daughter in the 70s called Rhonda Suzanne Silberstein.
(Image: FilmMagic)
However, two months into her pregnancy, Ross married music executive Robert Ellis Silberstein who raised Rhonda as his own.
It wasn’t until her daughter was 13 that she learnt the truth about who was her biological father.
Despite Florence Ballard being replaced by Cindy Birdsong in 1967s, The Supremes continued their success and quickly became icons of the decade.
In 1968, the group collaborated with The Temptations combining Motown’s two best selling groups.
The album was a huge success and reached number 2 on the Billboard 200.
Although Diana decided to leave the group in the early 70s and released her first solo album which included the hit single Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.
Trying her hand at something different, the singing sensation turned to acting in 1972 when she starred in the film Lady Sings the Blues as Billie Holiday.
(Image: Michael Ochs Archives)
In fact, her portrayal of the role was so impressive it landed her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in 1973.
Although she lost out on the award to Liza Minnelli who won for her role in Cabaret.
The star made history again in 1974 when she became the first African-American woman to co-host the Oscars alongside John Huston, Burt Reynolds, and David Niven.
Continuing her acting career, Diana played an emerging fashion designer in the film Mahogany in 1975.
The singer then starred in Motown Production’s eighth film called The Wiz which is an African-American reinterpretation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
(Image: Getty Images)
Diana portrayed Dorothy with Universal Pictures financing the production at $24million, which was the most expensive film musical ever made at the time.
During the 70s Diana and her husband Robert grew their family as she had two other children, Tracee and Chudney.
Sadly, the couple divorced in 1977, six years after being married.
After being signed with Motown for over 20 years, she decided to leave them for RCA Records who had offered her a $20 million contract for seven years.
Signing over to them in 1981, it was the most expensive recording deal at the time and she later released her first album with them Why Do Fools Fall in Love.
(Image: Getty Images)
Following her incredible career, she was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1982.
The same year, she sang The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Super Bowl XVI and was the first pop star to be selected to perform at the event.
Continuing her music career, she found love once again in 1985 with Arne Naess Jr and married him one year later.
Although they divorced in 2000, they had two sons together called Ross and Evan.
Diana formed a Supremes reunion tour in the same year but sadly was unable to get the original members back together.
Florence passed away in 1976 and both Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong didn’t take part in the tour.
Sadly, not many people attended the tour and it was cancelled early.
(Image: WireImage)
Despite this, the singer was recognised for her talents again in 2012 when she was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys.
Although she had been nominated 12 times in her career, this was her first Grammy.
She was also given a Presidential Honor in 2016 by Barack Obama for her incredible contributions to the arts.
The singing sensation celebrated another lifetime achievement award in 2017 at the American Music Awards with her five children and five grandchildren.
Diana hasn’t stopped singing even at the age of 28 as this year she released a song in collaboration with psychedelic pop band Tame Impala called Turn Up The Sunshine.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
