Judge Weighs Conservatorship for the Former Supreme Cindy Birdsong

[milven]

IN TODAY'S NY TIMES - AUGUST 7,2023

Cindy's family has asked the court to approve a legal arrangement that would govern her medical decisions and finances after relatives objected to the previous care by a longtime friend.

The judge will consider whether to establish a conservatorship for Cindy, whose family has argued that her physical and mental frailties have made her vulnerable to undue influence for years.

When Cindy left the Supremes, her finances fell apart — a situation she later attributed to a “bad closing deal” with Motown Records. Later, several strokes left her unable to care for herself or manage her affairs.

Cindy's family said that her "friend" Rochelle Lander isolated them from her and withheld information about her health. They want a conservatorship to ensure that Cindy's care and finances are properly managed. Of course, at this point, there are not much finances to manage, and her quality of life is simply existing as she is on a feeding tube..

Fans of Cindy and the Supremes should read the entire article, which is in today's New York Times.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/07/arts/music/cindy-birdsong-supremes-conservatorship.html

Cindy's siblings have stepped up, but no where in the article does it mention anything about her son. What's up with that?

Now that the story is out, it would be nice if some former Supremes would stop in and visit her. And it would be nice if Berry or Diana could quietly step in financially,and help the family make Cindy's final days a little more comfortable

[Roberta75]

IN TODAY'S NY TIMES - AUGUST 7,2023

Cindy's family has asked the court to approve a legal arrangement that would govern her medical decisions and finances after relatives objected to the previous care by a longtime friend.

The judge will consider whether to establish a conservatorship for Cindy, whose family has argued that her physical and mental frailties have made her vulnerable to undue influence for years.

When Cindy left the Supremes, her finances fell apart — a situation she later attributed to a “bad closing deal” with Motown Records. Later, several strokes left her unable to care for herself or manage her affairs.

Cindy's family said that her "friend" Rochelle Lander isolated them from her and withheld information about her health. They want a conservatorship to ensure that Cindy's care and finances are properly managed. Of course, at this point, there are not much finances to manage, and her quality of life is simply existing as she is on a feeding tube..

Fans of Cindy and the Supremes should read the entire article, which is in today's New York Times.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/07/arts/music/cindy-birdsong-supremes-conservatorship.html

Cindy's siblings have stepped up, but no where in the article does it mention anything about her son. What's up with that?

Now that the story is out, it would be nice if some former Supremes would stop in and visit her. And it would be nice if Berry or Diana could quietly step in financially,and help the family make Cindy's final days a little more comfortable

Would former Supremes be allowed to visit. This lady Rochelle seems to keep everyone away from Cindy including family members. And do we really want Mr Gordy or Miss Ross contributing money if it only going to this Rochelle person. Better to wait to see how the court rules in this.

Miss Cindy Birdsong being on a feeding tube breaks my heart. Better the good Lord call her home.

[milven]

Would former Supremes be allowed to visit. This lady Rochelle seems to keep everyone away from Cindy including family members. And do we really want Mr Gordy or Miss Ross contributing money if it only going to this Rochelle person. Better to wait to see how the court rules in this.

Miss Cindy Birdsong being on a feeding tube breaks my heart. Better the good Lord call her home.

Tensions mounted a few year ago between this Rochelle person and Cindy's siblings and entertainment manager Brad Herman, during a visit to the Cindy’s Los Angeles apartment, where the family said it was stunned by how her condition had deteriorated, according to interviews with her three living siblings. The family ultimately reached out to the police, who enforced Birdsong’s removal from the apartment in 2021.

With Cindy now in a facility, she probably could have visitors.

A full update of Cindy's current situation is in today NY TIMES. Link is below

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/07/arts/music/cindy-birdsong-supremes-conservatorship.html

[RanRan79]

Cindy's siblings have stepped up, but no where in the article does it mention anything about her son. What's up with that?

