Music / Literature
Mary Wilson
1944–2021 · singer, author
Founding member of the Supremes who grew up in Detroit's Brewster-Douglass projects and stayed with the group longer than any other original member.
- Born
Greenville, Mississippi- Died
Henderson, Nevada
aged 76- Detroit years
- late 1940s–1970s
- Field
- Music, Literature
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Born in Greenville, Mississippi, Wilson spent part of her early childhood with an aunt and uncle in Detroit before her mother and siblings joined them in the city. The family eventually settled in the Brewster-Douglass housing projects, where she met Florence Ballard. The two formed the Primettes with Diana Ross and Betty McGlown, a sister act to the Primes, and after persistent visits to Hitsville U.S.A. they signed with Motown in 1961 as the Supremes. Wilson graduated from Northeastern High School in January 1962, while the "no-hit Supremes" were still waiting for their break; from 1964 the group scored twelve No. 1 singles, ten with her harmonies. She was the only original member to remain until the group disbanded in 1977. Her 1986 memoir Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme became a bestseller and a vivid record of the group's Detroit years, and she later campaigned for Truth in Music laws against impostor oldies acts.
Highlights
- Founding member of the Supremes (1959–1977)
- Sang on ten of the group's twelve Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits
- Bestselling memoir Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme (1986)
- Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Supremes in 1988
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 3
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.
Lived here · 1950s–early 1960s
Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects
Demolished
Public housing complex where the future Supremes grew up and met; the low-rises came down in 1991 and the Douglass towers in 2003–2014. New housing is under construction on the site.
Studied here · 1958–1962
Northeastern High School
Demolished · 1982
East-side high school she graduated from in January 1962; it closed in 1982 and was later demolished.
Recorded here · 1960–1972
Motown Museum
Motown's studio, where the Supremes hung around until they were signed and later cut their hits; now the Motown Museum.