The Scottish Mail on Sunday - You
THE SLOW BREAK-UP: WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO?
success with the fans. But the stress of constant travelling and her past trauma, as well as the phoniness of showbiz, were beginning to take their toll on her.
That year we toured constantly and though none of us were big drinkers, Flo began to drink more than she had before. When we were headlining in Las Vegas, Diana and [Motown boss] Berry Gordy were officially an item and it was clear they were thinking about her going solo. This gave Diana even greater influence and made Flo feel more left out. While Diana, Berry and I fully embraced the fun of Vegas, Flo spent a lot of time in her room, calling home – she was visibly declining. I could sense that our friendship had changed. It was no longer the three of us – it was Diana and Berry on one side and me and Florence on the other. With all this success we were falling apart internally. It came to light in early 1967 that plans were underway to change our name to Diana Ross & The Supremes. The die was cast.
One of my best friends was moving into the limelight, while the other was falling to pieces before of my eyes. Flo was a great singer but after being relegated to backup, she didn’t grow vocally. When Diana was given Flo’s solo in ‘People’, this was the last straw for her – she had been silent about her growing discontent but unhappiness had been eating away at her for five years. She needed support; instead she received constant reminders to stay in line.
This was not just a crisis for Flo, it was a turning point for The Supremes. Whenever we had drama before, I had always been in the middle. I usually remain calm amid chaos, but I knew I couldn’t fix this situation. Flo had never dealt with being abused as a teenager and now fear and depression were taking over her life. She could no longer hide her pain. While Diana and I loved the constant touring, Flo did not. She racked up hundreds of dollars in telephone bills calling her family. There