Jean was brought in to replace Diana Ross when she decided to leave and engage in her goal as a
solo artist in 1969.
At 21yrs of age Jean was already an accomplished singer, she had been singing lead vocals for her brother
Ernie's band for sometime before being spotted by Berry Gordy and Supremes manager Shelly Berger at a
hotel in Miami, where she was working .
Berry invited her to goto Motown and discuss a career with his label. A few months later Jean along with a family member
made the trip which resulted in her signing to the company.
Her first appearance with The Supremes was Sunday February 15th 1970, on The Ed Sullivan Show, where they performed
" If They Could See Me Now " and "Up The Ladder To The Roof", which was due for release the very next day.
At first, her time with the group was all she could have hoped it would be, but unfortunately this feeling was not to last.
She was increasingly becoming unhappy about the direction in which the management where steering her and the group
so in 1973 she departed The Supremes.
This however was not the end of her career, as in 1978 she recorded an album on A&M Record label " I Had To Fall In Love"
which included tracks- "No One Like My Baby ", " Change Up " and " How Can You(Live Without Love)" .
She is also a very practical person ,who decided that she would join her brother to work in his hair salon.
Jean once told a writer for a hair dressing magazine " There's a lot of security working in a family enterprise
and with people you love."
Thankfully by 1990 she decided to sing again and joined Lynda Laurence (who she had worked with some years earlier)
and Scherrie Payne as Former Ladies Of The Supremes, who recorded a number of singles which include-: "We're Back "
"Get Away " "Crazy 'Bout The Guy ", "Hit And Miss ". There was also a recording done with the Originals " Back By
Popular Demand" and " I'm Gonna Make You Love Me ". Also during this period Jean was part of The Legends Of Motorcity tour
along side acts - Kim Weston, Edwin Starr, Syreeta just to name a few.
After 1992 when she left,she did not return again until 1996. Here she joined Lynda and Scherrie for two special shows
at Industry - which is a cyber cafe in L.A..This was to be an emotional time for her as she was seen to wipe away tears
during the performance. The audience were obviously pleased to have Jean back on stage again as they were clapping and
cheering for a full five minutes when she was announced.
The highlight though was when she sang " Stoned Love " , she invited the audience to join her in a line of the song - she
was not to be disappointed as they not only sang one line with her but the whole song including the backing vocals.
The night was also made very special as there was a very special person in the audience that Jean had worked with
at the beginning of her stay with The Supremes. This person was none other than Cindy Birdsong.
Click HERE to go back to the Past Supremes index page