Jean Terrell

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Jean Terrell (born November 26, 1944 in Belzoni, Mississippi) is an American R&B and jazz singer, best known for having replaced Diana Ross in the Supremes in 1970. She is also the sister of former WBA heavyweight boxing champion Ernie Terrell, who famously fought Muhammad Ali in a vicious fight when the champion berated him after Ernie called him by his given name, "Cassius Clay".

Moving to Chicago for a better life at an early age, Jean Terrell was guided by her family to sing and it was in the late sixties that she and her brother formed a group called Ernie Terrell & the Heavyweights. It was while singing in Miami where Motown president Berry Gordy discovered the 24-year-old singer performing with her brother at a club in Miami Beach. Looking for a replacement for his protegée, singer Diana Ross, who was leaving the group she had fronted for over a decade, The Supremes, for a solo career, Gordy first signed Jean Terrell to Motown as a solo artist, but then decided to drop her into The Supremes as Ross's replacement alongside continuing, fellow trio members Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong. Jean then recorded much of the new post-Diana Supremes material in the studios, and rehearsed the group's new act during the day with Wilson and Birdsong, while Ross, Wilson and Birdsong performed as Diana Ross & The Supremes at night.

Terrell was made an official member after Ross's farewell tour with the group in Las Vegas on January 14, 1970. Terrell took lead in the group's first notable 1970s hits "Up the Ladder to the Roof", "Stoned Love", "River Deep-Mountain High" (with The Four Tops), "Nathan Jones", and "Floy Joy". Between 1970 and 1973, Terrell served as the official lead singer of the group until contractual disputes led to her exit from the group in 1973 when she was replaced by Scherrie Payne. Signing a contract with MCA, Terrell had finished a solo recording, I Had To Fall in Love, in 1978 but due to her strict Jehovah's Witness beliefs disagreed to promote the recording in a specific way the label wanted and she semi-retired. Terrell went on to form the Former Ladies of the Supremes (FLOS for short) with Payne and Lynda Laurence in 1986; she left FLOS to pursue business interests and was replaced by Laurence's sister Sundray Tucker.

Terrell has since released a biographical DVD of her life and has continued to sing onstage to jazz music.

The Supremes
Florence Ballard • Cindy Birdsong • Susaye Greene • Lynda Laurence • Barbara Martin • Betty McGlown • Scherrie Payne • Diana Ross • Jean Terrell • Mary Wilson
Singles: "Where Did Our Love Go" • "Baby Love" • "Come See About Me" • "Stop! In the Name of Love" • "Back in My Arms Again" • "Nothing But Heartaches" • "I Hear a Symphony" • "My World Is Empty Without You" • "Love Is Like an Itching In My Heart" • "You Can't Hurry Love" • "You Keep Me Hangin' On" • "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone" • "The Happening" • "Reflections" • "Love Child" • "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" • "I'm Livin' in Shame" • "The Weight" • "Someday We'll Be Together" • "Up the Ladder to the Roof" • "Stoned Love"
Related articles: Discography