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This Day in Black History: Jan. 14, 1970

Diana Ross officially leaves the Supremes to begin her solo career on Jan. 14, 1970.

After rising to fame as the lead singer of the Supremes, Motown's most commercially successful group, Diana Ross officially left to pursue her solo endeavors on Jan. 14, 1970.

By that point the group had underwent several changes. In 1967 original group member Florence Ballard was replaced with Cindy Birdsong and the Supremes were renamed Diana Ross and the Supremes, a prelude to her coming departure.
In June 1970, the singer's eponymous debut album was released on Motown. The record produced the no. 1 single "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," a cover of the classic sung by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.  She went on to score several other chart-toppers including, "Touch Me in the Morning," "Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)," "Love Hangover" and "Upside Down."
As an artist Diana Ross influenced future stars such as Beyoncé Knowles and Michael Jackson. Ross has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as a solo artist and as part of the Supremes. In 2007, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BET Awards and was also an honoree at the Kennedy Center Honors.

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(Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

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