Music
Barbara Martin
1943–2020 · singer
Detroit-born member of the Primettes who signed with Motown as one of the four original Supremes in 1961.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Detroit, Michigan
aged 76- Birth name
- Barbara Diane Martin
- Also known as
- Barbara Martin Richardson
- Detroit years
- 1943–2020
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Martin was born in Detroit and in 1960 joined the Primettes, the teenage quartet of Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson and Diane (later Diana) Ross, replacing Betty McGlown. On January 15, 1961, the four signed with Motown as the Supremes, a name Ballard picked from a list offered by songwriter Janie Bradford. Martin sang on many of the group's early singles, sharing the lead with Ross on "(He's) Seventeen", and on most of their first album, Meet the Supremes, though she is not on its cover: she left in 1962, before the group's breakthrough, and the Supremes continued as a trio. She later earned a psychology degree and worked in mental health, and out of respect for her former bandmates she almost never gave interviews about her time in the group. She died in March 2020.
Highlights
- One of the four Supremes who signed with Motown in January 1961
- Shared lead vocal on "(He's) Seventeen"
- Sang on most of Meet the Supremes (1962)
- Later worked in mental health
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Recorded here · 1961–1962
Motown Museum
The early Supremes recorded here in Studio A.