Mary Wilson, longest-reigning original Supreme, dies at 76

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Mary Wilson, one of the original members of the Supremes, the 1960s group that helped define the Motown sound and style and propelled Diana Ross to superstardom, has died. She was 76.

Wilson died Monday night at her home in Nevada and the cause was not immediately clear, said publicist Jay Schwartz.

Working mostly with the songwriting-producing team of Holland-Dozier-Holland, the Supremes had 12 No. 1 hits, including such classics as “Baby Love,” “Come See About Me,” “Stop! In the Name of Love” and “Back in My Arms Again.” Gordy was so invested in them that when “Nothing But Heartaches” failed to top the charts in the mid-1960s, Gordy wrote a company memo insisting that only No. 1 songs were acceptable for the Supremes. Balance was restored by their next release, “I Hear a Symphony.”

Wilson, Ross and Ballard were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.

Following the Supremes’ disbandment, Wilson released the solo albums “Mary Wilson” and “Walk the Line” and wrote a handful of books, including the best-selling “Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme” and “Supreme Faith: Someday We’ll Be Together.” Her last book, “Supreme Glamour,” was written with Mark Bego and was released in 2019, when she also competed on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” in 2019.

Wilson, in a recent YouTube video posted Saturday, said she was excited to celebrate Black history month, her upcoming birthday (March 6) and teased fans with the announcement that Universal Music had plans to release some of her music.

Wilson, in a recent YouTube video posted Saturday, said she was excited to celebrate Black history month, her upcoming birthday (March 6) and teased fans with the announcement that Universal Music had plans to release some of her music. Several celebrities mourned Wilson’s death on social media, including Viola Davis, Questlove and Kiss’ Paul Stanley, who said he was in touch with Wilson last week.

“We’re going to be talking about the Supremes, yeah, 60th anniversary, and I’m going to be talking a lot about that mainly because I’ve finally decided how to work with Universal and they’re going to release new recordings, Mary Wilson recordings,” she said. “Yes! At last!”

“Hopefully some of that will be out on my birthday,” she continued. “We’ll see. I’ve got my fingers crossed here. Yes I do.”