Flemish boy of 1625 in a dress with sewn in tucks to both layers of the skirt to allow for growth. The hair and hat are distinctively masculine, and he wears a sword or dagger (left) and red coral beads, which were used for teething.

Boston, 1755-1760, boy and (?) girl

Breeching was the occasion when a small boy was first dressed in breeches or trousers. From the mid-16th century^[1] until the late 19th or early 20th century, young boys in the Western world were unbreeched and wore gowns or dresses until an age that varied between two and eight.^[2] Breeching was an important rite of passage in the life of a boy, looked forward to with much excitement. It often marked the point at which the father became more involved with the raising of a boy.^[3]

Reasons[link]

The main reason for keeping boys in dresses was toilet training, or the lack thereof.^{[4][citation needed]} The change was probably made once boys had reached the age when they could easily undo the rather complicated fastenings of many Early Modern breeches and trousers. Dresses were also easier to make with room for future growth, in an age when clothes were much more expensive than now for all classes. The "age of reason" was generally considered to be about seven, and breeching corresponded roughly with that age for much of the period. For working-class children, about whom we know even less than their better-off contemporaries, it may well have marked the start of a working life. The debate between his parents over the breeching of the hero of Tristram Shandy (1761) suggests that the timing of the event could be rather arbitrary; in this case it is his father who suggests the time has arrived.^[5] The 17th century French cleric and memoirist François-Timoléon de Choisy is supposed to have been dressed in girl's clothes until he was eighteen.

Celebrations[link]

In the 19th century, photographs were often taken of the boy in his new trousers, typically with his father. He might also collect small gifts of money by going round the neighbourhood showing off his new clothes. Friends, of the mother as much as the boy, might gather to see his first appearance. A letter of 1679 from Lady Anne North to her widowed and absent son gives a lengthy account of the breeching of her grandson:"…Never had any bride that was to be dressed upon her wedding-night more hands about her, some the legs and some the armes, the taylor buttn'ing and other putting on the sword, and so many lookers on that had I not a ffinger [sic] amongst them I could not have seen him. When he was quit drest he acted his part as well as any of them…. since you could not have the first sight I resolved you should have a full relation…". The dresses he wore before she calls "coats".^[6]

Unbreeched boys[link]

Louis XIV and his unbreeched brother. In French royal portraits sex can be harder to tell, except by the absence of jewellery. 1640s

Louis XIV and his unbreeched brother. In French royal portraits sex can be harder to tell, except by the absence of jewellery. 1640s

English boys, 1670

The first progression, for both boys and girls, was when they were shortcoated or taken out of the long dresses that came well below the feet that were worn by babies - and which have survived as the modern Christening robe. It was not possible to walk in these, which no doubt dictated the timing of the change. Toddlers' gowns often featured leading strings, which were narrow straps of fabric or ribbon attached at the shoulder and held by an adult while the child was learning to walk.^[7][8]

After this stage, in the Early Modern period it is usually not too difficult to distinguish between small boys and girls in commissioned portraits of the wealthy, even where the precise identities are no longer known. The smaller figures of small children in genre painting have less detail, and painters often did not trouble to include distinguishing props as they did in portraits. Working-class children presumably were more likely than the rich to wear handed down clothes that were used by both sexes. In portraits the colours of clothes often keep the rough gender distinctions we see in adults — girls wear white or pale colours, and boys darker ones, including red. This may not entirely reflect reality, but the differences in hairstyles, and in the style of clothing at the chest, throat and neck, waist, and often the cuffs, presumably do.

In the 19th century, perhaps as childhood became sentimentalised, it becomes harder to tell the clothing apart between the sexes; the hair remains the best guide, but some mothers were evidently unable to resist keeping this long too. By this time the age of breeching was falling closer to two or three, where it would remain. Boys in most periods had shorter hair, often cut in a straight fringe, whilst girl's hair was longer, and in earlier periods sometimes worn "up" in adult styles, at least for special occasions like portraits. In the 19th century, wearing hair up itself became a significant rite of passage for girls at puberty, as part of their "coming out" into society. Younger girls' hair was always long, or plaited. Sometimes a quiff or large curl emerges from under a boy's cap. Boys are most likely to have side partings, and girls centre partings.

The children of King Charles I of England in 1637 by Van Dyck. From left: Mary, James — unbreeched at four, Charles, Elizabeth and Anne.

