The Supremes: As Big as The Beatles!
The Supremes remain America’s most successful vocal group, with twelve number-one singles to their name. At the height of their fame, they were as popular as The Beatles.
Most of their hits were penned by Motown’s powerhouse songwriting team, Holland–Dozier–Holland. But success didn’t come overnight for Diana Ross, Florence Ballard, and Mary Wilson.
In their early years at Motown, none of their releases made the charts, earning them the nickname “the No-Hit Supremes” among other acts on the label.
Berry Gordy, however, believed the group had star potential—he just needed to unlock it. In 1965, he made Diana Ross the lead singer, ending the group’s previous approach of sharing vocal duties, with each member bringing something unique to the table.
By 1967, Gordy doubled down, renaming the group The Supremes with Diana Ross, before settling on Diana Ross & The Supremes just six months later.
With Diana clearly pushed to the forefront, internal tensions grew—alongside their chart success.
During their most successful run, The Supremes released a string of classic tunes, including Where Did Our Love Go, Baby Love, Stop! In the Name of Love, You Can’t Hurry Love, and You Keep Me Hangin’ On.
They also recorded numerous covers, including several Beatles tracks, Christmas standards, and Sam Cooke’s Wonderful World and A Change Is Gonna Come.
In 1970, Diana Ross left to embark on an extremely successful solo career.
The Supremes continued on with a completely new line-up, but without much support from Motown and little commercial success. Berry Gordy had shifted his focus to Diana’s solo career and her move from Detroit to Los Angeles.
The Supremes Tunes | Related Pages
A Change Is Gonna Come | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke using chords, lyrics, a chord chart, chord analysis, and Spytunes video guitar lessons.
| G | G | Am | Em |
I was born by the river, in a little tent, oh and just like that river I’ve been…
Start learning with the full lesson series: A Change Is Gonna Come (Sam Cooke) Guitar Lessons with TAB.
Baby Love | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play Baby Love by The Supremes using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| C | C7/Bb | A7 | Dm |
Baby love, my baby love, I need you, oh how I need you…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: Baby Love (The Supremes) – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Wonderful World | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play Wonderful World by Sam Cooke using chords, lyrics, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| B | G#m |
Don’t know much about history…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: Wonderful World (Sam Cooke) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
You Can’t Hurry Love | Chords + TAB
You can learn to play You Can’t Hurry Love by The Supremes using chords, lyrics, a chord chart, a backing track, and Spytunes video guitar lessons.
| Bb | Bb | Eb Bb | Bb |
I need love, love, to ease my mind…
Start learning with the full lesson series: You Can’t Hurry Love – Guitar Lessons with TAB.
The Supremes on the web
