They first approached Berry Gordy of Motown while they were still at school although they audioned for Gordy he told them to come back and see him again when they had left school. They did just that and The Primettes were signed to Motown in 1961. Berry Gordy insisted that the group name be changed. It was Florence Ballard decided that the The Supremes would be their new name. Their first record was I Want A Guy which was released on Motown's Tamla label. Barbara Martin left shortly afterwards to start a family and the group decided to continue as a trio.
In the begining they all took turns in singing lead but it was Berry Gordy who could see the the potential in Diana Ross and made her the sole lead singer. Florence Ballard left in 1967 and began a solo career with ABC Records. Her singles were unsuccessful and her solo album was never released. She died in 1976 aged 32 after having a cardic arrest. Florence was replaced by Cindy Birdsong who had been a member of Patti LaBell and the Blue Bells. As Cindy joined the group The Supremes became Diana Ross & The Supremes.
Diana Ross left the group in 1970 to start a solo career and was replaced by Jean Terrell. Their last chart hits in the UK were in 1972, Floy Joy(No.9) and Automatically Sunshine (No.10). Baby Love was re-issued in the UK in 1974 and hit No12 in the charts.
The line up of the group kept changing Cindy Birdsong was replaced by Lynda Laurence, Jean Terrell replaced by Scherrie Payne, Lynda Laurence was replaced by Cindy Birdsong. Birdsong left again and Susaye Greene joined the group. In 1977 the goup performed a UK farewell concert in London and officially disbanded a short time later.
In 1998, The Supremes were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.
They had twelve No.1 hits in the USA but in Europe it was only in the UK that they had a No.1