Ross became famous as the lead singer for the Supremes. Motown’s most successful performers during the 1960s, one of the best-selling women’s groups of all time, and the top-charting women’s group in the U.S. After leaving the Supremes, she became a gold record singer in her own right and the top selling female singer of all time in the US and the UK, with a total of 70 hit singles between her time with the Supremes and as a solo artist ("Diana Ross"). She also became an actress in theater, movies, and TV, most notably in The Wiz and playing Billie Holiday in the 1972 movie Lady Sings the Blues. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, and in 2016 was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama (Register).
Aretha Franklin
(1942-2018)
“The Queen of Soul.” Aretha Louise Franklin was an American singer, songwriter, actress, pianist, and civil rights, activist. Franklin began her career as a child singing gospel at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, where her father, C. L. Franklin, was a minister (Jensen). Since Franklin first learned to sing in church, that influence could always be heard in her songs, although she was never constrained by it. She blended gospel with jazz, blues, and R&B. She took on the world of rock 'n' roll. At 16, she went on tour with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and later sang at his funeral (“Aretha Franklin”). Whether singing gospel standards or material by contemporary songwriters, she made everything she tackled her own. Throughout her six-decade career, Franklin garnered 44 Grammy nominations, winning 18, and became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 (Jensen).
Stevie Wonder
(b. 1950)
Born Stevland Hardaway Morris (né Judkins) fundamentally changed the music industry. He is an American musician and a former child prodigy who became one of the most creative musical figures of the 20th century with hits like My Cherie Amour, You Are the Sunshine of My Life, and Superstition (Bowers). In addition to his acclaimed artistry, Wonder has routinely tackled social issues through his music and appearances. He successfully spearheaded a movement to create a national holiday recognizing the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a celebration he sang about in the track "Happy Birthday" from Hotter Than July. Wonder had dedicated his Oscar win to anti-apartheid activist/future president Nelson Mandela and had performed on the No. 1 charity single We Are the World to raise money for famine relief in Africa. He performed another No.1 charity single, That's What Friends Are For, with Warwick, Elton John, and Gladys Knight, benefiting the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR). Wonder has also been a longtime advocate for improving services for the blind and those with disabilities. In connection with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, he was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace in 2009 (Williams).
The Temptations
(est. 1960)
The group was formed in 1960 in Detroit under the name The Elgins. The founding members came from two rival Detroit vocal groups: Otis Williams, Elbridge "Al" Bryant, and Melvin Franklin of Otis Williams & the Distants, and Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams of the Primes. In 1964, Bryant was replaced by David Ruffin, who was the lead vocalist on a number of the group's biggest hits, including "My Girl," "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," and "I Wish It Would Rain." Spanning over five decades of seminal recordings and exhaustive touring, The Temptations are heralded as one of the most commercially successful and influential acts of all time ("The Temptations"). In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the Temptations number 67 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. The Temptations were voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2005. They received the Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 2013. On Saturday, August 17, 2013, the Temptations were officially inducted into the R&B Music Hall of Fame at the inaugural ceremony held at the Waetejen Auditorium on the campus of Cleveland State University (Harmon).
Jimi Hendrix
(1942-1970)
More than any musician of the late 1960s, Jimi Hendrix pulled the light, often tame rock-and-roll of the early 1960s into a harder, edgier, and more psychedelic sound (Brattin). He was also a guitar-playing pioneer who did things with the instrument that many, including musicians, hadn’t thought possible before him. Even though his popular career only lasted four years before his death, his playing and songwriting pulled rock into a modern age that still reverberates with his work (Murray).
