Born March 6th 1944, Greenville, Mississippi near the Mississippi Delta to parents
Johnnie Mae and Sam Wilson, she is the eldest of three children: Brother Roosevelt, and Sister Cathy.At the age of three she went to live with her mothers sister: Aunt I.V(which stands for Ivory) and her Husband John in Detroit. Her time spent with them although strict was a happy time.
In 1956 she move back with her parents into the Brewster Projects (which was a group of Government owned apartment buildings). It was during this time that she got to know Carolyne Franklin, who is the sister of Aretha. Mary and her family attended Rev. C.L.Franklin's New Bethel Baptist Church.
Mary had her first audition which was to join Carolyne's group at school (who were going to perform in the schools talent show). Unfortunately, this did not go too well as she and another girl had a disagreement which ended with Mary pushing her across the stage. She was approximately 12 at the time.
In 1958 Mary first met Diana Ross, who also lived in the Projects. And once again, in this year she signed up for the school talent show as a solo singer. Her intention was to mime or lipsync to "I'm Not A Juvenile Delinquent" from Alan Freed's movie "Rock, Rock, Rock". Once again, though Things didn't go as planned, as soon as she heard her name announced, she swaggered onto the stage and sang live to the record which, to her surprise, was received very well. Also appearing in the show was a neighbour of hers, who although at the time Mary did not know that she was to become a very dear friend. This person was Florence Ballard who sang " Ave Maria". That night they walked home together and their life long friendship began.
In 1959 Mary joined the "Primettes" who were at that time Florence Ballard, Betty McGlown and Diana Ross. The group was formed as a sister group to the "Primes"
Daily rehearsals followed, once her parents had been reassured that everything was on the up and up. The first professional engagement for the "Primettes" was singing at a party for the local union. This was the first of many local shows and they became very popular in the Detroit area.
1960-At the Detroit/Windsor Freedom Festival amateur talent contest they took first place. Some of the songs they performed include "(Night Time Is) The Right Time",The Twist,There Goes My Baby.
Unknown to Mary, in the audience was Robert Bakeman one of Berry Gordy's associates at the time. Although it wasn't until a couple of weeks later that they were to approach Motown in an attempt to get a recording deal, with the help of Smokey Robinson who introduced them. An appointment was made with Berry Gordy for the late summer of 1960.
At the audition they sang "There Goes's My Baby","The Twist","There's Something On My Mind" - a cappella as their guitarist had gone with the Miracles. They were not signed to the label at this time but were advised to finish school and return.
Mary was soon to make the acquaintance of Robert West,who recorded "Tears Of Sorrow" and "Pretty Baby" on Lupine (which is the label he created especially for them).
1960 Mary went back to Motown only four months since the audition and during this period they made daily trips just to watch and learn. These daily trips went on till they were signed to the label.
December of 1960 saw the recording and release of their first single on that label "I Want A Guy" written by Freddy Gorman,the b side being "Never Again". (this was while they were not officially signed to the label)
January 1961 the "Primettes" became "The Supremes" and were signed to Motown.The second single soon followed which was "Buttered Popcorn"/"Who's Loving You". She was finally on her way and was rapidly becoming well known outside of Detroit
Being signed to Motown Mary's co-workers were artists that included, Mary Wells,The Miracles,Marvin Gaye,Stevie Wonder and many other great artists.
In 1962 the group went on tour with "The Contours","The Temptations","The Marvelettes",The Velvelettes","Stevie Wonder" and a blues singer/comic Sammy Ward
From this point on her career with "The Supremes" is very well documented until she began her solo career after the departure of Diana Ross in 1970. This biography will continue from that point onwards.
After Diana's departure Mary then began work with Jean Terrell(who was brought in to replace Diana).Her work with this line up produced such hits as "Up The Ladder To The Roof","Stoned Love" and "Nathan Jones".
By 1972 she was yet again working with a new member as Cindy Birdsong had left to have a baby,her replacement was Lynda Laurence. But this was just a short visit
as she too left along with Jean Terrell and the lineup was then to include Scherrie Payne and the returning Cindy Birdsong.
While all this was taking place she still kept in touch with Florence Ballard, who wasn't doing too well. Mary had tried to help her as much as she could with regular telephone contact but thee was a limit to what she could do as her time was taken trying to keep her own career with The Supremes alive.
Mary finally said "Farewell" to the Supremes in 1977 and hello to a new career as a solo artist.
In 1978 her first solo tour was to take her to Europe along with two new backing singers, Karen Jackson and Kaaren Ragland. This tour, however, had it's problems as Mary was involved
in a legal situation with Motown. Other Tours followed including a six week tour of New Zealand, Australia and the Orient.
1979 saw Mary once again signed to Motown and back in the recording studios that she had spent so much time in as a youngster. Her legal situation, had been settled to both parties satisfaction.
Her solo recording career began with the release of the album "Mary Wilson". Her debut on stage was made at Manhattan's nightclub; New York, New York. Apart from her solo appearance during a school talent show this was to be her first time on stage in the limelight taking the lead without being just the "Ooh, Baby's" in the background!. That night she sang "Everybody Gets To Go To The Moon", "Corner Of The Sky", and "Midnight Dancer. She closed the show with "Someday, We'll Be Together". During her performance, Mary ventured into the audience where Diana Ross was sat taking care of Mary's daughter, Turkessa. She got Diana to sing a few lines with her at which she made a joke - " Now Remember, I'm singing the background; You're singing the Lead..O.K.?" At this diana obliged and sang a few lines. The crowd thoroughly enjoyed it!.
Because Mary could earn more working abroad than she could at home it is not surprising that her next tour took her back to Europe although she has worked in other countries including Poland, Italy and the Middle East where she was quickly making a name for herself as a solo artist.
She began work on her second album in 1980 but Motown didn't like the tracks which included: You Dance My Heart Around The Stars, Love Talk, Save Me and Green River and promptly let Mary out of her contract. She was once again on her own but this time without a record label. In the year to follow she was also alone with three children as she left her husband, Pedro Ferrer who she married in 1974 in Las Vegas.
During the next 5 years Mary continued to work. She was involved in charity projects, one of which was the Dionne Warwick Foundation and still managed to tour.
In 1986 Mary recorded "My Love Life Is A Disaster" which was never released. The following year brought the single "Don't Get Mad, Get Even" on the Nightmare label. It was to be two years before she was to release another single, once again on the Nightmare label which was "Ooh, Child".
Mary is also a published writer, having written two books: Dreamgirl - My Life As A Supreme" and "Supreme Faith - Someday, We'll Be Together" and is said to be writing a third.
In 1995 she once again released a single called "U" and then followed it up a year later with "Turn Around".
Although her career in America had not taken as well as she would have liked, her European career still has momentum and always manages to attract an audience.
