Diana Ross at 80
Majestic, talented, and determined are accurate descriptions to outline her life spanning eighty years. Diana Ross went from the projects of Detroit, Michigan to be one of the most iconic artists of all time. She influenced every musician of the 21st century directly or indirectly without question. She was born in the Midwestern city of Detroit, Michigan. She was born to Ernestine Ross and Fred Ross Sr. She was the 2nd to six children. Diana Ross grew up in the North End section of Detroit and in Brewster Douglas Housing Projects in Detroit when she was a teenager. Diana Ross was raised Baptist. She attended Cass Technical High School, a four-year college and preparatory magnet school in downtown Detroit. Ross wanted to be a fashion designer. Diana Ross graduated from Cass Tech in January 1962. From 1959 to 1970, she was in The Supremes as a group member. Back in 1959, they were the Primettes. She worked with the Primes. The Supremes worked hard to promote their songs globally. They helped to make Motown one of the greatest music empires in history. The Supremes once had Barbara Martin. We know about Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson. The Supremes was the most successful group of Motown during the 1960's. They had hits like Baby Love, Where Did Our Love Go, Come See About Me, Stop! in the Name of Love, and Love Child. The Supremes had music about love, relationships, and togetherness. Later, Diana Ross established her own solo career. I'm Still Waiting, was a great song too. Her first American solo hit was Reach Out and Touch Somebody's Hand. Everything is Everything from 1970 was her second solo album. She was in movies like Ladies Sings the Blues (about Billie Holiday) and Mahogany. She made more hits like Love Hangover, Upside Down, Endless Love (in 1981 with Lionel Richie), and Chain Reaction. She was in The Wiz with her close friend Michael Jackson. By 1976, Diana Ross was called by Billboard as the Woman Entertainer of the Century. She earned a Special Tony Award in 1977, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007, and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 and in 2013. She earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016. Many of her children are actress and musicians like Tracee Ellis Ross and Evan. Diana Ross has seven grandchildren. Diana Ross has influenced Beyonce, Michael Jackson, Brandy, Ting Tings, Ledisi, Questlove, and other people. In 1999, she was in the movie Double Platinum with Brandy Norwood. Thank You was her 25th studio album which was released in November of 2021 during the pandemic. She made music and tours as recently as October of 2023. She loves all of her five children. Now, it is the perfect occasion to give a detailed analysis of her life.
Growing Up in Detroit
Diana Ross was born in the Midwestern city of Detroit, Michigan on March 26, 1944. She was the second of six children. Her parents were Ernestine Moten and Fred Ross Sr. Ross grew up with two sisters named Barbara and Rita along with three brothers, Arthur, Fred Jr., and Wilbert (known as Chico). Diana Ross was raised in the Baptist Church. At first, her family was from 635 Belmont St., in the North End section of Detroit, near Highland Park, Michigan, where her neighbor was Smokey Robinson. When Ross was seven, her mother contracted tuberculosis, causing her to become seriously ill. Ross's parents sent their children to live with Ernestine's parents, the Reverend (pastor of Bessemer Baptist Church), and Mrs. William Moton in Bessemer, Alabama. After her mother recovered, she and her siblings returned to Detroit. By the time Diana Ross was 14 years old, in 1958, her family moved into the working-class Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects, settling at St. Antoine Street. Ross attended Cass Technical High School. This location was a four-year college and preparatory magnet school in downtown Detroit. At first, she wanted to be a fashion designer. She took classes in clothing design, millinery, pattern making, and tailoring. During the evenings and on weekends she also took modeling and cosmetology classes (Ross has written that Robinson loaned her the funds required to attend the courses), and participated in several of the school's extracurricular activities, including its swim team. In 1960, Hudson's downtown Detroit store hired Ross as its first African American bus girl. For extra income, she also provided hairdressing services to her neighbors. Ross graduated from Cass Tech in January 1962. By the time when she was 15 years old, Diana Ross joined the Primettes, the sister group to a male vocal group called the Primes, after she had been brought to the attention of music manager Milton Jenkins by Primes member Paul Williams. Among the other members of the Primettes were Florence Ballard (the first group member hired by Jenkins), Mary Wilson, and Betty McGlown, Williams' then-girlfriend. After the Primettes won a talent competition in 1960 in Windsor, Ontario, A&R executive and songwriter, Robert Bateman invited them to audition for Motown Records.
The Primettes had much success in live performances at sock hops and other events. Diana Ross approached William "Smokey" Robinson, her former neighbor (rumored to also have been her childhood boyfriend) about auditioning for Motown; he insisted that the group audition for him first. Robinson then agreed to bring the Primettes to Motown, on condition that they allow him and his group, the Miracles, to hire the Primettes' guitarist, Marv Tarplin (who had been discovered by Ross) for an upcoming tour. Tarplin ended up playing in Robinson's band(s) for the next 30-plus years. In her autobiography, Secrets of a Sparrow, Ross wrote that she felt that this had been "a fair trade."
The Primettes later auditioned for Motown, before various Motown executives. In Berry Gordy's autobiography, To Be Loved, Gordy recalled that he had been heading to a business meeting when he happened to hear Ross singing "There Goes My Baby", and that Ross's voice "stopped me in my tracks." He approached the group and asked them to perform it again, but, after learning how young they were, Gordy advised them to finish high school before trying to get signed by Motown.
Undeterred, the group began coming to Motown's Hitsville U.S.A. headquarters every day, offering to provide extra help for Motown's recordings, often including hand claps and background vocals. That year, the group recorded two tracks for Lu Pine Records, with Ross singing lead on one of them. During the group's early years, Ross served as its hairstylist, make-up artist, seamstress, and costume designer. In late 1960, having replaced McGlown with Barbara Martin, the Primettes were allowed to record their own songs at Hitsville studio, many written by "Smokey" Robinson, who, by then, was vice president of Motown ("Your Heart Belongs to Me" and "A Breathtaking Guy"). Gordy, too, composed songs for the trio, including "Buttered Popcorn" (featuring Ballard on lead) and "Let Me Go the Right Way." While these songs were regional hits, they were not nationwide successes.
In January 1961, Gordy agreed to sign the group on the condition they change their name. Songwriter and Motown secretary Janie Bradford approached Florence Ballard, the only group member at the studio at the time, to pick out a new name for the group. Ballard chose "Supremes", reportedly, because it was the only name on the list that did not end with "ette." Upon hearing the new name, the other members weren't impressed, with Ross telling Ballard she feared the group would be mistaken for a male vocal group (a male vocal group was, indeed, named the Supremes). Gordy signed the group under their new name on January 15, 1961. The Supremes was born.
Being Part of the Supremes
The Supremes featured amazingly talented black women. Diana Ross was very ambitious and eager to show her talents to the world. By January 1961, the Supremes signed with Barry Gordy and Motown. Diana Ross, Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, and Barbara Martin were in the group by January 15, 1961. Barbara Martin left the group, so The Supremes became a trio. In late 1963, the Supremes ad their first hit When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes. It peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. Diana Ross became the lead singer by the edict of Gordy. In June 1964, while on tour with Dick Clark's Cavalcade of Stars, the group scored their first number-one hit with "Where Did Our Love Go", paving the way for unprecedented success: between August 1964 and May 1967, Ross, Wilson, and Ballard sang on ten number-one hit singles, all of which also made the UK Top 40. The group had also become a hit with audiences both domestically and abroad, going on to become Motown's most successful vocal act throughout the sixties.
Ross began to dominate interviews with the media, answering questions aimed at Ballard or Wilson. She pushed for more pay than her colleagues. In 1965, she began using the name Diana from the mistake on her birth certificate, surprising Ballard and Wilson who had only known her as Diane. Following significant issues with comportment, weight, and alcoholism, Florence Ballard was fired from the Supremes by Gordy in July 1967, hiring Cindy Birdsong from Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles as Ballard's replacement. Florence Ballard deserves compassion, and she was a gentle soul. Gordy renamed the group Diana Ross & the Supremes, making it easier to charge a larger performance fee for a solo star and a backing group, as it did for other renamed Motown groups. I disagree with Berry Gordy for these decisions for many reasons. One is that Florence Ballard was a victim of rape who deserved the opportunity to have compassion and therapy, not to be fired quickly. Also, Florence Ballard should have stayed in the group a lot longer as a means of solidarity. Florence Ballard is an underrated vocalist. The Supremes is about women's empowerment and black talent.
