‘Supreme' Mary Wilson talks Motown, music and change

Image 1 of 3

She's an original Motown diva, best-selling author, and inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Mary Wilson has made an indelible mark on popular music, and during a recent stop in Georgia, took time to talk about that legacy with Good Day Atlanta's Paul Milliken.

 

Wilson founded The Supremes with her childhood friends Diana Ross and Florence Ballard, and the trio signed with Detroit’s Motown Records in 1961.  In the years before the group had a hit, they toured with other Motown stars including Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, and The Temptations.  Wilson says it was a time of incredible music, but also intense turmoil, especially when the groups performed in the Deep South.  Wilson recalls the groups bring shot at, chased out of towns, and performing before segregated crowds. 

But Wilson says she also saw first-hand how the Motown beat brought people together, remembering the segregated crowds mingling as shows progressed.  And later, when The Supremes rose to international stardom thanks to hits like “Baby Love” and “Stop! In The Name Of Love”, Wilson says she began to see what a lasting legacy The Supremes and other Motown acts were leaving on young people: "Whoopi Goldberg said to me one day, you know, you girls were just so great, we wanted to be like you, you know, you really inspired us."

During a recent stop in Macon, headlining her own show at The Grand Opera House, Mary Wilson sat down with Paul Milliken for an unforgettable look back on her life and career.  For information on Wilson's current tour schedule and newest dance hit, "Time To Move On," click here.

App users: watch video here