Jean Terrell

Velma Jean Terrell (born November 26, 1945) She was born into a family of ten children, whose father was a Mississippi sharecropper who during Terrell's childhood moved the family north to Chicago when he found employment in the factories.

She is the sister of the former WBA heavyweight boxing champion Ernie Terrell, who fought Muhammad Ali.

Before her career with the Supremes, she sang with her brother Ernie in the group Ernie Terrell and the Knockouts (sometimes the Heavyweights).

The Supremes (1970–1973)

Motown president Berry Gordy discovered Terrell in 1969 in Miami, where she was performing with her brother at a club. Looking for a replacement for Diana Ross, who was leaving the group she had fronted during most of the 1960s, the Supremes, for a solo career, Gordy first signed Terrell to Motown as a solo artist, but decided to join her with the Supremes as Ross's replacement alongside Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong, as announced in 1969.

After Ross's farewell show with the group at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas on January 14, 1970, Terrell joined the group on stage to be presented to the press and public. After this introduction, according to Mary Wilson, Gordy changed his mind about Terrell leading the group and suggested replacing her with Syreeta Wright.</blockquote> Wilson vetoed this move, instead wanting to continue the group with Terrell.

The group scored more chart success at the beginning of the new decade, scoring hits in the United Kingdom, while having several pop and soul hits in the United States, including "Up the Ladder to the Roof", "Everybody's Got the Right to Love", "Stoned Love", "River Deep – Mountain High" (with the Four Tops), "Nathan Jones", and "Floy Joy". Despite the success towards the end of 1973, Terrell and Laurence decided that it would be best for the Supremes to leave Motown and seek another record label, however, Motown owned the name "Supremes" and Wilson was reluctant to leave, so both Terrell and Laurence departed the group that year. All three Supremes were not interested with Motown's seeming lack of interest in promoting this line-up of the group, in addition, Laurence was expecting a child at the time. and Cindy Birdsong returned to replace Laurence in 1973.

Solo career

Signing a contract with A&M Records, A&M issued a solo album by Terrell, I Had to Fall in Love, in 1978, which did not make impact on any charts, however she did promote the title track on the Dinah! show in July 1978. In the early 1980s, Terrell put together a one-woman show, and did limited touring throughout the United States, and her act consisted of several Supremes songs, songs from her solo album and cover versions of songs by Bette Midler and Lionel Richie.

Former Ladies of the Supremes

In 1985, eight years after the Supremes officially broke up in 1977, Payne was signed to SuperStar International Records, a Los Angeles-based record label. However, the label did not have national distribution, the song failed to chart and the label folded after. The group began touring and performing in shows around this time, making their debut at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles in 1987. By then, they recorded several singles for the United Kingdom-based Motorcity Records label for Ian Levine throughout 1989 and 1990, joining a roster of former Motown artists. In 1996, Tucker left the trio and Terrell made a brief comeback to the group, reuniting with both Payne and Laurence for two special concerts held at the Industry Cafe in Los Angeles. This reunion ended with the recruitment of Freddi Poole in July 1996. In 2004, Terrell released a biographical DVD, "Through the Eyes of a Supreme", and has continued to sing onstage with various jazz musicians.

Personal life

Jean married Juan Thompson in 1973 shortly after leaving The Supremes. They divorced in the mid 1980s. The union produced two sons, Jason and Jonathan.

Discography

Albums

;With The Supremes

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+ List of albums, with selected chart positions and certifications

|+ All records released on Motown Records.

!rowspan="2" style="width:16em;"|Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album details

!colspan="7"|Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="width:10em;"| Sales

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:10em;"| Certifications

! scope="col" style="width:2.6em; font-size:90%;"|US

! scope="col" style="width:2.6em; font-size:90%;"|US R&B /HH

! scope="col" style="width:2.6em; font-size:90%;"|US Record World

! scope="col" style="width:2.5em; font-size:90%;"|CAN

! scope="col" style="width:2.5em; font-size:90%;" | GER

! scope="col" style="width:2.5em; font-size:90%;"|NOR

! scope="col" style="width:2.5em; font-size:90%;"|UK

! scope="row"|Right On

Released: April 26, 1970
Label: Motown (#Motown 705)
Format: LP, cassette

| style="text-align:center;"|25

| style="text-align:center;"|4

| style="text-align:center;"|24

| style="text-align:center;"|41

| style="text-align:center;"|—

! scope="row"|The Magnificent 7 (with the Four Tops)

Released: September, 1970
Label: Motown (#MS 717)
Format: LP, cassette

| style="text-align:center;"|113

| style="text-align:center;"|18

| style="text-align:center;"|102

| style="text-align:center;"|73

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|6

UK: 30,000

! scope="row"|New Ways but Love Stays

Released: October, 1970
Label: Motown (#MS 720)
Format: LP, cassette

| style="text-align:center;"|68

| style="text-align:center;"|12

| style="text-align:center;"|43

| style="text-align:center;"|—

! scope="row"|The Return of the Magnificent Seven (with the Four Tops)