The group appeared as a trio of singing nuns in a 1968 episode of the popular NBC TV series Tarzan. Between their early 1968 single "Forever Came Today" and their final single with Ross, "Someday We'll Be Together," Ross would be the only Supremes member to be featured on many of their recordings, often accompanied by session singers the Andantes or, as in the case of "Someday We'll Be Together", Julia and Maxine Waters and Johnny Bristol. Still, Wilson and Birdsong continued to sing on recordings. Gordy drove Ross relentlessly throughout this period and Ross, due to anxiety arising from Gordy's demands of her, began suffering from anorexia nervosa, according to her autobiography, Secrets of a Sparrow. During a 1967 performance in Boston, Massachusetts, Ross collapsed onstage and had to be hospitalized for exhaustion. In 1968, Ross began to perform as a solo artist on television specials, including the Supremes' own specials such as TCB and G.I.T. on Broadway, The Dinah Shore Show, and a Bob Hope special, among others. In mid-1969, Gordy decided that Ross would depart the group by the end of that year, and Ross began recording her initial solo work that July. One of the first plans for Ross to establish her own solo career was to publicly introduce a new Motown recording act. Though she herself did not claim their discovery, Motown's publicity department credited Ross with having discovered the Jackson 5. Ross would introduce the group during several public events, including The Hollywood Palace. In November, Ross confirmed a split from the Supremes on Billboard. Ross's presumed first solo recording, "Someday We'll Be Together", was eventually released as a Supremes recording and became the group's final number-one hit on the Hot 100. It was also the final number-one Billboard Hot 100 single of the 1960s. Ross made her final appearance with the Supremes at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 14, 1970.
Her Solo Music and Movie Career
By May of 1970, Diana Ross released her eponymous debut solo album. It had hits like Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand) and A'int No Mountain High Enough. Diana Ross made more albums like Everything is Everything in 1970 and Surrender in 1971. I'm Still Waiting is a 1971 ballad that was her first number-one single in the UK. In 1971, she also starred in her first solo television special called Diana! which included the Jackson 5. By this time, she was working on her first film called Lady Sings the Blues. It was released to the public in October 1972 that detailed the life story of the icon Billie Holiday. The film was a classic filled with drama, emotion, contributions to music, and a legacy. Ross won critical acclaim for her performance in the film. Jazz critic Leonard Feather, a friend of Holiday's, praised Ross for "expertly capturing the essence of Lady Day." Ross's role in the film won her Golden Globe Award and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress. The soundtrack to Lady Sings the Blues became just as successful, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200, staying there for two weeks, and selling two million units. In November 1972, Ross sang the song "When We Grow Up" for the children's album, Free to Be... You and Me. In 1973, Ross had her second number-one hit in the U.S. with the ballad "Touch Me in the Morning." Later in the year, Motown issued Diana and Marvin, a duet album with fellow Motown artist Marvin Gaye. The album became an international hit. Touring throughout 1973, Ross became the first entertainer in Japan's history to receive an invitation to the Imperial Palace for a private audience with the Empress Nagako, wife of Emperor Hirohito. In April 1974, Ross became the first African-American woman to co-host the Academy Awards, with John Huston, Burt Reynolds, and David Niven. After the release of the 1973 album Last Time I Saw Him, Diana Ross acted in more films. The 1975 film that she was in was Mahogany with Billy Dee Williams. The film is about black people in the fashion industry, issues in the black community, exploitation, and other matters in a realistic fashion. Diana Ross designed the wardrobe in the film herself. Mahogany was the story of an aspiring fashion designer who became a runway model and the toast of the industry, Mahogany was a troubled production from its inception. The film's original director, Tony Richardson, was fired during production, and Berry Gordy assumed the director's chair himself.
Gordy and Ross clashed during filming, with Ross leaving the production before shooting was completed, forcing Gordy to use Secretary Edna Anderson as a body double for Ross. While a box-office success, the film was not well received by the critics: Time magazine's review of the film chastised Gordy for "squandering one of America's most natural resources: Diana Ross." Nonetheless, Ross had her third number-one hit in the U.S. with "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)." A year later, in 1976, Ross released her fourth solo number-one hit, "Love Hangover", a sensual, dramatic mid-tempo song that bursts into an uptempo disco tune. Later that year, Ross launched her "An Evening with Diana Ross" tour. The tour's success led to a two-week stint at Broadway's Palace Theatre and a 90-minute, Emmy-nominated television special of the same name, featuring special make-up effects by Stan Winston, for a scene in which Ross portrayed legendary cabaret artist Josephine Baker and blues singers Bessie Smith and Ethel Waters, and a Special Tony Award. The albums Baby It's Me (1977) and Ross (1978) sold modestly. The film adaptation of The Wiz had been a $24 million production, but upon its October 1978 release, it earned only $21,049,053 at the box office. Though pre-release television broadcast rights had been sold to CBS for over $10 million, the film produced a net loss of $10.4 million for Motown and Universal. At the time, it was the most expensive film musical ever made. The Wiz remains a powerful film and a classic for the black American community and other communities too. The Wiz had Diana Ross and Michael Jackson displaying great acting chemistry together.
In 1979, Ross released The Boss, continuing her popularity with dance audiences, as the title song became a number-one dance single. On July 16, 1979, Ross guest-hosted an episode of Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show, featuring Lynda Carter, George Carlin, and Muhammad Ali as guests. Later that year, Ross hosted the HBO special, Standing Room Only, filmed at Caesars Palace's Circus Maximus Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada, during her "Tour '79" concert tour. This concert special is noted for its opening, during which Ross literally makes her entrance through a movie screen. In November of that year, Ross performed The Boss album's title track as a featured artist during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, in New York City. Later, Diana Ross will continue to thrive during the 1980's.
Diana Ross and Michael Jackson
Diana Ross and Michael Jackson were close friends for decades. Their relationship have been a product of rumors, but the truth is that both Diana Ross and Michael Jackson loved each other deeply. They met when Michael Jackson was nine years old when he was in the Jackson Five group. From that moment onward, they were close friends. Diana Ross didn't discover The Jackson 5, but Diana Ross supported the Jackson Five. Michael Jackson was taught about the industry by Diana Ross, and Diana Ross was in plays with Michael Jackson in the 1970's. Michael Jackson and Diana worked on the movie The Wiz by the late 1970's. Also, both people would perform together in the 1980's, go to music events together, and had a close relationship. In 1981, Jackson appeared on a Diana Ross TV special, in which Ross teased him about being attractive to her. In 1981, Jackson appeared on a Diana Ross TV special, in which Ross teased him about being "very sexy."
According to Jackson's brother, Jermaine, the pair would engage in an on-and-off relationship, and Jackson openly referred to Ross as his girlfriend. He claimed his brother wouldn't let anyone else near her and even considered marrying her. Some people disagree with this view. According to biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli, there was no sexual relationship between them even though he wrote in his book Call Me Miss Ross that Jackson was heartbroken when Ross got married to Arne Naess. Jackson did not attend the wedding and told Taraborrelli, "I was jealous because I've always loved Diana Ross and always will." In Call Me Miss Ross, Taraborrelli wrote that Ross said, "I was older. He kind of idolized me and wanted to sing like me." Regardless of the truth, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson had a close friendship. When Jackson died in 2009, Ross released the following statement: "I can't stop crying, this is too sudden and shocking. I am unable to imagine this. My heart is hurting. I am in prayer for his kids and the family." Shortly after his death, records revealed that Jackson had written in his 2002 will that he wanted Ross to have custody of his three children should his mother Catherine die before him. During the World Music Awards in 1996, Diana Ross sat on Michael Jackson's lap singing to him. I don't recall friends doing that all of the time, so they had a very powerful emotional link. Jackson wanted Ross to be the second person in line to take care of his kids after he was gone, while Ross still defends her friend and remembers him on his birthday every year.
