Diana Ross – a personification of beauty
In 2007 the Kennedy Center awarded the gorgeous Diva of pop music, Diana Ross, for her “lifetime achievement in the performing arts” (Lee “Kennedy Center Names Five Artists to Lifetime Awards”). This is only one of numerous rewards which prove the recognition of Ms. Ross as a magnificent singer, talented actress and glorious woman who became an icon for millions.
Apart from the beauty of her sweet vibrating voice which made her romantic blues even more touching and sincere, Diana Ross was a personification of female beauty and style. This image inspired many women who realized that they want to be as attractive as that little women dressed in gorgeous gowns. Thus, Diana Ross has always been one of those bright sparkles in the world of music and, in fact, in the entire world of performing art.
Diva’s beautiful and unique voice
It goes without saying that Diana Ross was a very special teenager who felt the strength inside her heart and knew the value of her talent. Her beautiful “girlish” voice won the recognition of one of the most famous labels Motown (Louie 120).
Initially, Ms Ross was a member of girls’ band the Supreme which in a few years became one of the most successful pop bands in the United States, and even worldwide. However, from the very start her unique bright voice and quite a huge ambitiousness brought her to the front in the group. She became a kind of solo singer within the group.
Someone called her too assertive and were rumoring about her relationship with Berry Gordy which enabled Diana Ross to play a leading role in the group. However, her success is determined by her constant challenging herself since she never stopped and tried something new to become better. When she was one of the Supreme singers she was constantly competing with Mary Wilson.1 In several years the beauty of her voice transformed the Supreme into “Diana Ross and the Supreme”.
After becoming the supreme within the Supreme Diana Ross understood that she can do more and she did. Her career as a solo singer was as successful (or, maybe, even more successful) as her previous career. Everyone knew her beautiful voice and wanted to listen to their idol. Of course, even in her seventies this greatest female singer ever continues pleasing her fans with her candy-sweet and at the same time strong vocal.2
Diana Ross is the icon of glamorous beauty
However, not only specific voice made Diana Ross an icon of the culture of the sixties. In the very beginning of the Supreme, the girls were taught by Maxine Powell, former model. Gordy wanted to make the girls “black ladies” to attract more audience, especially among white people (Bloch and Umansky 155).
Thus, Powell taught girls how to dress, how to move “gracefully”, how to behave “correctly” on and off the stage.3 The Supreme became a unique band of African American female pop singers who were exquisitely dressed in beautiful gowns. Of course, soon these girls became icons of style. However, Diana Ross stood out of this posh group. She has always had her own style was a queen wherever she appeared.
Her costumes even now impress people with their deliberateness and perfect taste. She brought about glamour and beauty into the culture of sixties which influenced the following decades greatly. It is necessary to add that this gentle little woman became the ideal of female beauty. However, not only physical attractiveness made Diana Ross commonly recognized queen. The beauty and strength of her spirit were those features which conquered everyone.
Ms Ross was not a mere pop singer or attractive pop idol, she was an active modern woman who created herself and her life. People could not but surprise how this remarkable woman could combine that determination and remain vulnerable at the same time. By all means, this enigmatic peculiarity of Ms Ross contributed to her development into a pillar of beauty within the pop culture.
The significance of the pillar of beauty in music
At this point it is but natural to dwell upon the significant role Diana Ross played in the culture of the United States. First of all, it is necessary to point out that Ms Ross made a great contribution into the development of the music, and blues in particular. Her 70 hits are great illustrations of her profound influence on the minds of people.
Her iconic singing is now studied by many people to find the formula of success in music. Her lasting success in the world of performing art is the source for inspiration for many generations.4 Apart from this, the beauty of Diana Ross and her perfect style brought great changed as well.
First of all, many females followed the singer in the manner of dressing and behaving. The story of success of diva made many women understand that they should not be confined to household duties only. Females understood that they could do more than that. In fact, the logo that beauty will save the world is true in case of Diana Ross.
Diana Ross – a sparkle of beauty and style
Thus, Diana Ross is an iconic symbol of beauty within the world of culture. She started her ascent as an ingenuous but ambitious teenager and reached the highest top of show business. Her beautiful voice, good looks and the strength of her spirit caused considerable changes in the cultural life and the entire society.
She became a symbol of female strength and success, profoundly talented artist and independent woman. The way of her performing and the way of her life are inspiring. Notably, the changes can be still traced since many contemporary stars have been inspired by the great little female pop singer. To date it is impossible to imagine the stage without its greatest queen Diana Ross who is still a sparkle of beauty and style in the contemporary world.
Footnotes
- Diana Ross claimed: “In fact, if it wasn’t Mary, I wouldn’t push as hard as I have. You know how a runner has somebody to pace him? Well, Mary and I have been pacing each other for years.”
- In 2009 Diana Ross made a performance in her native Detroit which was a great success. See Whitall “From the archive: Diana loves Detroit. Diva brings her Motown spirit home for visit”.
- Diana Ross recollected in her book: “We giggled a lot about this, but when we had finished her training, we could sit at the table with Princess Margaret or Princess Anne and feel at ease.”
- Tracing the career of the great singer Sonneborn points out that Ms Ross “remains as beloved an artist now as she was in the 1960s”.
Works Cited
Bloch, Avital H. and Umansky, Lauri. Impossible to Hold: Women and Culture in the 1960’s. New York: NYU Press, 2005.
Lee, Suevon. “Kennedy Center Names Five Artists to Lifetime Awards.” Arts. The New York Times, 2007. Web.
Whitall, Susan. “From the archive: Diana loves Detroit. Diva brings her Motown spirit home for visit.” Media Prints. International Diana Ross Website, 2009. Web.
Louie. “Why Rumors Become Reality When Diana Goes Solo.” Ebony Feb. 1970: 120-126.
Sonneborn, Liz. A to Z of American Women in the Performing Arts. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2002.