Released: June, 1971
Label: Motown (#MS 736)
Format: LP, cassette

| style="text-align:center;"|154

| style="text-align:center;"|18

| style="text-align:center;"|72

| style="text-align:center;"|—

! scope="row"|Touch

Released: June, 1971
Label: Motown (#MS 737)
Format: LP, 4-track, 8-track

| style="text-align:center;"|85

| style="text-align:center;"|6

| style="text-align:center;"|66

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|40

! scope="row"|Dynamite (with the Four Tops)

Released: December, 1971
Label: Motown (#M 745 L)
Format: LP, cassette

| style="text-align:center;"|160

| style="text-align:center;"|21

| style="text-align:center;"|–

| style="text-align:center;"|—

! scope="row"|Floy Joy

Released: May, 1972
Label: Motown (#M 7511 L)
Format: LP, 8-track, cassette

| style="text-align:center;"|54

| style="text-align:center;"|12

| style="text-align:center;"|44

| style="text-align:center;"|–

| style="text-align:center;"|—

! scope="row"|The Supremes Produced and Arranged by Jimmy Webb

Released: November, 1972
Label: Motown (#M 756 L)
Format: LP

| style="text-align:center;"|129

| style="text-align:center;"|27

| style="text-align:center;"|104

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;" colspan="11"|"—" denotes the album failed to chart or was not released

Singles

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+ List of singles, with selected chart positions, sales and certifications, showing year released and album name

!rowspan="2" style="width:18em;"|A-side title B-side title

!rowspan="2"|Year

!colspan="10"|Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="width:12em;"| Sales

! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="width:12em;"| Certifications

! rowspan="2" scope="col"| Album

! scope="col" style="width:2.6em; font-size:90%;"|US

! scope="col" style="width:2.6em; font-size:90%;"|US R&B /HH

! scope="col" style="width:2.6em; font-size:90%;"|AUS

! scope="col" style="width:2.6em; font-size:90%;"|BEL (WA)

! scope="col" style="width:2.6em; font-size:90%;"|BGK

! scope="col" style="width:2.6em; font-size:90%;"|CAN

! scope="col" style="width:2.75em;font-size:90%;"| IRE

! scope="col" style="width:2.75em;font-size:90%;"| ISL

! scope="col" style="width:2.6em; font-size:90%;"|NLD

! scope="col" style="width:2.6em; font-size:90%;"|UK

| style="text-align:center;"|6

US: 1,000,000

|rowspan=2"|Right On

! scope="row"|"Everybody's Got the Right to Love" "But I Love You More"

| style="text-align:center;"|21

| style="text-align:center;"|11

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|14

| style="text-align:center;"|—

! scope="row"|"Stoned Love" "Shine on Me"

| style="text-align:center;"|7

| style="text-align:center;"|1

| style="text-align:center;"|99

| style="text-align:center;"|37

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|9

| style="text-align:center;"|19

| style="text-align:center;"|6

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|3

US: 1,000,000

|rowspan=1"|New Ways but Love Stays

! scope="row"|"River Deep, Mountain High" "Together We Can Make Such Sweet Music" (with the Four Tops)

| style="text-align:center;"|14

| style="text-align:center;"|7

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|35

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|20

| style="text-align:center;"|12

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|25

| style="text-align:center;"|11

|rowspan="3"|The Magnificent 7

! scope="row"|"Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" "Where Would I Be Without You Baby" (with the Four Tops)

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|56

| style="text-align:center;"|—

! scope="row"|"A Taste of Honey" "Knock on My Door" (with the Four Tops)

|rowspan="5"|1971

| style="text-align:center;"|—

! scope="row"|"Nathan Jones" "Happy (Is a Bumpy Road)"

| style="text-align:center;"|16

| style="text-align:center;"|8

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|42

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|15

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|27

| style="text-align:center;"|5

US: 1,000,000

|rowspan=2"|Floy Joy

! scope="row"|"Automatically Sunshine" "Precious Little Things"

|rowspan="4"|1972

| style="text-align:center;"|37

| style="text-align:center;"|21

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|3

| style="text-align:center;"|49

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|10

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|10

! scope="row"|"Without the One You Love" "Let's Make Love Now" (with the Four Tops)

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|17

| style="text-align:center;"|—

|rowspan=1"|The Magnificent 7

! scope="row"|"Your Wonderful, Sweet Sweet Love" "The Wisdom of Time"

| style="text-align:center;"|59

| style="text-align:center;"|22

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|81

| style="text-align:center;"|—

|rowspan=1"|Floy Joy

! scope="row"|"I Guess I'll Miss the Man" "Over and Over" (from Floy Joy)

| style="text-align:center;"|85

| style="text-align:center;"|—

|rowspan=1"|The Supremes Produced and Arranged by Jimmy Webb

! scope="row"|"Bad Weather" "Oh Be My Love" (from Floy Joy)

|rowspan="2"|1973

| style="text-align:center;"|87

| style="text-align:center;"|74

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|37

! scope="row"|"Tossin' and Turnin'" "Oh Be My Love" (from Floy Joy)

The Supremes (1970–1973)

Solo career

Former Ladies of the Supremes

Personal life

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

Notes

External links