Mary Wilson Reveals Why She Won't Tour With Diana Ross And The Supremes

Jet, May 15, 2000

Mary Wilson says no one wanted the Supremes reunion tour to work out more than she did.

But unfortunately, negotiations could not be worked out.

"I am very hurt and disappointed," she says. "It hurt me more than anybody that it didn't happen. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I wouldn't be part of a reunion. I didn't even contemplate that. It was very devastating."

The Diana Ross and the Supremes reunion tour is touted to be `the' No. 1 tour of the millennium.

The tour was slated to feature original Supremes, Ross, Wilson and Cindy Birdsong, who replaced the late original member Florence Ballard who left the group in the late '60s.

Now dubbed "The Return to Love" tour, it features Ross and two singers, Scherrie Payne and Lynda Laurence, who were hired by Wilson to sing with the Supremes in the '70s after Ross left for her superstar solo career.

The Supremes rose to fame in the 1960s with such classics as Stop! In the Name Of Love, Where Did Our Love Go and I Hear A Symphony.

Wilson reveals that the reason she is not doing the tour is not based on money as many may have believed. She says it is a matter ofrespect and being treated fairly.

In a recent telephone interview with JET, she set the record straight about the controversial tour.

Throughout the interview, Wilson frequently referred to Diana as "Diane" as many of the superstar's friends call her. "Diane is just the person I love and know and I say it with love actually. But people think I am being defiant. It's just my way of holding on to the person I love."

Wilson was offered $3 million for the tour and said Ross was slated to receive $15-20 million.

Birdsong, who is now a minister in Los Angeles, was made an offer that "wasn't even a million," Wilson said.

Wilson explains, "They offered me $2 million then they went up to $3 million and that was the take-it-or-leave-it stage." Then they came back with a little more, she says. Wilson accepted that last offer, but the next thing she knew she received a call that said it was too late. "`The train had left the station, the deal was off the table,"' she recalls being told.

Wilson explains, "This was never about the money. I have much more in my heart and soul. I think too many of us sell out for money."

She emphasizes, "It was about respect, dignity, equality, creative input, etc. All anyone focuses on is the money. That's all they came and offered me. They told me to take it or leave it; there was no room for discussion or compromise. When Diane and I spoke in December, I said to her, `What took you so long to call?' I knew discussions were going on with her, discussions that I should have been included in. I suggested to her that we get together to talk about it, and her response was, `No, let's get the business done first.' If she and I had gotten together, we would be rehearsing for the reunion right now."

Wilson reveals that some people told her she should have taken the $3 million offer and ran to the bank. But Wilson, who reveals that she easily makes more than $1 million a year, says she is not driven by money.

"I make that kind of money anyway," she says of the tour offer. "I may have to work a little longer, just a little longer, not much. People don't realize that I do very well. They're probably seeing me more on TV now than they had before, but I am still doing as much as I am doing, it's just that people don't know it," she notes. "It has taken me all these years to build my name up to where it is, but I've done it."

Wilson, who continues to tour widely here in the States and in Europe, adds, "I have a book out. I am an author. I do off-Broadway plays. I do musicals all over the world, so I do very well."

Wilson also said she wasn't invited to be a part of the planning of the reunion. As a founding member of the legendary group, she felt she should have been asked to be more involved in the planning stages. Wilson resented comments Ross made on "20/20" with Barbara Walters.

Ross said, "I think if we had offered her the moon, she would not have been happy. I doubled this offer so that she could come and do this tour. She didn't have to pay for anything. Not a hotel room, not a car, not a gown, not a music arrangement, not a set, nothing. All she needed to do was show up."

Wilson told JET: "That was the last straw. Why would I just want to show up? I love doing what I do. I know more about the Supremes than she ever could because I am a Supreme and I've lived it. I know the people out there. I know what they want. I know the songs, I know the lead and the background. I know the gowns. I know everything. So why should I have to `just show up?' I should have been involved. I wrote the book," she says, referring to her best-seller Dreamgirl: My Life As A Supreme, which has just been republished. Her second book, Supreme Faith: Someday We'll Be Together, was combined with the first book. The updated book, Dreamgirl And Supreme Faith: My Life As A Supreme (Cooper Square Press, $19.95) includes a new chapter and, once again, has become a hot seller.