EDITORIAL: ‘She was a trailblazer, a diva and will be sorely missed’

The music world lost a colossus this week when Mary Wilson, founding member of The Supremes, passed away Monday at her Henderson home. She was 76.

The Motown band, formed in Detroit in 1959 as the Primettes, became one of the most accomplished groups of all time in terms of chart dominance, securing 12 No. 1 Billboard hits. But as with many success stories, fate and fortune played a role. As David Maraniss wrote in his 2015 book, “Once in a Great City,” The Supremes had their early struggles.

At one 1962 show at the Howard Theater in Washington, D.C., Motown founder Barry Gordy opted to put the group on stage but “watched in dismay” as “their one song went badly — no energy, little sex appeal, the crowd eager to move on … ” Mr. Maraniss recounts. “If The Supremes did not improve, Gordy said, they would be sent home.”

The thought of remaining the No-Hit Supremes, as they were called in some circles, rankled Ms. Wilson and her band mates, Diana Ross and Florence Ballard. But when Mr. Gordy moved to “team them up with Motown’s hottest song-writing team,” Mr. Maraniss writes, history became the beneficiary and the trio skyrocketed to stardom. Their first No. 1 hit came soon after in “Where Did Our Love Go.”

The Supremes flourished during the turbulent 1960s and the great civil rights battles. Through it all, they appealed to a diverse and loyal audience, becoming Motown’s top crossover artists. Critics and historians alike credit them with helping to change racial perceptions while inspiring future generations of African American and female performers.

“By altering the balance between vocals and bass,” one music museum’s exhibit on the group notes, “Motown made songs where the rhythm was key, songs that made the kids dance. Most rock and pop records are still mixed in this way today.”

The Supremes were no more by 1977, but Ms. Wilson continued to make records and also wrote a definitive history of her experiences in the 1986 tome “Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme.” She moved to Southern Nevada in the 1980s and was long a fixture on the Strip music scene.

“She was quite a star in her own right,” Mr. Gordy told Billboard magazine upon hearing of her passing, “and over the years continued to work hard to boost the legacy of The Supremes. … She was a trailblazer, a diva and will be sorely missed.”

Gee, ain’t it funny how time slips away.