Diana Ross was born on March 26, 1944 to United States Army soldier and a School teacher at Hutzel Women's Hospital in Detroit, Michigan.  Ross aspired to be fashion designer, and studied design and seamstress skills while attending Cass Technical High School.  In 1963 Ross became the lead singer of the Supremes.  Recording a total of 12 number-one singles, the Supremes became the most successful American vocal group of the 1960s, and after The Beatles, the second most successful group worldwide.

By the summer of 1969, Ross began her first solo recordings.  That same year, Ross introduced Motown's newest act The Jackson 5, to national audiences on the Hollywood Palace television variety Program.  In May 1970 Diana Ross was released on Motown.  The first single, the gospel-influenced "Reach out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)", peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 1971 Motown announced that Diana Ross was going to portray jazz icon Billie Holiday in a Motown produced film loosely based on Holiday's autobiography Lady Sing the Blues(1956) written by Holiday and William Dufty.  Opening in October 1972, Lady Sings the Blues was a phenomenal success, and Ross's performance drew universally favorable reviews.

in 1977 Motown acquired the film rights to the popular Broadway play "The Wiz" an African-American reinterpretation of L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz."  Among Ross's costars in the film were Lena Horne, Richard Pryor, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross (no relation), and her formal label mate and protégé Michael Jackson from the Jackson 5.  The Wiz was Ross's final film from Motown.  The accompanying Quincy Jones produced soundtrack album sold over 850,000 copies in its initial release, the film become a cult classic and, in 2008, was re-released in an Anniversary Edition DVD set.

In 2000 Ross announced a Supremes reunion tour with former group-mates Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong, entitled Return to Love.  Wilson and Birdsong declined the tour because of a reported difference in pay offered to each member.  They were replaced by latter-day Supremes Lynda Laurence and Scherrie Payne both who were members of the group after Ross's departure.  Despite a respectable opening in Philadelphia and sold out performance in at Madison Square Garden in New York the Return of Love tour was cancelled after nine dates because of slow tickets sales.

In December 2002, Ross was arrested in Tucson, Arizona for drunk driving.  She pleaded no contest and later served a two day jail sentence near her home in Greenwich, Connecticut.  Following the arrest and jail sentence, Ross stayed out of the public eye during much of the following year, and would not return to touring again until 2004.

At the 2007 BET Awards Ross was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by singer Alicia Keys and her five children.  Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu, and Chaka Khan performed a tribute to Ross, covering several of her hits.  Ross was named in Michael Jackson's will as the custodian of his children in the event of the death of his mother, Katherine Jackson.  Ross became a grandmother in the summer of 2009 when her daughter, Rhonda gave birth to a boy.