The 1980's
By 1980, Diana Ross released her most successful solo album to date called Diana. Chic's guitarists Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards were involved in hits like I'm Coming Out and Upside Down. The latter song was her fifth chart topping single in America. Ross scored a Top 10 hit in late 1980 with the theme song to the film It's My Turn. Continuing her connections with Hollywood, Ross recorded the duet ballad "Endless Love", with Lionel Richie. The song would become her sixth and final single to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Ross began negotiations to leave Motown at the end of 1980. After over 20 years with the label, Ross received US$250,000 as severance. RCA Records offered Ross a $20 million, seven-year recording contract, which gave her complete production control of her albums. Before signing onto the label, Ross allegedly asked Berry Gordy if he could match RCA's offer. Gordy stated that doing so was "impossible." Ross then signed with RCA on May 20, 1981. At the time, Ross's was music history's most expensive recording deal. In October 1981, Ross released her first RCA album, Why Do Fools Fall in Love. The album sold over a million copies and featured hit singles such as her remake of the classic hit of the same name and "Mirror Mirror". Shortly thereafter, Ross established her production company, named Anaid Productions ("Diana" spelled backwards), and also began investing in real estate and touring extensively in the United States and abroad.
Before the release of Why Do Fools Fall in Love, Ross hosted her first TV special in four years, Diana. Directed by Steve Binder, the concert portions of the special were filmed at Inglewood, California's 17,500-seat The Forum indoor stadium and featured performances by Michael Jackson, Muhammad Ali, Dallas actor Larry Hagman, music impresario Quincy Jones, and members of the Joffrey Ballet. In early 1982, Ross sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XVI and appeared on the musical variety show Soul Train. The episode, devoted completely to her, featured Ross performing several songs from Why Do Fools Fall in Love.
On May 6, 1982, Ross was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She followed up the success of Why Do Fools Fall in Love with Silk Electric, which featured the Michael Jackson-written and -produced "Muscles", resulting in another Top 10 Grammy nominated success for Ross. The album eventually went gold on the strength of that song. In 1983, Ross ventured further out of her earlier soul-based sound for a more pop rock-oriented sound following the release of the Ross album. Though the album featured the Top 40 hit single, "Pieces of Ice", the Ross album did not generate any more hits or achieve gold status. On July 21, 1983, Ross performed a free concert on Central Park's Great Lawn, aired live worldwide by Showtime. Proceeds from the concert would be donated to build a playground in the singer's name. Midway through the beginning of the show, a torrential downpour began. Ross tried to continue performing, but the severe weather forced the show to be stopped after 45 minutes. Ross urged the large crowd to exit the venue safely, promising to perform the next day.
The next day's concert suffered no rain, but the memorabilia that was supposed to be sold to raise money for the playground had already been destroyed by the storm. When journalists discovered the exorbitant costs of the two concerts, Ross faced criticism from Mayor Ed Koch and the Parks Department commissioner. During a subsequent mayoral press conference, Ross handed Koch a check for US$250,000 for the project The Diana Ross Playground was built three years later. In 1984, Ross released Swept Away. The album featured "All of You", a duet with friend Julio Iglesias. The single was featured on both Ross's album and Iglesias's 1100 Bel Air Place, his first English-language album. It became an international hit, as did the Lionel Richie-penned ballad "Missing You", composed as a tribute to Marvin Gaye, who had been killed earlier that year. Swept Away garnered gold record sales status. Eaten Alive was her 1985 album which was produced by Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees. It has the song Chain Reaction. She worked with Michael Jackson and Gibb on the album too. In 1985, she was in the USA for Africa's We Are the World charity song that sold 20 million copies worldwide. Money from the song went to fight famine in Africa. On January 27, 1986, Ross hosted the 13th annual American Music Awards. Ross returned the next year to host the 14th annual telecast. She came back to Motown and won the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Supremes (along with Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard). She has the song If We Hold Together song from the film The Land Before Time in 1988. Her 1989 album was Workin' Overtime.
Her Later Career
Diana Ross made more albums like The Force Behind the Power in 1991, Take Me High in 1995, and Every Day is a New Day in 1999. By 1991, Diana Ross was one of the few American artists to have headlined the annual Royal Variety Performance, performing a selection of her UK hits before Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at the Victoria Palace Theatre, London. This marked her second appearance at the Royal Variety Performance, the first being in 1968 with the Supremes. The Force Behind the Power sparked a comeback when the album went platinum in the UK. It is led by the No. 2 UK hit single "When You Tell Me That You Love Me." The album produced 9 singles across international territories, including another Top 10 UK hit "One Shining Moment." In 1993, Ross returned to acting with a dramatic role in the television film, Out of Darkness. Ross won acclaim for her role in the TV movie and earned her third Golden Globe nomination.
In 1994, One Woman: The Ultimate Collection, a career retrospective compilation, became a number one hit in the UK, selling quadruple platinum. The retrospective was EMI's alternative to Motown's box set Forever Diana: Musical Memoirs. Ross performed during the opening ceremony of the 1994 FIFA World Cup held in Chicago and during the pre-match entertainment of the 1995 Rugby League World Cup final at Wembley Stadium. The World Cup ceremony had her take a penalty kick that was staged for her to score, and the goalposts were intended to fall down from the power of her shot. She infamously missed the penalty instead. On January 28, 1996, Ross performed at the Super Bowl XXX halftime show, held at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Earlier that month, Ross's Tokyo concert, Diana Ross: Live in Japan, filmed live at the city's Nippon Budokan Stadium, was released. In May 1996, Ross received the World Music Awards' Lifelong Contribution to the Music Industry Award. In that awards show, Diana Ross sat on Michael Jackson's lap and sang to him. On November 29, EMI released the compilation album, Voice of Love, featuring the singles "In the Ones You Love", "You Are Not Alone" and "I Hear (The Voice of Love)."
On February 8, 1997, EMI released the Japanese edition of Ross's album, A Gift of Love, featuring the single, "Promise Me You'll Try." In May, she performed with operatic tenors Plácido Domingo and José Carreras again at the Superconcert of the Century concert, held in Taipei, Taiwan. She later inducted the Jackson 5 into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on May 6. On February 19, 1998, Ross hosted the Motown 40 telecast on ABC. In 1999, Ross was named the most successful woman singer in the history of the United Kingdom charts, based on a tally of her career hits. Madonna would soon succeed Ross as the most successful woman artist in the UK. Later that year, Ross presented at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards in September of the year and shocked the audience by touching rapper Lil' Kim's exposed breast and pasty-covered nipple, amazed at the young rapper's brashness. In 1999, she and Brandy Norwood co-starred in the television movie, Double Platinum, which was aired prior to the release of Ross's album, Every Day Is a New Day. From that album, Ross scored a Top 10 hit in the UK in November of that year with "Not Over You Yet."
21st Century Developments
Diana Ross reunited with Mary Wilson first in 1976 to attend the funeral service of Florence Ballard, who died in February of that year. In March 1983, Ross agreed to reunite with Wilson and Cindy Birdsong for the television special Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever. The Supremes did not rehearse their performance for that evening, due to time constraints. A scheduled medley of hits was canceled. Instead of following producer Suzanne de Passe's instructions to recreate their choreography from their final Ed Sullivan Show appearance, Wilson (according to her autobiography) planned with Birdsong to take a step forward every time Ross did the same, then began to sing lead on the group's final number-one hit song, "Someday We'll Be Together", on which Wilson did not perform. Later, Wilson introduced Berry Gordy from the stage (unaware that the program's script called for Ross to introduce Gordy), at which point Ross subtly pushed down Wilson's hand-held microphone, stating, "It's been taken care of." Ross then re-introduced Gordy. These moments were excised from the final edit of the taped special, but still made their way into the news media; People magazine reported that "Ross [did] some elbowing to get Wilson out of the spotlight."
In 1999, Ross and mega-tour promoter SFX Entertainment (which later became Live Nation) began negotiations regarding a Diana Ross tour which would include a Supremes segment. During negotiations with Ross, the promoters considered the creation of a Supremes tour, instead. Ross agreed. As the tour's co-producer, Ross invited all living former Supremes to participate. Neither Jean Terrell nor late 1970s member Susaye Greene chose to participate. 70s Supremes Lynda Laurence and Scherrie Payne were then touring as Former Ladies of the Supremes.
