All The Babes
Career
Active 1959 – 1976
Biography
About Florence Ballard
Florence Ballard was born on June 30, 1943, in Detroit, Michigan. She was a founding member of the Motown group the Supremes, singing on 16 top 40 singles, including ten number-one hits. After being removed from the group in 1967, she pursued a solo career with ABC Records, but it was unsuccessful and she was dropped at the end of the decade.
Ballard struggled with alcoholism, depression, and poverty for three years. She was attempting a musical comeback when she died of a heart attack on February 22, 1976, at age 32. One critic called her death "one of rock's greatest tragedies." In 1988, she was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Supremes. Her legacy remains tied to the group's early success, even though her later years were marked by hardship.
Record
Profile details
Frequently asked
Why is Florence Ballard significant in music history?
She was a founding member of the Supremes, a key Motown act, and sang on 16 top 40 singles, including ten number-one hits, before being removed from the group in 1967.
What happened after she left the Supremes?
She tried a solo career with ABC Records but was dropped at the end of the decade. She later struggled with alcoholism, depression, and poverty, and was attempting a comeback when she died in 1976.
Did you know
- She sang on 16 top 40 singles with the Supremes, including ten number-one hits.
- After her death in 1976, one critic called it 'one of rock's greatest tragedies'.
- She was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 as a member of the Supremes.
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