Someday they’ll be together — well, maybe.
Mary Wilson, the longest-reigning member of the original Supremes, is open to a reunion tour with the legendary pop trio’s best-known member, Diana Ross.
Ross, Wilson and Florence Ballard made up the first successful configuration of the group. Cindy Birdsong replaced Ballard in 1967. With 12 No. 1 singles from 1964-70, The Supremes (later, Diana Ross & The Supremes) became the biggest female vocal group in chart history.
“People always ask if we will ever reunite,” Wilson said in an interview in a Hollywood recording studio. “But that’s very difficult, because Florence passed away (in 1976). And, unfortunately, Cindy is having a few illness problems. And I think Diane is into her own stardom. She is a diva, a superstar. Sometimes it’s hard to go back.”
But reflections were no problem for the 70-year-old Wilson, who reminisced on a major milestone — the 50th anniversary of the Supremes first No. 1, million-selling song, Where Did Our Love Go, released on June 17, 1964.
I don’t think we liked it at all. So, I remember Eddie (Holland, the song’s co-writer) saying, “Trust me. This is going to be a smash.”
I remember that instead of going home on the bus, we flew. That was our first plane ride. We flew home. We had really hit big.
After we did that, the music became more sophisticated. It wasn’t a bubblegum as Where Did Our Love Go or Baby Love.
You ended up becoming the longest-reigning original Supreme, staying with the group until it was officially disbanded by Motown in 1977.
I recall when we first got together, when I met Diane, Flo, Betty (McGlown) — the fourth member, when we were The Primettes — I absolutely felt complete. I absolutely never had another thought of doing anything else in my life.
It’s not easy for girls to stay together. We’re different than guys. Guys can be on a team, fighting, and then they go out and have a beer together. Girls hold on to it for a long time.
At the Broadway musical (Motown: The Musical, which premiered April 2013), which was beautiful. Everyone was there and we all embraced: Berry (Gordy, Motown’s founder), me, Diane.
Just like when the movie and the Broadway play Dreamgirls was out. I tell everyone, “It’s not about The Supremes,” because I know, because I didn’t get paid. (Laughs.) But, still, it did bring a different demographic to that era.
(The music business) is a male world. It’s women who listen to and love male singers. That’s why males are more constant in the arena. Whereas women, we kind of come and go.
I think that they really leaned a lot from the past. They come out as real women, saying, “This is who we are.” So, you’ve got this movement where women are in charge of their lives, in charge of everything.
Yes, we do talk, but not as often as I would like to. We do. And we are. The hearts are there. We’re like sisters. I love Flo and Diane to this day, almost as much as I love my own sister.
I mean, I’d be happy. The situation would have to be really where I felt wanted and paid well. So, yeah, if the opportunity came and it was all done right and correctly, yes, I’d love it. Are you kidding? It would be the culmination of that dream. That’s what people are asking. But I’m only one part. We were a trio.