For the past year, legendary singer Diana Ross has been better known as Diamond Diana as she celebrated 60 years in the music industry. With her 76th birthday later this month, this diamond diva just keeps on shining.
On Sunday at the Fox Theatre, Ross gave a stellar performance of hits that spanned R&B, disco and blues and stayed firmly in Motown territory (so much for those years at RCA).
Ross made the event a family affair, bringing her eldest daughter Rhonda Ross Kendrick out for a pre- and post-show treat. The singer-songwriter (whose biological father is Motown founder Berry Gordy) performed several songs from her 2016 album “In Case You Didn’t Know,” including "Summer Day," "Breathe" and the heavily Jill Scott-influenced “Nobody’s Business.” Kendrick offered passable renditions of Adele’s “Rollin’ in the Deep” and the Stevie Nicks-penned “Landslide,” but her full talent was on display in her original songs.
Twenty minutes later, she was heading offstage and the fanfare for the real Ross began.
Bright lights bobbed on stage like giant raindrops. The spotlight landed on an energetic conga solo. And finally, in what has become something of a tradition, a voluminous pouf of aquamarine floated on stage and there was Ross coming out to the 1980 Chic-produced hit, “I’m Coming Out.”
We were off on a joyous and rowdy ride through some 50 years of hits and no fewer than five outfit changes.
Ross quickly tossed aside her aquamarine pouf to reveal a matching sequined gown with mesh bodice as she moved through the early Motown years of Supremes classics including "Stop! In the Name of Love," "You Can’t Hurry Love" and a Latin-tinged version of "Love Child," with her voice sounding about as steady and clear as it did the first time around. Ross detoured from the Supremes to sing her second solo hit, “Touch Me in the Morning,” before she headed off stage.
When she emerged again in a purple fishtail gown, we were clearly in disco territory with“The Boss.”
"Upside Down" and "Love Hangover" kept the sold-out crowd on their feet and dancing in their seats before paradoxically coming down with “Take Me Higher,” Ross' contemporary R&B hit from the mid-‘90s album of the same name.
We can't forget about Ross' acting career. Remember that Oscar nomination for her leading role in "Lady Sings the Blues," the biographical drama about blues singer Billie Holiday? Ross offered up an homage to Holiday with “Don’t Explain” and “God Bless the Child,” which Ross said was unplanned and performed specifically for the Atlanta crowd.
By then it was time for outfit number three, a dolman-sleeved silver sequined gown topped with a fluffy cloud-like wrap.
With visions of her "Lady Sings the Blues" co-star Billy Dee Williams still dancing in our heads, Ross led the crowd through mahogany-colored memories with the theme from the 1975 romantic drama also starring Williams, in which Ross played a self-destructive fashion designer who almost loses her leading man.
With the end of the show drawing near, Ross brought us to the mountaintop with “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and one more outfit — a strapless blue gown in which to perform the Gloria Gaynor hit “I Will Survive,” a song Ross covered on her 1995 “Take Me Higher” album.
With the crowd still begging for more, Ross came back in a silver suit with palazzo pants.
“That was the last song, I don’t have any more songs to sing,” she said before giving the audience a choice between two more hits.
So with a few inspirational words about gratitude sprinkled throughout, the iconic singer left her fans flowing in an abundance of "Endless Love."
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