Tour! In The Name Of Ross!
Diana Ross and the Supremes are back, planning their first concert tour since 1970. But for the three singers, it's actually something new. CBS News Correspondent Russ Mitchell reports.
The music of Ross and the Supremes has not been heard live for nearly 30 years. But this summer, Ross and company will try to produce a reasonable facsimile. She and two backup singers will hit the road in June for a two-month concert tour.
They're all technically Supremes - Ross, Lynda Laurence and Scherrie Payne - but it's far from a reunion. The trio has never performed on stage together. Laurence became a Supreme in 1971 - a year after Ross left to start a solo career - and Payne joined in 1973.
"This was never called a reunion tour; I never considered it a reunion tour," Ross told a crowded news conference Tuesday at New York's Grand Central Terminal.
The two other original Supremes were Mary Wilson and the late Florence Ballard, who died in 1976.
"This tour will really be dedicated to all the songs from the early days," said Ross. "I spent the beginning of my career, 1960 to 1970, with the legendary group the Supremes, if there's young ones that don't know our history."
But Ross and promoters of the tour are being accused of ignoring a big part of the history. Original Supreme Wilson begged to join the tour. The offer she was given led her to choose not to. Diana Ross said it was business, not personal.
"I wished she was here," Ross told a press conference. "I made the initial call to her. I think where the breakdown was with Mary and negotiating with the promoters."
Ross says she and her new partners have only worked on four songs so far and joked since she hasn't performed many of her Supremes hits in 30 years, they have a lot of rehearsing to do.
Ross, 56, said fans can expect to hear all the Supreme's chart-topping hits, among them: Where Did Our Love Go?, Baby Love, Stop! In the Name of Love, and Back in My Arms Again.
"The Return to Love" tour opens June 14 in Philadelphia and runs through Aug. 5, with a finale at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Tickets for the shows in Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, New York and Boston go on sale next week. They'll be priced from $39.50 to $125.