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Mary Wilson Of The Supremes Dies At 76

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Mary Wilson of The Supremes has died.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MY WORLD IS EMPTY WITHOUT YOU")

THE SUPREMES: (Singing) My world is empty without you, babe.

SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:

Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson were among Motown's biggest stars in the 1960s. Their first single as The Supremes was "I Want A Guy," released nearly 60 years ago. There were many more to follow - 12 No. 1 singles, including "Where Did Our Love Go," "Baby Love," "Come See About Me" and, of course...

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "STOP IN THE NAME OF LOVE")

THE SUPREMES: (Singing) Stop in the name of love before you break my heart.

MARTIN: In a 2006 interview with NPR, Wilson recalls the very beginning of the singing group before the friends became famous as The Supremes.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

MARY WILSON: I remember when Florence, Diana and I were 13 years old. And we started singing as the Primettes. You know, we did dare to dream at a time when it was almost an impossible dream for us to want to be stars. To say that we thought it would last, you know, some 50 years later, no, I don't think that we ever thought about that. But we knew we were good (laughter).

MARTIN: Turns out they were very good. The Supremes became one of the best selling vocal groups of all time. But that success didn't always come easy.

PFEIFFER: In 2003, Mary was doing publicity for a documentary called "Only The Strong Survive." She and other artists relegated to oldies stations were fighting for their legacy. Here she is during an appearance on "The Tavis Smiley Show."

(SOUNDBITE OF RADIO SHOW, "THE TAVIS SMILEY SHOW")

WILSON: We are national treasures. And if you look at the other part of the world where you have Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John, you know, they elevate their stars. Here, we relegate them to being oldies. So we have got to start keeping our own people up and keep us out there because otherwise, we would be put out to pasture.

MARTIN: Just a few days before her death, Wilson posted a video to her YouTube channel celebrating Black History Month and promoting some interviews she had done to mark 60 years of The Supremes.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

WILSON: And I just want to thank you guys for, you know, chiming in and, you know, seeing some of the things that we did back in the day.

MARTIN: The Supreme Mary Wilson died yesterday. She was 76.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SOMEDAY WE'LL BE TOGETHER")

THE SUPREMES: (Singing) Someday, we'll be together. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

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Now all of that is at risk.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.