One of the most successful female artists of all time, Diana Ross was born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross on March 26th, 1944. She's famous as both a solo artist and as the lead singer of girl group The Supremes, during the sixties.

The American R&B, soul and pop singer has earned countless awards and achievements, including being named “Billboard” magazine's female artists of the century and “The Guinness Book of World Records” naming her the most successful female ever.

Diana has an amazing chart record, notching up an amazing 18 number one singles (six of them as a solo artist – and the rest from her days as a Supreme). Few artists have managed to better or equal this.

Diva diva started making moves into the music industry in 1959 as part of a doo-wop quartet called The Primettes. After two line-up changes, the group – which was signed to Motown Records - become a trio and changed its name to what would become one of the most famous band names in music history; The Supremes.

Initially the group's members – Diana, x and x, all took it in turns to sing the lead on their songs, but Motown chief Berry Gordy saw Diana's star potential and made her permanent lead singer in 1964. He believed her beautiful pop voice had the potential to appeal to a wide range of listeners, and would help them cross over to white audiences. He was right; between 1964-1967 the Supremes released 10 singles which all reached number one on the pop charts, and established them as the most successful black group of the sixties.

After a line-up change in summer 1967, (when Florence was fired and replaced by Cindy Birdsong) the group's name was changed to Diana Ross & the Supremes, reflecting the fact that Diana was the star of the group. After another two number one singles, Motown saw Diana's potential and a solo artist and she left the Supremes in 1970. While she recorded her debut album, the Supremes continued making music with another lead singer.

Diana's first solo album was released that year. It launched a number of soulful solo hit singles, including a cover of Marvin Gaye's “Ain't No Mountain High Enough”. Diana started to receive recognition for her achievements as a solo artist, with a Grammy nomination for Best [Female] Pop Vocal Performance.

But Diana hit a sophomore slump with the follow-up album, Everything Is Everything, and the album failed to produce a top ten hit on the American charts. Despite not getting commercial success with the album, it proved Diana had the talent to have a long career in the industry.

Soon Diana set her sights on Hollywood. When the news spread that she was going to star as jazz singer Billie Holiday in a new movie “Lady Sings The Blues”, Diana was heavily criticised, as she did not look or sound like her. However, when it hit theatres in late 1972, critics were silenced when the movie become an instant hit and Diana received the recognition for the role that she deserved. She recorded a number of Billie's songs for the film, which were released as a soundtrack. The album grabbed the number one spot.

By the mid-1970s, Diana was enjoying more chart success, with tracks like "Touch Me in the Morning" and a duets album with soul great Marvin Gaye called “Diana and Marvin”. Plus more movie roles followed for Diana, including the lead in “Mahogany”.

In 1976, Diana started making disco records, and the single "Love Hangover" was an R&B number one. The following year she completed a one-woman concert on Broadway. In 1978, she stared in “The Wiz” with Michael Jacksonand Richard Pryor.

In 1979 “The Boss” was released and “diana” hit stores in 1980, marking Diana's return to her music career. “diana” spawned two of the diva's most famous hits, “Upside Down” and “I'm Coming Out”, the second of which became a gay anthem and caused Diana's status as an icon for the gay community to soar. The two songs have been heavily sampled by other artists.

In 1981, Diana departed with Motown Records and joined RCA. Before leaving, she recorded a duet with Lionel Richie, the beautiful “Endless Love”, which became the biggest hit of her career; selling over two million copies.

After signing to RCA, Diana's hits continued, including a tribute “Missing You” to Marvin Gaye who had recently been shot by his father. However, Diana hit a second slump and her record sales nose-dived. She later returned to Motown Records. Her new records on the label enjoyed success in Europe and Japan, but didn't make as much of a impact in America.

In the 1990's, Diana returned to her acting career, appearing as a schizophrenic in the TV movie “Out of Darkness” (for which she received a Golden Globe nomination), and as a singer who meets up with the daughter, played by Brandy Norwood, she as a baby in “Double Platinum”.

Towards the end of the 1990's, Diana's private life started to steal the headlines way from her music and acting careers. First she was arrested at a London airport after an incident when she claimed she was sexually harassed by a guard. In 2002, she was arrested for drink driving. She served a 2-day sentence in a Connecticut jail cell.

In 2004, the now 60-year-old Diana began touring again, and a year later was chosen as the face of MAC's “Icon” make-up range. She is currently working on a new album, which will include duets.