Diane Ernestine Earle Ross Born March 26 1944 Better Known As Diana Ross Is An American Soul R&B And Pop Singer And Actress Born In Detroit Michigan. Ross Is One Of The Most Successful Female Artists Of Her Era Both Due To Her Solo Work And Her Role As Lead Singer Of The Supremes During The 1960s.
In 1959 Ross Was Brought To The Attention Of Milton Jenkins The Manager Of The Local Doo-Wop Group The Primes By Mary Wilson. Primes Member Paul Williams Convinced Jenkins To Enlist Ross In The Sister Group The Primettes Which Included Wilson Florence Ballard And Betty McGlown.
In 1976 Billboard Magazine Named Her The Female Entertainer Of The Century. In 1993 The Guinness Book Of World Records Listed Her As The Most Successful Female Artist Ever The Title Is Now Attributed To Madonna Partly Due To Her Combined Total Of Eighteen Number-One Singles Six Of Them Recorded Solo And The Remaining Dozen From Her Work With The Supremes.
Ross Was Also One Of The Few Pop Singers To Find Modest Success In The Acting World Winning An Academy Award Nomination For Her Role As Billie Holiday In The 1972 Film "Lady Sings The Blues" As Well As Having Hits With Other Film Roles Such As "Mahogany" "Out Of Darkness" And "Double Platinum" Not To Mention Her Role In "The Wiz".
Ross Has Been Awarded Many Lifetime Achievement Accolades From Many Organizations And Media Outlets She Has Been Featured On BET Soul Train And Awarded Multiple Times At The NAACP Image Awards The Kennedy Center Honors In 2007 And Given The Grammy Lifetime Achievement In 2011.
Ross' Professional Vocal Collaborators Have Included The Following During Her Career Marvin Gaye Lionel Richie Rod Stewart Stevie Wonder Michael Jackson Julio Iglesias Jose Carreras Placido Domingo And Smokey Robinson Among Many Others. . User-Contributed Text Is Available Under The Creative Commons By-SA License Additional Terms May Apply.
"Upside Down" Is A Hit Song By Diana Ross Released On The Motown Label. It Was The First Single Taken From Her 1980 Album Diana And Hit Number 1 On The Billboard Hot 100 On 6 September 1980. It Also Hit Number 1 On The Billboard Disco/Dance And R&B Charts. The Single Was Released A Full 4 Weeks After The Album Was Released. In Its Fifth Week On The Billboard Hot 100 It Made A Dramatic Leap Into The Top 10 *49-*10 . It Held Down The Number 1 Title For 4 Weeks. The Single Was Also A Big Hit Internationally Charting In Over 12 Countries Topping The Singles Charts In Sweden Italy Norway And Switzerland While Reaching Number 5 In Canada. It Also Rose To Number 2 On The UK Singles Chart Marking The Highest Peak Performance From Ross As A Solo Artist Since "I'm Still Waiting" In 1971. The Song Listed At Number 62 On Billboard's "Greatest Songs Of All Time". The Song Was Written By Bernard Edwards And Nile Rodgers Of The Band Chic . In A 2011 Interview Nile Rodgers Said "Diana Ross Was The First Big Star We Ever Worked With And We Took It Very Seriously." Rodgers And Edwards Interviewed Her For Several Days. "This Was The First Time In Her Life Somebody Cared About Who She Was What She Was - Everyone Previously Had Treated Her The Way We Had Treated Sister Sledge - They Got Her In And Said 'Sing This'. We Took A More Personal Approach ." The Song Would Be Later Covered And Sampled By The Likes Of Salt-N-Pepa Kid Rock Missy Elliott Alcazar Puff Daddy Collette And MC Lyte Who Had A Hit Under The "Upside Down" Sample In Lyte's 1996 Hit "Cold Rock A Party Remix ". The Salt-N-Pepa Version Was Featured On The Space Jam Soundtrack. The Song Was Later Covered By Destiny's Child During A Tribute Show Honoring Ross And Her Career On A VH1 Divas Special. Their Version Is Featured On Their Album Single Remix Tracks. In 1994 The Song Was Used In Mickey's Fun Songs Let's Go To The Circus With A Different Arrangement And Lyrics. In 1997 Ross Performed The Song Live With British Band Jamiroquai At "The Brit Awards" Ceremony. Upside Down Was Also Covered And Released As A Single In Late 2001 By Australian R & B Girl Group X3 Times Three . It Followed The Release Of Their First Single And Album 'Girl Like Me'. The Song Received Healthy Airplay And Was Promoted Well In Australia But Did Not Chart Well. In 2001 Contemporary Jazz/fusion Group Pieces Of A Dream Offered Their Version From The Release "Acquainted With The Night." In 2004 Alcazar Sampled "Upside Down" In Their Song "This Is The World We Live In".