Now that the story is out, it would be nice if some former Supremes would stop in and visit her. And it would be nice if Berry or Diana could quietly step in financially,and help the family make Cindy's final days a little more comfortable

If I'm not mistaken, the article that was posted a couple months ago when the news originally broke spoke of David's involvement previously. As of now, not mentioning him could be an oversight of this current article or there could be some reason why he isn't active in this. So many folks these days are having health issues right and left, and David is in his 50s, so who knows what he may be dealing with.

The previous article also mentioned some financial help from Berry and Diana, or maybe it was just Diana, I can't remember.

It sucks that Cindy signed away her rights to royalties. The aforementioned previous article also mentioned something about Cindy's latest royalty check being in the five figures [[I think it was five), which I assume is royalties from her Bluebelles work. If she's getting five figures from her Bluebelles work, I have to imagine that she'd get at least a couple hundred thousand from her Supremes work had she not opted to sign away her royalties.

Did Cindy ever say why she signed? I know it's been written that on the advise of her lawyer, Flo opted for a lump sum rather than wait for a check every year. I know many artists from the 50s and 60s have spoken about not foreseeing how lucrative royalties would eventually be, but was this still something many artists weren't thinking about when Cindy left the Supremes for the last time? I can certainly understand if she took a lump sum, considering she had a child to support and parents sometimes find themselves between a rock and a hard place.

I suspect also that Cindy gets social security from the years she did have a 9 to 5.

[marybrewster]

I could be wrong, but I think Cindy opted for the lump sum as well. I suppose no one was thinking long term in those days; certainly not CD's and now streaming. I wonder though what "royalties" there really were? "Love Child" and "SWBT" on a technicality, and "Ladder", "Stoned", and "Nathan" were probably the biggest singles she was credited on. Not sure how LP's factor in.

One bigger question is, did she not have legal counsel when she signed her departure papers in 1976? I know there's been much-to-do about Cindy and her "representation" during RTL. It seems, with all due respect, that she was not very business savvy.

[marybrewster]

Also, do we know much about Cindy's "career" after the Supremes? I heard she worked for Motown. I've also heard she worked as a nurse. Like, a REAL RN? Wouldn't she have gone to school for several years for that? She had a solo career for a bit, but there's not a lot of specifics of what Cindy did from 1976 on.

[RanRan79]

I could be wrong, but I think Cindy opted for the lump sum as well. I suppose no one was thinking long term in those days; certainly not CD's and now streaming. I wonder though what "royalties" there really were? "Love Child" and "SWBT" on a technicality, and "Ladder", "Stoned", and "Nathan" were probably the biggest singles she was credited on. Not sure how LP's factor in.

One bigger question is, did she not have legal counsel when she signed her departure papers in 1976? I know there's been much-to-do about Cindy and her "representation" during RTL. It seems, with all due respect, that she was not very business savvy.

I haven't heard of Cindy having legal counsel. I imagine having to pay one might have factored into the decision to utilize or not utilize.

[RanRan79]

Also, do we know much about Cindy's "career" after the Supremes? I heard she worked for Motown. I've also heard she worked as a nurse. Like, a REAL RN? Wouldn't she have gone to school for several years for that? She had a solo career for a bit, but there's not a lot of specifics of what Cindy did from 1976 on.

I believe Cindy worked in some capacity in a medical lab. Perhaps in a secretarial role? I've never heard she was a nurse. I think I did read that both she and Florence entertained careers in nursing before their singing careers took off.

[reese]

I believe Cindy worked in some capacity in a medical lab. Perhaps in a secretarial role? I've never heard she was a nurse. I think I did read that both she and Florence entertained careers in nursing before their singing careers took off.

I think she worked in the medical lab at UCLA, under her married name, Cindy Hewlett. Then she worked for Suzanne dePasse at Motown Productions.

