''Diana'' (stylized on the cover as ''diana'') is the eleventh studio album by American R&B singer

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 ...

, released on May 22, 1980 by

Motown Records 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 ...

. The album is the best-selling studio album of Ross's career, spawning three international hit singles, including the number-one hit " Upside Down". In 2020, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...

'' named ''Diana'' the 394th greatest album of all time.

Conception

Following the US success of her 1979 album '' The Boss'', Ross wanted a fresher, more modern sound. Having heard

Nile Rodgers Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, record producer and composer. The co-founder of Chic, Rodgers has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 500 million albums and 75 million ...

of Chic's work in the famous

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

disco club

Studio 54 Studio 54 is a Broadway theater and a former disco nightclub at 254 West 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Operated by the Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio 54 has 1,006 seats on two levels. The theater ...

, Ross approached him about creating a new album of material for her that stated where she felt she was in her life and career at the period. On an episode of TV One's '' Unsung'', Nile Rodgers said that the majority of the songs were crafted after direct conversations with Ross. She had reportedly said to Rodgers and Bernard Edwards that she wanted to turn her career “upside down” and wanted to “have fun again.” As a result, Rodgers and Edwards wrote the songs " Upside Down" and "Have Fun (Again)". After running into several drag queens in a club dressed as Ross, Rodgers wrote " I'm Coming Out". Only " My Old Piano" came from their normal songwriting processes. Initially, Ross was not pleased with the album's results. Following a preview of the record to be released in the aftermath of the anti-disco backlash,

Frankie Crocker Frankie "Hollywood" Crocker (December 18, 1937 – October 21, 2000) was an American disc jockey who helped grow WBLS, the black music radio station in New York. Early soul radio According to popeducation.org, Crocker began his career in Buffa ...

, an influential New York City disc jockey, warned Ross that releasing the album in its original state would even lead to the end of her career. Ross remixed the entire album, assisted by Motown engineer Russ Terrana, removing extended instrumental passages and speeding up the tracks' tempos. Ross also re-recorded all her lead vocals, and they were mixed so that they were front and center and not overshadowed by the music. The remixing of the master tapes was performed without the knowledge or approval of Rodgers and Edwards. When they were presented with the "official" version of ''diana'', the producers publicly objected and, at one point, even considered removing their names from the album's list of credits. Motown and Ross persisted, and the version released was Terrana's more commercial mix of the album. Rodgers and Edwards were contracted by Motown to produce a follow-up album, but, as Ross left the label, it was never created. Rodgers and Edwards sued Motown, unsuccessfully claiming that they were owed monies for creating and recording the original version of the album. In 1989, Rodgers and Ross collaborated on '' Workin' Overtime'' (No. 3 US R&B), released upon Ross's return to Motown. Edwards produced the 1984 single, "Telephone" (No. 13 US R&B), from Ross' '' Swept Away'' album, released on the RCA label. Rodgers played guitar on the new wave song, " It's Your Move", from the same album. The cover art was photographed by famed photographer

Francesco Scavullo Francesco Scavullo (January 16, 1921 – January 6, 2004) was an American fashion photographer best known for his work on the covers of '' Cosmopolitan'' and his celebrity portraits. Biography Scavullo was born January 16, 1921, on Staten Island, ...

. For a cover shooting, she had borrowed jeans from late supermodel

Gia Carangi Gia Marie Carangi (January 29, 1960November 18, 1986) was an American model, considered by many to be the first supermodel. She was featured on the cover of many magazines, including multiple editions of '' Vogue'' and '' Cosmopolitan'', and ap ...

Critical reception

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

, writing for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'', gave the album an A- rating. He remarked that "not since '' Lady Sings the Blues'' has Ms. R. been forced into such a becoming straitjacket. Her perky angularity and fit-to-burst verve could have been designed for Rodgers & Edwards's synergy – you'd swear she was as great a singer as

Alfa Anderson Alfa Anderson (born September 7, 1947) is a soul /rhythm and blues/ disco singer and teacher, best known as one of the lead singers of the 1970s band Chic. Early life and education Anderson was born in Augusta, Georgia. Her parents named her "Al ...

herself. And Nile is showing off more axemanship than any rhythm guitarist in history." In a retrospecive review, Charity Stafford from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

called the album "Ross' best solo record." She found that "Ross sounds more forceful than she had in years. The helium-toned style of her early hits with the Supremes is worlds away from the assertive way she rips into the funky hit "Upside Down." ..The glossy Chic production might sound a bit dated to some ears, but it's matured much better than many similar albums of the era." In her 2003 review of ''Diana''s deluxe edition, Daryl Easlea from

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio ...

wrote: "''Diana'' is an artistic portrayal of complete freedom; Rodgers and Edwards' writing symbolises Ross' breaking free of the shackles of Motown on one level, but moreover, the work has a universality; celebrating gayness, blackness, equality; an album of challenging ideas, friendship and freedom." ''Rolling Stone'' ranked the album No. 394 on its 2020 edition of the

500 Greatest Albums of All Time * Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time * NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a 2013 special issue of British magazine '' NME'', available digitally or in newsstands on October 23. The li ...

list.

