The überdiva's much ballyhooed Supremes "reunion" tour, dogged from the beginning as a high-priced, less-than-Supreme rehash of the original '60s pop supergroup, is now nothing more than a nasty nostalgic memory. Ross says she's "severely disappointed" after concert promoters canceled the remaining 14 dates of the Supremes' troubled Return to Love summer tour. The concerts were supposed to reunite Ross with the hugely successful pop group, which last toured in 1970, before Ross began pursuing her solo career.
But after Ross snubbed founding member Mary Wilson and fellow Supe Cindy Birdsong (who replaced the late Florence Ballard), skeptical fans have shied away from paying big bucks to see the latest version of the trio, now featuring Scherrie Payne and Lynda Laurence (who both joined the Supremes after Ross left the group).
The 56-year-old pop legend wanted to finish the tour, but just last week concert promoter TNA USA Inc., a division of concert megacompany SFX Inc., canceled performances in Washington, D.C., and Jones Beach, New York. Ticket sales were sluggish elsewhere: Fewer than 3,000 people greeted the trio at Columbus, Ohio's Value City Arena last month; 5,000 showed up for a show in Tampa; and just a fraction of the seats were filled at Atlanta's Philips Arena.
"I promised our fans that I would be there for them," Ross said in a statement. "I know the canceled shows would have been received with the same enthusiasm that we encountered in every city on the tour so far. We have had fantastic audiences that have been extremely excited about the music and reliving their memories." Ross and company were scheduled to appear tonight in Pittsburgh and continue touring through July before wrapping up in Las Vegas on August 5.
But industry observers say several factors led to the tour's demise--not the least of which was its sky-high ticket pricing. The best seats at recent shows were going for as much as $250, while the cheapies hovered around $42.
However, most say the biggest problem was with the scab lineup. Ross originally asked Wilson and Birdsong to join the tour, but talks quickly broke down over some less-than-equal financial proposals: They were offered a reported $3 million each, while Ross would take home between $15 million and $20 million.
Wilson and Birdsong declined, so Ross picked Laurence and Payne, Supreme substitutes who were soon relegated to the shadows once their frontwoman began hogging the spotlight--a trend that began with the trio's debut on Oprah Winfrey's show. As the New York Daily News noted after a recent concert, "You could have landed a jet onstage in the space between Diana Ross and her two 'Supremes' at their splashy 'comeback tour.' "
"Really, it was kind of star-crossed before it even began," says Gary Bongiovanni, editor of the concert trade magazine, Pollstar. "The bickering between Ross and Wilson really cast a negative pall over the tour, and it emphasized that it wasn't really a Supremes tour they were mounting."
Despite the setback, Ross vowed to press on and make it up to her fans. "I would sing the same if there were 10 people in the audience or 10,000," she said. "I love the music and the fans, and I will find a way to reconnect with them as soon as possible."