Ross contacted Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong, who then began negotiations with SFX. Negotiations with Wilson and Birdsong (who allowed Wilson to negotiate on her behalf) failed when Wilson refused SFX's and Ross's offer of $4 million for 30 performances. Following the passage of SFX's final deadline for Wilson to accept their offer, Payne and Laurence, already negotiating with SFX, signed on to perform with Ross on the tour. Laurence and Payne would later say that they got along well with Ross. The newly formed group performed together on Today and The Oprah Winfrey Show, as well as VH1's VH1 Divas 2000: A Tribute to Diana Ross. The Return to Love Tour launched in June 2000, to a capacity audience in Philadelphia. The tour's final performance was at New York City's Madison Square Garden. The tour was canceled by SFX shortly thereafter, due to mediocre ticket sales, despite glowing reviews from media as varied as Billboard magazine, the Detroit Free Press, the Los Angeles Times, and The Village Voice newspapers. On December 5, 2000, Ross received a Heroes Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS). The Heroes Award is the highest distinction bestowed by the New York Chapter
Diana Ross's first public post RTL appearance was at a fundraiser for former President Bill Clinton. In January 2001, Love & Life: The Very Best of Diana Ross was released in the United Kingdom, becoming Ross's 17th gold album in that country. In June, Ross presented costume designer Bob Mackie with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the American Fashion Awards. Two days before the September 11 attacks, Ross performed "God Bless America" at the US Open before the tournament's women's final, between Venus and Serena Williams. Immediately following the attacks, Ross performed the song again at Shea Stadium, before the New York Mets first game, after driving cross-country to be with her children (in the wake of the attacks, flying in the U.S. was temporarily restricted). Ross teamed with legendary singers Patti LaBelle and Eartha Kitt, among others, for a Nile Rodgers-produced recording of Sister Sledge's classic disco hit, "We Are Family", recorded to benefit the families' of 9/11 victims. Diana Ross worked hard to tour at London and other places of the world. She fought alcohol addiction by the early 2000's. In May 2004, Ross and daughter Tracee Ellis Ross appeared on the cover of Essence magazine, in celebration of its 50th anniversary. On December 8, 2004, Ross was the featured performer for Stevie Wonder's Billboard Music Awards' Century Award tribute.
Diana Ross raised money for the tsunami victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. She promoted his M.A.C. Icon makeup collection, as part of the beauty corporation's Icon series. In 2005, Ross participated in Rod Stewart's Thanks for the Memory: The Great American Songbook, Volume IV recording a duet version of the Gershwin standard, "I've Got a Crush on You." The song was released as promotion for the album and later reached No. 19 on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary chart, marking her first Billboard chart entry since 2000. Also in 2005, Ross was featured as an honored guest at Oprah Winfrey's Legends Ball Weekend, a three-day celebration honoring 25 African-American women in art, entertainment, and civil rights. On May 22, 2006, a year after the celebration, a one-hour program about the weekend aired on ABC, including celebrity interviews and behind-the-scenes moments. On March 22, 2006, Ross's televised Central Park concerts, entitled "For One & for All", were named TV Land Awards' Viewer's Choice for Television's Greatest Music Moment. In 2007, Ross was honored with the BET Awards' Lifetime Achievement Award and, later, as one of the honorees at the Kennedy Center Honors. She has the album I Love You in 2006. In 2011, Ross was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame.
In February 2012, Ross received her first Grammy Award, for Lifetime Achievement, and announced the nominees for the Album of the Year. In May, a DVD of her Central Park concert performances, For One & For All, was released and featured commentary from Steve Binder, who directed the special. A month later, on December 9, she performed as the marquee and headlining performer at the White House-hosted Christmas in Washington concert, where she performed before former President Barack Obama. The event was later broadcast as an annual special on TNT. On November 27, 2015, Motown/Universal released the album Diana Ross Sings Songs from The Wiz, recorded in 1978. The album features Ross's versions of songs from the film version of the musical The Wiz, in which she starred along with Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross, Richard Pryor and Lena Horne. She mourned the passing of Michael Jackson in 2009.
On June 30, 2017, Ross headlined the Essence Festival in New Orleans, Louisiana, with her daughter Rhonda Ross-Kendrick performing as the opening act. On November 19, 2017, Ross received the American Music Awards Lifetime Achievement Award. Ross performed several of her hits, ending with "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", during which she brought all of her grandchildren onstage. Her eldest grandson, eight-year-old Raif-Henok Emmanuel Kendrick, son of Rhonda Ross-Kendrick and husband, Rodney, performed an impromptu dance behind Ross, which gained attention. Ross was then joined onstage by all of her children, their spouses, first ex-husband Robert Ellis, Smokey Robinson (who brought Ross to Motown), and Motown founder, Berry Gordy. Diana Ross promoted her fragrance called Diamond Diana on the Home Shopping Network. Ross released her twenty-fifth studio album Thank You in November 2021. It was written and recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and contains her first original material since 1999's Every Day Is a New Day. The album had songs like Turn Up the Sunshine with the band Tame Impala. On November 15, 2022, Ross received a 2023 Grammy Award nomination in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category for Thank You. On June 9, 2023, Ross kicked off the US leg of The Music Legacy Tour which celebrated her greatest #1 hits. Later in 2023, Ross performed at London's Royal Albert Hall on October 14 and 15, and again in April 2024.
Ross became romantically involved with Motown CEO Berry Gordy in 1965. The relationship lasted several years, resulting in the birth of Ross's eldest child, Rhonda Suzanne Silberstein, in August 1971. Two months into her pregnancy with Rhonda, in January 1971, Ross married music executive Robert Ellis Silberstein, who raised Rhonda as his own daughter, despite knowing her true paternity. Ross told Rhonda that Gordy was her biological father when Rhonda was 13 years old. Beforehand, Rhonda referred to Gordy as "Uncle B.B." Ross has two daughters with Silberstein, Tracee Joy Silberstein (Tracee Ellis Ross) and Chudney Lane Silberstein, born in 1972 and 1975, respectively. Ross and Silberstein divorced in 1977. Ross met her second husband, Norwegian shipping magnate Arne Næss Jr., in 1985, and married him the following year. She became stepmother to his three elder children; Katinka, Christoffer, and folk singer Leona Naess. They have two sons together: Ross Arne (born in 1987) and Evan Olav (born in 1988). Ross and Næss divorced in 2000, after press reports revealed that Næss had fathered a child with another woman in Norway.
Ross has seven grandchildren: grandson Raif-Henok (born in 2009 to her daughter Rhonda); grandsons Leif (born on June 5, 2016) and Indigo (born 2017), born to her son Ross Næss; granddaughters Callaway Lane (born in 2012) and Everlee (born October 2019) born to Ross's daughter Chudney; granddaughter Jagger Snow (born in 2015), and grandson Ziggy (born in 2020) to her son Evan. Diana Ross was raised in the Baptist Church. She influenced Michael Jackson, Beyonce, Jade Thirlwall, Questlove, Ledisi, and the Ting Tings. Diana Ross helped to expand the influence and power of women in the music industry. She gave voice to many women to achieve power moves inside the stage and outside the stage of musical culture.
