Diana hits all the right notes
“You can’t just sit there and wait for people to give you that golden dream. You’ve got to get out there and make it happen for yourself.” With a career spanning over six decades, Diana Ross has certainly done that, achieving worldwide notability as the lead singer of legendary Motown group The Supremes, before going on to have an halcyon career as a solo artist and record producer, and receiving an Oscar-nomination for her role as jazz singer Billie Holiday in 1972 American biographical drama Lady Sings the Blues. As Miss Ross prepares to celebrate her 80th birthday on Tuesday, BBC2 is dedicating its Saturday evening music schedule to the entertainment icon. Ross’s rise to fame is a rags-toriches story of sorts, as she went from humble beginnings in Detroit to achieving 12 No.1 US singles, and two here in the UK – the Deke Richards-penned I’m Still Waiting in 1971 and 1985’s Chain Reaction, written by the Bee Gees. Meanwhile, as well as achieving stratospheric musical success, Ross has also bravely and successfully tackled systemic racism, sexism and persecution throughout her life and career. “With every achievement, with every move I have made, no matter how great or small, someone was always there to try to bring me down,” she said. The evening begins with Diana Ross at the BBC (Saturday, BBC2, 9.15pm) which features a selection of performances from the singer's visits to the UK on programmes like Top of the Pops, Wogan and The National Lottery Show, both as the front woman of The Supremes and as a solo artist. Among the tracks featured in the compilation are Baby Love from The Supremes’ second studio album Where Did Our Love Go, the aforementioned I’m Still Waiting, the Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers cover Why Do Fools Fall in Love?, Upside Down, which was written and produced by Chic’s Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, and 1975’s Grammy-nominated Love Hangover. That programme is followed by Diana Ross: Live at The Royal Albert Hall 1973 (10.15pm). This concert at the famous London venue was filmed during her European tour in that year, and features performances of Touch Me in the Morning, Baby Love and Ain't No Mountain High Enough. Finally, there’s a welcome airing for her third movie appearance, The Wiz (11.15pm).