Originally Posted by
midnightman
As for Diana in general, I think the same can be said for her. Diana doesn't have as many recognizable/signature hits as when she sang with the Supremes, but the ones that she would probably be forever remembered for are:
I'm Coming Out
Endless Love
Upside Down
Ain't No Mountain High Enough
Like if you were to ask what was Diana's most famous song, they'll probably pick one of these four, and I'm Coming Out likely being the first one mentioned since it's taken on cultural significance especially in the LGBTQ community.
Diana would also probably be remembered for being one of the first contemporary pop-rock singers to find some success in acting but I think her contributions in that department are overshadowed by Cher and Whitney Houston as far as modern pop-rock singers who became successful film stars go despite the fact she earned an Oscar nod for Lady Sings the Blues [[Diana was smarting over Halle Berry not mentioning her in a speech after she won her Oscar back in 2000-01, I forgot the actual year Halle won it for Monster's Ball, forgive me). [[Barbra Streisand and Liza Minnelli, I look at, as actors who became successful singers, not the other way around btw; plus they didn't fit the pop-rock field like Ross did).
I do feel when it comes to Diana, her place in history is strange.
She's remembered for the Central Park performance but her moment as the first pop-rock singer to sing the national anthem at a Super Bowl gets overlooked thanks to Whitney Houston's iconic/legendary performance of the anthem nine years later.
She was one of the few black entertainers [[and likely the first black female entertainer, period) to host their own variety specials [[1971's Diana! and 1977's An Evening with Diana Ross; not to mention the 1960s ones with the Sups/Tempts) and televised concerts [[she was the first R&B performer to have a HBO concert special going back to 1979) but it's rarely, if ever, brought up.
She also was one of the first black female artists to have their own production company [[Anaid). For a while, only her, Whitney Houston [[Nippy Inc and later BrownHouse Productions) and Phyllis Hyman were the first black female artists who had their own production companies, something that wouldn't be commonplace until much, much later.
Diana being one of the first black actresses to get an Oscar nomination and technically the second one doesn't get as much recognition as when Cicely Tyson is mentioned for the same thing. Also, some black female actors who received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress have gotten honorary lifetime Oscars, like Cicely and Angela Bassett, mainly because they had much longer film careers than Diana did [[hers stopped abruptly after The Wiz flopped and also due to the fact she rejected many films given to her for various reasons). By comparison, Whitney Houston, whose film career was only slightly longer, is often referred to as the singer who broke that barrier for pop singers to become film stars thanks to the blockbuster successes of The Bodyguard and Waiting to Exhale as well as being the first black actress to command $10 million a motion picture. All of Whitney's films, including Sparkle and Cinderella, which was on TV, still get regularly played and streamed. Of Diana's, only Lady Sings the Blues and The Wiz gets played but no idea about Mahogany [[despite its theme song), neither has Out of Darkness or Double Platinum.
Diana was one of the first black divas to get a doll back in the '80s but nowadays, you barely hear about that.
In other words, Diana as a soloist is not looked under the same way she's looked under as a Supreme. There's a sharp contrast.
But like the Supremes, I think her name will never really go away so that's probably enough for her.
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