The Legacy of Diana Ross
One major part of Diana Ross's legacy is about women leadership in music and entertainment. She was a boss long before boss women (in the music industry) were more commonplace by the early 21st century. By the 1970's, she was a well-known businesswoman. Her work ethic was cultivated by her family and friends from the projects of Detroit. Diana Ross has been through adventures via tours, creating music, making friends, and loving her children. What remains constant in her life is the love of the culture of musical expression. She also is a very humble woman who has shown respect to legendary people like Beyonce, Brandy, and other artists. She was in The Supremes being one of the greatest groups of all time. There is no En Vogue, Destiny's Child, SWV, Brownstone, Total, Allure, and other groups without The Supremes breaking records, eliminating barriers, and showing outstanding songs like Where Did Our Love Go, Love Child, Baby Love, Come See About Me, Stop! in the Name of Love, Back in My Arms Again, You Keep Me Hangin' On, I Hear a Symphony, You Can't Hurry Love, and other hits. Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard were legends of The Supremes with their great vocal ability and supreme humbleness. Also, Diana Ross is her own woman who made great solo projects in her own right too. She had a long friendship with Michael Jackson filled with creative energy, love, and strength. Her children like Rhonda Ross Kendrick, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Evan Ross have been involved in acting and singing for years. Diana Ross promoted The Jackson 5, Brandy, and tons of other musicians for generations. Diana Ross has a lengthy legacy as one of the premier women entertainers of the 20th and 21st centuries
Las Vegas
Las Vegas, which is found on the West Coast of the United States of America, was born amid massive change, economic development, and entertainment. It's the most populous city in Nevada. Beyond the clubs and the centers of money, tons of hard-working class people live in Las Vegas too. Located in Clark County, the city is the second largest city in the Southwest. It is found in the Mojave Desert too. Being a resort city, it's home to boxing events, music events, gambling, shopping, fine dining, nightlife, and other forms of entertainment. Millions of people travel to Las Vegas every year to have vacations, celebrations, or business meetings. The city of Las Vegas has 641,903 people as of 2020, and its metropolitan area has about 2.2 million people. Las Vegas comes from the Spanish word las vegas meaning the meadows. From people getting married to watching large shows, Las Vegas is a very vibrant location. Its hotels are very numerous, and Las Vegas has a wide-ranging infrastructure. It is also a recent, young city. New York City was born over 2 centuries ago. Norfolk, Virginia was born over three centuries ago. Las Vegas was a city during the early 20th century. The population of Las Vegas has rapidly expanded in its land size to about 141 square miles.
The History of Las Vegas
There is no other city like it on planet Earth. Las Vegas as a city has a recent history. The settlement of Las Vegas, Nevada was founded in 1905 after the opening of a railroad that linked Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. The stopover attracted some farmers (mostly from Utah) to the area. The freshwater was piped to the settlement. In 1911, the town was incorporated as part of the newly founded Clark County. Urbanization took off in 1931 when work started on the Boulder Dam (now the Hoover Dam), bringing a huge influx of young male workers, for whom theaters and casinos were built, largely by the Mafia. Electricity from the dam also enabled the building of many new hotels along the Strip. The arrival of Howard Hughes in 1966 did much to offset mob influence and helped turn Las Vegas into more of a family tourist center, now classified as a Mega resort. The name Las Vegas—Spanish for “the meadows”—was given to the area in 1829 by Rafael Rivera, a member of the Spanish explorer Antonio Armijo trading party that was traveling to Los Angeles and stopped for water there on the Old Spanish Trail from New Mexico. At that time, several parts of the valley contained artesian wells surrounded by extensive green areas. The flows from the wells fed the Las Vegas Wash, which runs to the Colorado River.
The prehistoric landscape of the Las Vegas Valley and most of Southern Nevada was once a marsh with water and vegetation. The rivers that created the marsh eventually went underground, and the marsh receded. The valley then evolved into a parched, arid landscape that only supported the hardiest animals and plants. At some point in the valley's early geologic history, the water resurfaced and flowed into what is now the Colorado River. This created a luxurious plant life, forming a wetland oasis in the Mojave Desert landscape. Evidence of prehistoric life in Las Vegas Valley has been found at the Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument. An abundance of Late Pleistocene fossils has been discovered from this locality, including Columbian mammoths and Camelops hesternus.
Native Americans lived in the Las Vegas Valley over 10,000 years ago. Archaeologists have found baskets, petroglyphs, pictographs, and other evidence in many locations like Gypsum Cave and Tule Springs. Paiutes moved into the area by 700 A.D., migrating between nearby mountains in the summer and spending winter in the valley, near Big Springs. A trade caravan of 60 men led by the Spanish merchant Antonio Armijo was charged with establishing a trade route to Los Angeles. By following the Pike and Smith routes through a tributary of the Colorado River they came upon the Las Vegas Valley, described by Smith as the best point to re-supply before going onto California. The travelers named the area Las Vegas, which is Spanish for the meadows or 'fertile plains.' John C. Fremont came into the Las Valley on May 3, 1844, while it was still part of Mexico. He was appointed by President John Tyler to lead a group of scientists, scouts, and spies for the United States Army Corps of Engineers, which was preparing for a possible war with Mexico. Upon arriving in the valley, they made camp at the Las Vegas Springs, establishing a clandestine fort there. A war with Mexico did occur, resulting in the region becoming United States territory. The fort was used in later years by travelers, mountain men, hunters, and traders seeking shelter, but was never permanently inhabited.
In 1855, William Bringhurst led a group of 29 Mormon missionaries from Utah to the Las Vegas Valley. The missionaries built a 150 foot square (46 m) adobe fort near a creek and used flood irrigation to water their crops. However, because of tensions rising among leaders of the small Mormon community, the summer heat and difficulty growing crops, the missionaries returned to Utah in 1857, abandoning the fort (The remains of the fort are preserved in the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park).
For the next few years, the area remained unoccupied by Americans except for travelers and traders. Then the U.S. Army, in an attempt to deceive Confederate spies active in southern California in 1864, falsely publicized that it reclaimed the fort and had renamed it Fort Baker, briefly recalling the area to national attention. After the end of the war in 1865, Octavius Gass, with a commission from the federal government, re-occupied the fort. The Paiute nation had declined in numbers and negotiated a new treaty with the United States, ceding the area around the fort to the United States in return for relocation and supplies of food and farming equipment. Consequently, Gass started irrigating the old fields and renamed the area Las Vegas Rancho. Gass made wine at his ranch, and Las Vegas became known as the best stop on the Old Spanish Trail. In 1881, because of mismanagement and intrigue with a Mormon syndicate, Gass lost his ranch to Archibald Stewart to pay off a lien Stewart had on the property. In 1884, Archibald's wife Helen J. Stewart became the Las Vegas postmaster.
The property in the Las Vegas areas (increased to 1,800 acres (730 ha)), stayed with the family (despite Archibald Stewart's murder in July 1884) until it was purchased in 1902 by the San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake Railroad, then being built across southern Nevada. The railroad was a project of Montana Senator William Andrews Clark. Clark enlisted Utah's U.S. Senator and mining magnate Thomas Kearns to ensure the line's completion through Utah to Las Vegas. The State Land Act of 1885 offered land at $1.25 per acre ($3.09/hectare). Clark and Kearns promoted the area to American farmers who quickly expanded the farming plots of the area. Not until 1895 did the first large-scale migration of Mormons begin in the area, at long last fulfilling Brigham Young's early dream. Through wells and arid irrigation, agriculture became the primary industry for the next 20 years and in return for his development, the farmers named the area Clark County in honor of the railroad tycoon and Senator.
By the early 20th century, wells piped water into the town of Las Vegas. That gave people a reliable source of fresh water and a means to develop additional growth. The more availability of water in the area allowed Las Vegas to be a water stop, first for wagon trains, and later railroads, on the trail between Los Angeles and points east such as Albuquerque, New Mexico. By 1905, there was the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad. That linked Salt Lake City to southern California. U.S. Senator William Andrews Clark was the majority owner of the railroad, which was a corporation based in Utah. Among its original incorporators were Utah's U.S. Senator Thomas Kearns and his business partner David Keith. Kearns, one of the richer and more powerful men in Utah, and Keith were the owners of Utah's Silver King Coalition Mine, several mines in Nevada, and The Salt Lake Tribune. Kearns and Keith helped Clark ensure the success of the new railroad across Utah and into Nevada to California. Curiously, for a time there were two towns named Las Vegas. The east-side of Las Vegas (which encompassed the modern Main Street and Las Vegas Boulevard) was owned by Clark, and the west-side of Las Vegas (which encompassed the area north of modern-day Bonanza Road) was owned by J.T. McWilliams, who was hired by the Stewart family during the sale of the Las Vegas Rancho and bought available land west of the ranch. It was from their property that Las Vegas took form.