[milven]

When Cindy returned to the Supremes after having her baby, she stayed until 1976, just one year before the Supremes would break up. In doing this, she sold away all of her royalties to future Supremes albums. Flo got a lump sum when she did this but I dont know if Cindy did. I also doubt that she did it with representation.

It makes sense that she would give up royalties to any future Supremes albums, but i wonder if she gave up royalties to all those reissued albums and compilation albums etc that she was part of, and if she also gave up royalties on all the songs that she was credited to - even if it was the Andantes.

It is always a bad move to give up royalties. That is like giving up your pension

Below article mentions her giving up future royalties

http://www.dvrbs.com/people/CamdenShowbiz-CindyBirdsong.htm

[reese]

When Cindy returned to the Supremes after having her baby, she stayed until 1976, just one year before the Supremes would break up. In doing this, she sold away all of her royalties to future Supremes albums. Flo got a lump sum when she did this but I dont know if Cindy did. I also doubt that she did it with representation.

It makes sense that she would give up royalties to any future Supremes albums, but i wonder if she gave up royalties to all those reissued albums and compilation albums etc that she was part of, and if she also gave up royalties on all the songs that she was credited to - even if it was the Andantes.

It is always a bad move to give up royalties. That is like giving up your pension

Below article mentions her giving up future royalties

http://www.dvrbs.com/people/CamdenShowbiz-CindyBirdsong.htm

In CALL HER MISS ROSS, J. Randy said that Cindy gave up her royalties when she went on maternity leave in 1972. But in a 90s interview with the STAR tabloid, I recall Cindy said this happened when she left the group in 1976. I can't find that article online but I believe she alluded to financial difficulties and I know Mary has written that royalties were low during that time.

I'm assuming Cindy received nothing from that point on but when she signed them away, having cash in hand was probably more attractive than waiting on royalties to come. And of course, no one could have foreseen the development of cds at that time.

[jobeterob]

There are articles around saying the only money in music now is in touring and performances.

Any royalties if she had any rights to them would be very modest these days.

[milven]

There are articles around saying the only money in music now is in touring and performances.

Any royalties if she had any rights to them would be very modest these days.

That's true. No one buys hard copies of music anymore. They don't even download it. They stream it. Royalties from streaming is almost non existent.

Artists used to tour to promote their latest album or single to increase their sales and profits of their recordings.

Now it is just the opposite. They record music and use it to promote their tours, where tickets are sold for big bucks and they sell merchandise at outrageous prices. That is where the money is.

Beyoncé’s current Renaissance World Tour is expected to gross between $275 million and $2.4 billion from tickets alone by the time it ends in September.

A rough estimate based on her previous tours suggests that Beyonce could net around 40% of the gross revenue from her current tour, which would be between $110 million and almost one billion $. However, this is only a speculation and not a confirmed figure.

So yes, the money now is in touring. But it is still the music that gets the people in the seats

[jobeterob]

Whenever these stories are reported, it reiterates the tragedy of RTL - reputations were trashed, anger and retaliation, jealousy and disappointment, a terrible loss for all the fans and for Cindy and Mary, an obvious boost to the finances went down the drain in an era when royalties began to evaporate

[marybrewster]

Cindy should have bucked up and got a lawyer or agent to negotiate for her for RTL. Sadly, anything she might have made would have probably been sucked up by this Rochelle. So perhaps it doesn't even matter.

Thankfully Mary was still booked and blessed and lived a very comfortable life until her untimely passing.

[RanRan79]

Thankfully Mary was still booked and blessed and lived a very comfortable life until her untimely passing.

Aint that the truth. Booked and blessed.

[jobeterob]

Some of the choices made seem so naive; you can maybe see some of this happening in 1963, but time and again right through to RTL, you have to give your head a shake.

I can see at a young age, I could have been jealous [[and maybe angry) at Diana, especially when she acted high and mighty, but why the hell would you give up $1 m or $3 or $4m - and the publicity. It might have meant a recording contract.