Barbara Diane Martin Richardson (June 16, 1943 – March 4, 2020) was an American singer, best known as one of the original members of Motown group

The Supremes 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 ...

. She was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Career

After

Betty McGlown Betty McGlown-Travis (June 30, 1941 – January 12, 2008) was an American singer, a member of The Primettes, later better known as The Supremes. Biography In 1959, McGlown started dating future Temptations member Paul Williams, who was then sing ...

left the Primettes due to her upcoming nuptials, Martin replaced her in the group in 1960. She and her group mates,

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

(then known as Diane), Mary Wilson and

Florence Ballard Florence Glenda Chapman (''née'' Ballard; June 30, 1943 – February 22, 1976) was an American singer and a founding member of the Motown vocal female group the Supremes. She sang on 16 top 40 singles with the group, including ten number-o ...

, signed a recording contract with

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

founder

Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record la ...

on January 15, 1961, as the Supremes, a name that Ballard had chosen (as she was the only group member in the studio at the time) from a list provided by Motown songwriter

Janie Bradford Janie Bradford (born June 2, 1939 in Charleston, Missouri, United States) is an American songwriter, most known for her tenure with Motown. With Berry Gordy, she co-wrote "Money (That's What I Want)", originally recorded by Barrett Strong, and t ...

; the group became part of the Motown stable of performers. While recording a handful of early singles, none of which became hits, Martin, Wilson, Ross, and Ballard worked as studio backing singers, providing vocals and rhythmic effects, such as hand claps, for Motown's leading groups. In October 1961, Martin became pregnant. Her husband supported her decision to stay in the group, but she left in the early spring of 1962 – leaving Ross, Wilson and Ballard as a trio. Although Martin sang on many of the group's early singles (including a shared lead vocal with Diana Ross on "(He's) Seventeen"), and most of the tracks on the group's first album ''

Meet the Supremes ''Meet the Supremes'' is the debut studio album by The Supremes, released in late 1962 on Motown. Background The LP includes the group's earliest singles: "I Want a Guy", " Buttered Popcorn", "Your Heart Belongs to Me" and " Let Me Go the Right ...

'', she is not pictured on the album's cover.

Later life

After leaving the group, Martin eventually earned a degree in psychology and worked in mental health. Out of respect for Diana Ross and Mary Wilson, she never spoke publicly about her tenure with the Primettes/Supremes. She denied interviews over the years, with the exception of one interview she gave in 2009 for the 2010 release of ''Meet the Supremes: Expanded Edition''. Martin died in March 2020 at the age of 76.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Barbara 1943 births 2020 deaths Musicians from Detroit American rhythm and blues musicians The Supremes members American soul singers 21st-century African-American women singers American women singers American rhythm and blues singers