Clark built another railroad branching off from Las Vegas to the boom town of Bullfrog called the Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad. With the revenue coming down both railways that intersected there, the area of Las Vegas was quickly growing. On May 15, 1905, Las Vegas officially was founded as a city when 110 acres (45 ha), in what later became downtown, were auctioned to ready buyers. Las Vegas was the driving force in the creation of Clark County, Nevada in 1909, and the city was incorporated in 1911 as a part of the county. The first mayor of Las Vegas was Peter Buol, who served from 1911 to 1913. Shortly after the city's incorporation, the State of Nevada reluctantly became the last western state to outlaw gambling. This occurred at midnight, October 1, 1910, when a strict anti-gambling law became effective in Nevada. It even forbade the Western custom of flipping a coin for the price of a drink. Nonetheless, Las Vegas had a diversified economy and a stable and prosperous business community and therefore continued to grow until 1917. In that year, a combination of economic influences and the redirection of resources by the federal government in support of the war effort forced the Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad to declare bankruptcy. Although William Clark sold the remains of the company to the Union Pacific Railroad, a nationwide strike in 1922 left Las Vegas in a desperate state.
By July 3, 1930, President Herbert Hoover signed the appropriation bill for the Boulder Dam. The dam was renamed the Hoover Dam during the Truman administration. By 1931, people started to build the dam. The population of Las Vegas increased from around 5,000 citizens to 25,000, with most of the newcomers looking for a job building the dam. However, the demographic of the workforce consisting of males from across the country with no attachment to the area created a market for large-scale entertainment. A combination of local Las Vegas business owners and Mafia crime lords helped develop the casinos and showgirl theaters to entertain the largely male dam construction workers. Despite the influx of known crime figures, the local business community tried to cast Las Vegas in a respectable light when the Secretary of the Interior Ray Lyman Wilbur visited in 1929 to inspect the dam site. However, a worker was found with alcohol on his breath (this was during the time of Prohibition) after a visit to Block 16 in Las Vegas. The government ultimately decided that a federally controlled town, Boulder City, would be erected for the dam workers.
Realizing that gambling would be profitable for local businesses, the Nevada state legislature legalized gambling at the local level in 1931. Las Vegas, with a small but already well-established illegal gambling industry, was poised to begin its rise as the gaming capital of the world. The county issued the first gambling license in 1931 to the Northern Club, and soon other casinos were licensed on Fremont Street, such as the Las Vegas Club and the Hotel Apache. Fremont Street became the first paved street in Las Vegas and received the city's first traffic light in 1931. In reply, the federal government restricted the movement of the dam workers to Las Vegas. Smuggling and circuitous routes then were developed. In 1934, to curtail these activities and the resulting growth of criminal figures in the gambling industry, the city's leading figures purged gambling dens and started an effort to stem the flow of workers from the dam. This only emboldened some dam workers who still contrived to visit Las Vegas. A celebration of this era has become known as Helldorado Days.
Although the suppression efforts resulted in declines at gambling venues and resulted in a business downturn, the city was recharged—both literally and figuratively—when the dam was completed in 1935. In 1937, Southern Nevada Power became the first utility to supply power from the dam, and Las Vegas was its first customer. Electricity flowed into Las Vegas, and Fremont Street became known as Glitter Gulch due to the many bright lights powered by electricity from the Hoover Dam. Meanwhile, although the dam worker population disappeared, the Hoover Dam and its reservoir Lake Mead turned into tourist attractions on their own and the need for additional higher-class hotels became clear. In 1940, U.S. Route 95 was extended south into Las Vegas, giving the city two major access roads. Also in 1940, KENO, Las Vegas's first permanent radio station, began broadcasting replacing the niche occupied earlier by transient broadcasters. The war years in Las Vegas lasted from 1941 to 1945. On January 25, 1941, the U.S. Army formed the flexible gunnery school for the United States Army Air Corps in Las Vegas.
Mayor of Las Vegas John L. Russell signed over land to the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps for this development. The gunnery school would be the Nellis Air Force Base. The U.S. Army disagreed with legalized prostitution in Las Vegas. So, in 1942, they forced Las Vegas to ban the practice, putting Block 16 (the local red-light district), out of business permanently. By April 3, 1941, hotel owner Thomas Hull opened the El Rancho Vegas. It was the first resort on what became the Las Vegas Strip. The hotel gained much of its fame from the gourmet buffet that it offered. On October 30, 1942, Texas cinema magnate R. E. Griffith rebuilt on the site of a nightclub named Pair-O-Dice It first opened in 1930 and was renamed Hotel Last Frontier. A few more resorts were built on and around Fremont Street, but it was the next hotel on the Strip that publicly demonstrated the influenced the influence of organized crime on Las Vegas. Many ethnic organized crime figures were involved in some of the operations at the hotels, but the Mafia bosses never owned or controlled the hotels and clubs that remained monopolized by hard-bitten local Las Vegas families. These families back then didn't want to cede ground to the crime bosses and proved strong enough to push back. This changed during post-WWII Las Vegas. This was when gangster Bugsy Siegel with help from his friend fellow mob boss Meyer Lansky, poured money via local owned banks for cover of legitimacy and built The Flamingo in 1946 Siegel modeled his enterprises on the long running gambling empire in Galveston, Texas, which had pioneered the high-class casino concepts that became mainstays on the Strip.
The Flamingo initially lost money and Siegel died in a hail of gunfire in Beverly Hills, California, in the summer of 1947. Additionally, local police and Clark County Sheriff deputies were notorious for their heavy-handed tactics toward mobsters who "grew too big for their pants." However, many mobsters saw the potential that gambling offered in Las Vegas. After gambling was legalized, the Bank of Las Vegas, led by E. Parry Thomas, became the first bank to lend money to the casinos, which Thomas regarded as the most important business in Las Vegas. At the same time, Allen Dorfman, a close associate of longtime Teamsters Union President Jimmy Hoffa and a known associate of the Chicago Outfit, took over the Teamsters Central States Pension Fund, which began lending money to Las Vegas casino owners and developers. They provided funding to build the Sahara, the Sands, the Riviera, the Fremont, and finally the Tropicana. Even with the general knowledge that some of the owners of these casino resorts had dubious backgrounds, by 1954, over 8 million people were visiting Las Vegas yearly pumping $200 million into casinos. Gambling was no longer the only attraction; the biggest stars of films and music like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Andy Williams, Liberace, Bing Crosby, Carol Channing, and others performed in intimate settings. After coming to see these stars, the tourists would resume gambling, and then eat at the gourmet buffets that have become a staple of the casino industry. On November 15, 1950, the United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce (known as the Kefauver Hearings) met in Las Vegas. It was the seventh of 14 hearings held by the commission. Moe Sedway, manager of the Flamingo Hotel and a friend of mobster Bugsy Siegel, Wilbur Clark representing the Desert Inn, and Nevada Lieutenant Governor Clifford Jones were all called to testify. The hearings established that Las Vegas interests were required to pay Siegel to get the race wire transmitting the results of horse and dog races, prizefight results, and other sports action into their casinos.
The hearing concluded that money from organized crime incontrovertibly was tied to the Las Vegas casinos and was becoming the controlling interest in the city, earning the organized crime groups vast amounts of income, and strengthening their influence in the country. This led to a proposal by the Senate to institute federal gambling control. Nevada's Senator Pat McCarran was instrumental in defeating the measure in committee.
Along with their connections in Hollywood and New York City, these interests in Las Vegas were able to use publicity provided by these media capitals to steer the rapid growth of tourism into Las Vegas, thereby dooming Galveston, Texas; Hot Springs, Arkansas; and other illegal gaming centers around the nation. Nevada's legal gaming as well as the paradoxical increased scrutiny by local and federal law enforcement in these other locales during the 1950s made their demise inevitable.
