The Lost Supreme: The Life of Dreamgirl Florence Ballard

(Paperback)

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In the months before she died, Florence Ballard, the spunky teenager who founded the most successful female vocal group in history--the Supremes--told her own side of the story. Recorded on tape, Flo shed light on all areas of her life, including the surprising identity of the man by whom she was raped prior to her entering the music business, the details of her love-hate relationship with Motown Records czar Berry Gordy, her drinking problem and pleas for help, a never-ending desire to be the Supremes' lead singer, and her attempts to get her life back on track after being brutally expelled from the group. This is a tumultuous and heartbreaking story of a world-famous performer whose life ended at the age of 32 as a lonely mother of three who had only recently recovered from years of poverty and despair.

Reviews

"Flo Ballard's remarkable story is a personal Greek tragedy. In his wonderful The Lost Supreme , Peter Benjaminson tells it masterfully, with all the drama and empathy her life deserves. In Benjaminson's talented hands, Flo Ballard earns the lasting stardom she was deprived of in life." --Gerald Posner, author, Motown: Music, Money, Sex, and Power "Get to know the real Flo, from the beginning to the end. A must read." --Otis Williams, the Temptations "Peter Benjaminson has done a stellar job in capturing [Florence Ballard] and telling her story. Florence deserved a biographer with the skill and talent of Benjaminson. If this book were a record, it would top the charts." --Al Abrams, publicity director, Motown Records, 1964-1966 "Provides details Ballard wouldn't or couldn't discuss." -- Onion

Author Bio

Peter Benjaminson is the author of Death in the Afternoon: America's Newspaper Giants Struggle for Survival, Secret Police: Inside the New York City Department of Investigation, and The Story of Motown, and is the coathor of Investigative Reporting. He is a former reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Detroit Free Press. He lives in New York City.