Chart performance

Partly due to the controversy between Ross, Motown, and Nile Rodgers/Bernard Edwards, Motown released the album without a lead single. This was unheard of, especially for a label like Motown. However, by its 4th week leading into summer, the album was already nearing the top 10. " Upside Down" eventually was chosen by the label and radio programmers. "Upside Down" made a rare vaulted move in its third week from number 49 to number 10. By the middle of summer 1980, Ross chalked up her fifth number one single. The album spent 17 weeks at the top of ''Billboard''s R&B/Dance chart. Reaching number two on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart and number one on the ''Billboard'' Soul Albums Chart for 8 consecutive weeks, as well as yielding two top 10 singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, including the number-one single " Upside Down", the album would sell over one million copies in the United States and be certified Platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

(RIAA). In the UK it went Gold and spun off three successful singles; "Upside Down" (No. 2), "My Old Piano" (No. 5) and "I'm Coming Out" (No. 13). A fourth single, "Tenderness", was also released in certain territories, reaching the top 40 in the Netherlands, and was later included on several greatest hits compilations. Despite its massive dance and dance radio success, none of the singles from ''Diana'' were remixed for promotional and/or commercial use while the album was current. " I'm Coming Out" has since become an anthem for the LGBT movement. Some thirty years after its release, ''Diana'' remains Ross's best-selling studio album to date having sold a total of over 10 million copies worldwide, according to music critic Graham Reid. ''Diana'' was one of four albums written and produced by Edwards and Rodgers in 1980, the other three being

Sister Sledge Sister Sledge is an American musical vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed in 1971, the group consisted of sisters Debbie, Joni, Kim, and Kathy Sledge. The siblings achieved international success at the height of the disco era. ...

's '' Love Somebody Today'', Sheila and B. Devotion's '' King of the World'' including European hit single "Spacer", and Chic's fourth studio album '' Real People''. Following the release of two more singles, the duet " Endless Love" with

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recor ...

and " It's My Turn", both worldwide hits, Ross left Motown and signed a then-record breaking $20 million recording deal with

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also ...

. The first album for the label was 1981's self-produced '' Why Do Fools Fall in Love'', which went platinum and spawned two Top 10 hits in the US. ''Diana'' was remastered and released as a double CD in 2003 containing the original Chic mixes and the Motown final mixes, unremixed versions, together with a selection of other Motown dance tracks from the same period.

Track listing

All songs written by

Bernard Edwards Bernard Edwards (October 31, 1952 – April 18, 1996) was an American bass player and record producer, known primarily for his work in disco music with guitarist Nile Rodgers, with whom he co-founded Chic. In 2017, Edwards was selected as the ...

and

Original release

2001 (UK) / 2003 (US) deluxe edition

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the ''Diana'' liner notes. Musicians * Diana Ross – lead vocals * Alfa Anderson – background vocals *

Fonzi Thornton Alfonso "Fonzi" Thornton is a U.S. songwriter/producer and vocal contractor. In a career spanning 40 years, Thornton has sung backing vocals for top artists across many genres of music. His vocal credits can be found on the recordings of Aret ...

– background vocals * Luci Martin – background vocals * Michelle Cobbs – background vocals *

– bass guitar *

– guitar * Tony Thompson – drums * Andy Barrett (Schwartz) – piano * Raymond Jones – keyboards * Eddie Daniels – saxophone * Meco Monardo – trombone * Bob Milliken – trumpet * Valerie Haywood (The Chic Strings) – strings * Cheryl Hong (The Chic Strings) – strings * Karen Milne (The Chic Strings) – strings * Gene Orloff –

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...

Production *

– producer for Chic Organization Ltd. *

Bob Clearmountain Bob Clearmountain (born January 15, 1953) is an American recording engineer, mixer and record producer. He has worked with many major acts, including Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Toto, Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams, with whom he has a very l ...

–

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

proposed side A; tracks 1–4 * Bill Scheniman – engineer proposed side B; tracks 1–4 * James Farber – engineer * Neil Dorfsman – engineer * Ralph Osborn – engineer * Abdoulaye Soumare – assistant engineer * Jeff Hendrickson – assistant engineer * Lucy Laurie – assistant engineer * Peter Robbins – assistant engineer * Dennis King – mastering * All songs originally recorded at Power Station in New York. Lead vocal re-recordings: Electric Lady, New York; Motown/Hitsville U.S.A. Studios, Hollywood, California. * All songs originally mixed at Power Station, New York. Remixed by Russ Terrana and Diana Ross at Artisan Sound Recorders, Hollywood, California. * Mastered at Atlantic Studios, N.Y.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

* Easlea, Daryl (2004). ''Everybody Dance: Chic and the Politics of Disco''. London: Helter Skelter. * Chin, Brian (2003). ''Diana (Deluxe Edition)'' iner notes New York: Motown/Universal. * Wangler, Petra. (May 5, 2000)
Interview with Aretha Franklin
''Musikbyrån''. SVT Sweden.

External links

* {{Authority control 1980 albums Albums produced by Bernard Edwards Albums produced by Nile Rodgers Diana Ross albums Motown albums Albums recorded at Electric Lady Studios