The Strip was a location where bombs were tested. On January 27, 1951, the Atomic Energy Commission detonated the first of over 100 atmospheric explosions at the Nevada Test Site. There were dangers of radiation exposure from the fallout, and Las Vegas advertised the explosions as another tourist attraction. Black then, many people didn't know about the radiation exposure from such explosion back in the day. Many people offered Atomic Cocktails in the Sky Room restaurant at the Desert Inn that provided the highest view of the mushroom clouds. During this time, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce successfully pushed for Vegas to become nicknamed the Atomic City. Several Miss Atomic pageants were held to help display the city's modernity and to continue spinning messages on the nearby testing to tourists. The influx of government employees for the Atomic Energy Commission and from the Mormon-controlled Bank of Las Vegas spearheaded by E. Parry Thomas during those years funded the growing boom in casinos. But Las Vegas was doing more than growing casinos. In 1948, McCarran Field was established for commercial air traffic. In 1957, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas was established, initially as a branch of the University of Nevada, Reno, and becoming independent in 1969. In 1959, the Clark County Commission built the Las Vegas Convention Center, which became a vital part of the area's economy. Southwest Gas expanded into Las Vegas in 1954. These atmospheric tests would continue until the enactment of the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963 when the tests moved underground. The last test explosion was in 1992. Howard Hughes in 1966 was the eccentric promoter of American aviation who had OCD. He was also a virulent racist. Hughes lived in Las Vagas for years to build Las Vegas real estate, hotels, and media outlets via an estimated $300 billion. Las Vegas changed from Wild West roots to have a more cosmopolitan vibe. Hank Greenspun via the Las Vegas Sun local newspaper helped to expose criminals and corruption in Las Vegas.
His investigative reporting and editorials led to the exposure of Clark County Sheriff Glen Jones' ownership of a brothel and the resignation of Lieutenant Governor Clifford A. Jones as the state's national committeeman for the Democratic Party. Before his death in 1989, Hank Greenspun founded The Greenspun Corporation to manage his family's assets, and it remains a major influence in Las Vegas, with media holdings in print, television, and the Internet; substantial real estate holdings; and ownership stakes in several casinos. One problem for the City of Las Vegas was that the Strip did not reside in Las Vegas. Because of this, the city lost tax revenue. There was a push to annex the Strip by the City of Las Vegas, but The Syndicate used the Clark County Commissioners to pull a legal maneuver by organizing the Las Vegas Strip properties into an unincorporated township named Paradise. Under Nevada Law, an incorporated town, Las Vegas, cannot annex an unincorporated township. To this day, virtually all of the Strip remains outside the City of Las Vegas.
Like many places in America, Las Vegas had segregation, and activists fought to defeat it. Entertainment venues were segregated between black owned and white owned businesses back in the day. Almost all businesses in Las Vegas back then were owned by white people. Black Americans were banned from entering the venues. Black businesses were mainly confined to clubs on the west side of Las Vegas. Thus, African Americans (except those who provided the labor for low-paying menial positions or entertainment) and Hispanics were limited in employment occupations at the white-owned clubs. However, because of employment deals with black worker groups, many clubs favored black workers, and the Hispanic population actually decreased 90% from 2,275 to just 236 by the mid-1950s. Organized crime-owned businesses saw an opportunity in not dividing their clientele by race, and despite property deeds and city and county codes barring such activities, made several attempts at desegregating their businesses in the hopes of putting out of operation the non-white owned clubs and expanding their own market share. An attempt was made at forming an all-integrated night-club modeled on the Harlem Clubs of New York City during the 1920s and 1930s, like those owned by German-Jewish gangster Dutch Schultz. On May 24, 1955, Jewish crime boss Will Max Schwartz, along with other investors, opened the Moulin Rouge. It was a very upscale and racially integrated casino that actually competed against the resorts on the Strip, especially the non-white owned strips on the west side. By the end of the year, the casino closed as Schwartz and his partners had a falling out, but the seeds for racial integration were sown.
Many sources have credited Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack as a significant driving force behind desegregation in the casinos. One famous story tells of Sinatra's refusal to perform at the Sands Hotel unless the hotel provided Sammy Davis Jr. with a room. The famed performing group made similar demands at other venues, forcing owners to amend their policies over time.
However, it took political action for racial desegregation to occur. In 1960, the NAACP threatened a protest of the city's casinos for their policies. A meeting among the NAACP, the mayor, and local businessmen resulted in citywide casino desegregation, starting with the employees. Many whites were attritioned from positions and their jobs were given to the black unions. Along with the rest of the country, Las Vegas experienced the struggle for civil rights. Activists like James B. McMillan, Grant Sawyer, Bob Bailey, and Charles Keller dragged Las Vegas to racial integration.
Aside from seeing no business advantage to excluding non-white customers from casinos and clubs, the organized crime groups were composed of people of ethnicities (Jewish and Italian) that faced discrimination from certain Americans and thus could understand the plight of black people. This was also a driving force behind the integration advocated by ethnic performers such as Sinatra and Martin. Another big force for equality was Mayor Oran Gragson. Spurred into local politics by a vigilante ring of cops who repeatedly broke into his appliance store, he implemented infrastructure improvements for the minority neighborhoods in Las Vegas, backed the NAACP in its actions, and promoted black workers for jobs. He also championed the cause of the Paiute tribe that owned a small portion of Las Vegas. Gragson stopped the U.S. government from evicting the tribe and made infrastructure improvements for them. His work helped reverse the decrease of minority populations in Las Vegas. Local legislation kept up with the national legislation, and integration was finally established. Violence came as a result of school integration, with violent riots and fights occurring in Clark High School when people of many racists fought each other. This happened in Rancho High School too in racial riots. Integration sparked a white flight from the school district from 1965 to 1971.
Las Vegas, during the 1970's and the 1980's, experienced massive growth. Las Vegas and Clark County had incredibly high growth rates. The population more than doubled in most decades. The rate slowed down in the 1970s with the decrease of the white birth rate but never dropped below 60% (1980–1990), and even accelerated after 1990 due to immigration. By 2000, Las Vegas was the largest city founded in the 20th century, and by 2006 it was the 28th largest city in the U.S., with a population of 552,000 in the city and nearly 1.8 million in Clark County. The explosive growth resulted in the rapid development of commercial and residential areas throughout the Las Vegas Valley. The strong boom in the resort business led to many new condominium developments all along the Strip and downtown area. Also, urban sprawl development of single-family homes continued across the valley, building the areas of Henderson, North Las Vegas, Centennial Hills, and Summerlin. The rapid development and population growth both halted abruptly in the late 2000s recession. The famous American author and journalist Hunter S. Thompson wrote and published his seminal novel called "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," describing the experience of his 1971 trip to the city. By November 21, 1980, the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino suffered a devastating fire. A total of 85 people died and 785 were injured in what remains the worst disaster in Nevada history. The property eventually was sold and reopened as Bally's Las Vegas, and MGM moved south to Tropicana Avenue. From 1989 to 2007, there was the megaresort era of Las Vegas The Rat Pack and Mafia ended by the 1980's. The World War II generation started to retire in massive numbers, and the rise of Baby Boomer entrepreneurs started a new era in the city's history. The megaresorts grew in Vegas.
Therefore, Las Vegas began to become a more commercialized, family-oriented place with large corporations coming to own the hotels, casinos, and nightclubs that replaced the ownership of the places by Mafia bosses. The megaresort era kicked off in 1989 with the construction of The Mirage. Built by developer Steve Wynn, it was the first resort built with money from Wall Street, selling $630 million in junk bonds. Its 3,044 rooms, each with gold-tinted windows, set a new standard for Vegas luxury and attracted tourists in droves, leading to additional financing and rapid growth on the Las Vegas Strip. More landmark hotels and other structures were razed to make way for even larger and more opulent resorts including Rio and Excalibur in 1990, Mandalay Bay, Venetian, and Paris in 1999, Planet Hollywood (formerly Aladdin) in 2000, Palms existed in 2001, and Wynn was opened in 2005.
The home mortgage crisis (2007-2010) and the late 2000s recession affected Las Vegas' economic success. New home construction was stalled, and construction projects either were canceled, postponed, or continued with financial troubles. Some of these projects included the MGM Mirage property of CityCenter, Fontainebleau, Echelon, and The Plaza. The global financial situation also had a negative effect on gaming and tourism revenue, causing many of the companies to report net loss. By 2010, empty lots on the Strip were affecting the foot traffic of other casinos. The new landmark hotels and resorts are the Encore from 2008, CityCenter in 2009, Sphere at the Venetian Resort in 2023, and Fontainebleau in 2023. In the 2010s, multiple analysts agreed that the Las Vegas economy was recovering, with improving conditions in tourism and the housing market for 2013. Prices are rising and there has been a large increase in the million-dollar home market, with many new custom homes being built. January 2013 marked the 19th consecutive month with home sales higher than the same month in the previous year. In addition, Las Vegas was named America's Top Turn Around Market for 2012 by Trulia.
