Florence Ballard

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风格: #灵魂乐　#摩城　#流行灵魂乐
地区: 欧美

艺人介绍

by Andrew HamiltonFlorence Glenda Ballard was born June 30, 1943, in Rosetta, MS, but before the age of ten, her family moved to Detroit to take advantage of Detroit's booming job market. Florence built a reputation as a singer by taking music classes and singing in her school choir. By 14, she befriended the group the Primes (later to become the Temptations) and performed gigs with the trio at various Detroit venues. The Primes' manager, Milton Jenkins, encouraged Ballard to form a sister group to the Primes, so she recruited Mary Wilson, Betty McGlown (soon to be replaced with Barbara Martin), and Diane Earle (better known as Diana Ross).

After a one-off record for Lupine Records as well as occasional backing sessions for Motown, the Primettes signed to Motown, changed their name to the Supremes, and Martin left, transforming the group into a trio. After a series of flops, number one smashes became automatic, the pace became frantic, and Motown muddied the water by pushing Wilson and Ballard out of the limelight to spotlight on Ross. Ballard didn't take the snub well, but the breaker came when she tired of the relentless pace. She couldn't keep up, started drinking, and subsequently missed gigs, causing her ejection from the group in 1967. After filing a lawsuit over royalties, she married former Motown chauffeur Thomas Chapman and through various connections inked appeared to be a promising deal with ABC.

George Kerr produced her first single, "It Doesn't Matter How I Say It," but radio play was almost nonexistent. She completed an album, ...You Don't Have To, which ABC left for dead and instead opted to release the more commercial "Love Ain't Love," but let it languish. Soon thereafter ABC soured on Ballard and didn't extend her contract. The penthouse in Manhattan Ballard had purchased with her album advance was let go and the birth of twins -- Michelle and Nicole -- added to financial problems. Ballard's lawsuit finally settled; however, the lawyer took the moneys, forcing her to file a suit against him. Conditions went from bad to abject; she lost her home and suffered the humiliation of welfare and public housing. The couple had another daughter in 1972, but the marriage was shaky with Ballard's finances depleted. Chapman fooled around, became abusive, and eventually left the family, which sent Ballard into a deep depression that only alcohol and pills solaced. Finally, the second lawsuit settled and she received a large settlement in 1975. Ballard cleaned up and made another go at recapturing the stardom she once took for granted. An appearance at Detroit's Ford Auditorium gave her a needed boost; she reconciled with Chapman, purchased a new house, and performed on television. But the melancholy years, fueled by chemicals and alcohol, had weakened her system, causing a fatal cardiac arrest on February 22, 1976. She was 32 years old.

Florence Ballard

艺人介绍

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