The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful American vocal band, with 12 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. Most of these hits were written and produced by Motown's main songwriting and production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland. It is said that their breakthrough made it possible for future African-American R&B and soul musicians to find mainstream success. Billboard ranked the Supremes as the 16th greatest Hot 100 artist of all time.
(L–R): Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, and Diana Ross performing "My World Is Empty Without You" on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1966
Frederick Douglass Housing Project in Detroit
The Supremes on the cover of Cash Box, 31 July 1965
Billboard advertisement for The Supremes' tenth number 1 single, "The Happening", April 22, 1967
A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of whom were influenced by doo-wop and which flourished in the late 1950s and early 1960s between the decline of early rock and roll and start of the British Invasion. All-female bands, in which members also play instruments, are usually considered a separate phenomenon. These groups are sometimes called "girl bands" to differentiate, although this terminology is not universally followed.
Singing group Labelle, c. 1975
Breaking through during the mid-1990s, the Spice Girls became the best-selling girl group of all time.
Image: Please Mr. Postman album
Image: Girls' Generation at DMC Festival 2015 MBC Radio DJ Concert 02