During the late evening of October 1, 2017, Las Vegas became the scene of the deadliest mass shooting committed by a single gunman in the history of the United States. A gunman opened fire on Route 91 Harvest festival-goers from the Mandalay Bay resort, killing 60 and injuring 867. The Alpine Motel Apartments fire occurred in downtown Las Vegas in December 2019, killing six people. It is the deadliest fire to occur in city limits. During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic casinos were ordered to close, nearly unheard of in Las Vegas. The COVID-19 pandemic reached the city in March 2020, having various effects such as business closures and time. This has also led to mass cancellation of events and festivals.
Due to concerns about climate change in the wake of a 2002 drought, daily water consumption in Las Vegas has been reduced from 314 gallons per resident in 2003 to around 205 gallons in 2015. Despite these conservation efforts, local water consumption remains 30 percent more than in Los Angeles, and over three times that of San Francisco. In June 2017, a heat wave grounded more than 40 airline flights of small aircraft, with American Airlines reducing sales on certain flights and Las Vegas tying its record high at 117 degrees Fahrenheit.
Overall, Las Vegas continues to evolve, with many places being constructed and built. The city also continued to open more retail, which are largely high end. Furthermore, it continues to attract and gain more tourists from around the world. Many recent buildings of 2020s decade include Area15, Circa, and Resorts World, all of which are unique to Las Vegas. It will continue the urban sprawl of Las Vegas and its county. Las Vegas Strip will look different in 2020s since the brand new decade will bring new designs such as reshapes and these new LED lights on the edges of the Luxor and the debut of Mayfair Supper Club. The Las Vegas Convention Center completes its extension to the Strip with the convention business being bigger than other buildings, which will get its own renovation from 2021 to 2024. Allegiant Stadium opened in 2020, which welcomed the Raiders and their fans, and was selected to host Super Bowl LVIII. Other new events include MSG Sphere rounding out the Vegas skyline, Flamingo Steakhouse's rebirth in the vintage style, mysterious Area15 opening its doors, complicated relationship with Asian dining, a lot of new residencies, Resorts World preparing a newer debut, Caesars Forum emerging as a new event space, Wynn getting a few recent restaurants, Hard Rock transforming into a Virgin Resort, new kind of food tour that hits The LINQ in the Strip, new burger and drive-in, and Truth & Tonic being the first all-vegan restaurant on the Strip of Las Vegas. It is suggested that the downtown will look different with the overhead of Vision video and $15 million renovation of its own with new roadwork in the Fremont East District. Also, Downtown Grand in Las Vegas is expanding widely with this establishment of a second hotel rise. On April 2, 2024, Tropicana Las Vegas closed after 67 years of operation. It is set to be demolished and replaced by New Las Vegas Stadium which will be the home of the Oakland Athletics after they relocate to Las Vegas.
The Culture of Las Vegas
The culture of Las Vegas is very diverse and interesting. Its culture is not just about casinos, but tourism, gaming, various conventions, athletics, music, and restaurants. Most casinos in the downtown area are on Fremont Street, with The STRAT Hotel, Casino & Skypod as one of the few exceptions. Fremont East, adjacent to the Fremont Street Experience, was granted variances to allow bars to be closer together, similar to the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego, the goal being to attract a different demographic than the Strip attracts. The center of the gambling and entertainment industry is the Las Vegas Strip, outside the city limits in the surrounding unincorporated communities of Paradise and Winchester in Clark County. Some of the largest casinos and buildings are there. The city is home to several museums, including the Neon Museum (the location for many of the historical signs from Las Vegas's mid-20th century heyday), The Mob Museum, the Las Vegas Natural History Museum, the DISCOVERY Children's Museum, the Nevada State Museum, and the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park. The city is home to an extensive Downtown Arts District, which hosts numerous galleries and events including the annual Las Vegas Film Festival. "First Friday" is a monthly celebration that includes arts, music, special presentations and food in a section of the city's downtown region called 18b, The Las Vegas Arts District. The festival extends into the Fremont East Entertainment District. The Thursday evening before First Friday is known in the arts district as "Preview Thursday", which highlights new gallery exhibitions throughout the district. The Las Vegas Academy of International Studies, Performing and Visual Arts is a Grammy award-winning magnet school located in downtown Las Vegas.
The Smith Center for the Performing Arts is downtown in Symphony Park and hosts various Broadway shows and other artistic performances. The Las Vegas Valley is the home of three major professional teams: the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Vegas Golden Knights, an expansion team that began play in the 2017–18 NHL season at T-Mobile Arena in nearby Paradise, the National Football League (NFL)'s Las Vegas Raiders, who relocated from Oakland, California in 2020 and play at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, and the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)'s Las Vegas Aces, who play at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. The Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB) plans to move to Las Vegas by 2028. Two minor league sports teams play in the Las Vegas area. The Las Vegas Aviators of the Pacific Coast League, the Triple-A farm club of the Oakland Athletics, play at Las Vegas Ballpark in nearby Summerlin. The Las Vegas Lights FC of the United Soccer League and the Vegas Vipers of the XFL, play in Cashman Field in Downtown Las Vegas. The mixed martial arts-promoted institution of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is headquartered in Las Vegas and also frequently holds fights in the city at T-Mobile Arena and at the UFC Apex training facility near the headquarters.
There are numerous musicians and bands based in Las Vegas. The famous R&B group 702 is from Las Vegas with members like LeMisha Grinstead, Irish Grinstead, Amelia Cruz, and Meelah Williams. Their songs of Get It Together in 1997 propelled them into a new level of popularity. Their debut album was called No Doubt in 1996 with songs like Steelo (which was produced by Chad Elliot, Missy Elliot, and George Pearson), All I Want, and No Doubt. The rock pop band Imagine Dragons is based in Las Vegas with members of Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon, Ben McKee, and Daniel Platzman. They were formed in 2008. Many of their most influential songs are Believer, Thunder, and Whatever It Takes. Ne-Yo was born in Arkansas and lived his childhood later in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is one of the most talented singers and songwriters of our generation. We know of his music from songs like So Sick, When You're Mad, Because of You, Closer, and Miss Independent.
Epilogue
In conclusion, Las Vegas is known for many things from hotels to casinos. Yet, many people forget that Las Vegas is very multifaceted with a wide-ranging cultural power. The city has over 640,000 people with restaurants, churches, fine dining, entertainment locations, stadiums, and other forms of entertainment that have enriched people for over one century. We know about the Rat Pack, Toni Braxton, Usher, Celine Dion, Elvis Presley, Wayne Newton, and other artists performing in Las Vegas for years and decades. From the Clark County Government Center to the World Market Center, social and technological power exists in Las Vegas. Las Vegas has been called by many names like City of Lights, Capital of Second Chances, The Silver City, America's Playground, and The Marriage Captial of the World. The mayor of Las Vegas is the Independent Carolyn Goodman. Las Vegas is also the second largest city in the Southwest being a cultural staple of West Coast culture. There are tons of prominent people who were born in Las Vegas, Nevada like Vashti Cunningham (a professional track and field high jump athlete, who is the daughter of football legend Randall Cunningham), Ricky Davis, Greg Anthony, and other human beings. Las Vegas is a heavily middle-class, working-class city. The myth is that Las Vegas consists of mostly wealthy corporate leaders. The reality is that chefs, teachers, judges, plumbers, engineers, janitors, factory workers, nurses, doctors, Uber drivers, architects, and other people make massive social contributions to Las Vegas on a daily basis fully. These working-class people make our civilization function literally, and their grit and sacrifices should always be appreciated. The people in Las Vegas of every color and every background have made Las Vegas an outstanding cultural location.
By Timothy
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