Florence ballard was one of the founder members of the Supremes along with Mary Wilson
Diana Ross and Betty Mcglown.
She was the eighth child of thirteen to parents Jessie and Lonlee Ballard. Brothers and
sisters are - Bertie, Cornell, Jessie jr, Gilbert, Geraldine, Barbara, Maxine, Billy,
Calvin, Pat and Linda. One of the children died at a young age
The family moved to Detroit from the south - Rosetta Mississippi, where they used to
live on MacDougall Street. Her family was a very close and loving one so that no matter
what they all stuck together.
It was while she was still at school that she met Mary Wilson for the first time,they
had both taken part in a talent show.
Florence had been asked by the manager of The Primes -Milton Jenkins,if she would like
to join a sister group being formed .She was also asked if she knew of anyone else so
she asked Mary if she too would like to join. The other two members were Diana Ross
and Betty McGlown.
In the beginning it was Florence who sang the majority of the leads (although this would change later)
The Primettes recorded an album that was not released straight away. Although it was released some
years later, however a single from it was released which was " tears Of Sorrow / Pretty Baby ".
Because of some personal problems Florence almost was not a part of the group as she had to take
some time off away from everything. Thankfully for everyone concerned she returned some months later.
Her years with The supremes should have been the best time of her life - but that was not to be, because
of personal reasons she found it hard work and it could get quite stressful.
When it was decided that the group change their name it was Florence who made the final decision (as no one
could make up their minds) by pulling the name out of a hat.
While on a trip to the Far East she met the man who would become her husband his name was Tommy Chapman
who was once a chauffeur for Motown.
By the beginning of 1968 Florence had left The Supremes and had married Tommy, who went on to become her
manager. Her getting married however was not her reason for leaving - she had been asked to leave by
Berry Gordy.
After leaving Motown she signed with ABC records and released two singles with them -" It Doesn't Matter
How I Say It " and " Love Ain't Love ". However these never really took with the public and didn't sell
very well. Which is a shame as Florence had quite an amazing voice. the album that she was working on
at the time was never completed as ABC decided that they no longer wanted to keep her under contract,
and promptly released her.
1974 Florence (who by now was the mother of three daughters -Michelle Denise, Nicola Rene and Lisa) was to
say the least not having things very easy as her marriage was in trouble and she was also about to lose
her home, she had no choice but to move to her mother's apartment with her children.
Even through all the hard times that she was having, her friendship with Mary was strong. They didn't get to
see each other as often as they would have liked but they kept in touch by telephone on a regular basis.
A year before she died Florence made her last public singing appearance at the Womens Defence And Education
Committee in Defence Of Joanne Little and Inez Garcia. That was on 25th of June 1975
Just when it was looking as though her life was going to be happier she suffered a heart attack and died
sometime later in hospital.
She was only 32yrs old
At her funeral both Diana and Mary were present. Also in attendance were other Motown stars, Stevie
Wonder, members of The Marvelettes, The Velvelettes, The Four Tops. The service took place at the
New Bethel Baptist Church conducted by The Reverend C.L.Franklin .
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