Girls' bodices usually reflected adult styles, in their best clothes at least, and low bodices and necklaces are common.^[9] Boys often, though not always, had dresses that were closed up to the neck-line, and often buttoned at the front — rare for girls. They frequently wear belts, and in periods when female dresses had a V at the waist, this is often seen on little girls, but not on boys. Linen and lace at the neck and cuffs tend to follow adult styles for each gender, although again the clothes worn in portraits no doubt do not reflect everyday wear, and may not reflect even best clothes accurately.

Unbreeched boys of the nobility are sometimes seen wearing swords or daggers on a belt. A speech by King Leontes from Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale implies that, as common sense would suggest, these could not be drawn, and were purely for show:

Looking on the lines

Of my boy's face, methought I did recoil

Twenty-three years, and saw myself unbreech'd

In my green velvet coat, my dagger muzzled,

Lest it should bite its master, and so prove

(As ornament oft does) too dangerous.^[10]

— he also calls his dress a "coat"; "cote" was a French and English term, dating back to the Middle Ages, for earlier adult male gowns and seems to have been kept in use for boys clothes to preserve some gender distinction.

Usually jewellery is not worn by boys, but when worn it is likely to be dark in colour, like the coral beads worn by the Flemish boy above. Coral was considered by medical authorities the best material to use for teething aids, and a combined rattle and whistle (in silver) and teething stick (in coral) can be seen in many portraits.^[11] In portraits even very young girls may wear necklaces, often of pearls. In the Van Dyck portrait of the children of Charles I, only the absence of a necklace and the colour of his dress distinguish the unbreeched James (aged four) from his next youngest sister Elizabeth, whilst their elder brother and sister, at seven and six, have moved on to adult styles. In cases of possible doubt, painters tend to give boys masculine toys to hold like drums, whips for toy horses, or bows.

Boy in a light frock, with "masculine" hat (on ground) and drum

English-inspired pantaloon suit. Germany, late 18th century

The next step[link]

In the late 18th century, new philosophies of child-rearing led to clothes that were thought especially suitable for children. Toddlers wore washable dresses called frocks of linen or cotton.^[12] British and American boys after perhaps three began to wear rather short pantaloons and short jackets, and for very young boys the skeleton suit was introduced.^[12] These gave the first real alternative to dresses, and became fashionable across Europe. The skeleton suit consisted of trousers and tight-fitting jacket, buttoned together at the waist or higher up; they were not unlike the romper suit introduced in the early 20th century.^[13] But dresses for boys did not disappear, and again became common from the 1820s, when they were worn at about knee-length, sometimes with visible pantaloons called pantalettes as underwear, a style also worn by little girls.

As the next stage, from the mid-19th century boys usually progressed into shorts at breeching — again these are more accommodating to growth, and cheaper. The knickerbocker suit was also popular. In England and some other countries, many school uniforms still mandate shorts for boys until about nine or ten. The jackets of boys after breeching lacked adult tails, and this may have influenced the adult tail-less styles which developed, initially for casual wear of various sorts, like the smoking-jacket and sports jacket. After the First World War the wearing of boy's dresses seems finally to have died out, except for babies.

Gallery[link]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Ashelford, Jane: The Art of Dress: Clothing and Society 1500–1914, Abrams, 1996. ISBN 0-8109-6317-5
• Baumgarten, Linda: What Clothes Reveal: The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America, Yale University Press,2002. ISBN 0-300-09580-5
• Netherton, Robin, and Gale R. Owen-Crocker, editors, Medieval Clothing and Textiles, Volume 3, Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK, and Rochester, NY, the Boydell Press 2007, ISBN 978-1-84383-291-1
• Payne, Blanche; Winakor, Geitel; Farrell-Beck Jane: The History of Costume, from Ancient Mesopotamia to the Twentieth Century, 2nd Edn, pp. 424–5, HarperCollins, 1992. ISBN 0-06-047141-7

External links[link]

Media related to Boys' dresses at Wikimedia Commons

• Boy's Dress from the Museum of Childhood, London. (accessed Sept 17, 2007)
• MOIFA, Santa Fe. (accessed Sept 17, 2007)
• Skirts and Breeching, Open University, accessed Sept 17, 2007.

Boy in Indonesia

Boy in Spain

Elder boys in Ethiopia

Boys in Germany,
performing a puppet play

A boy is a young male human, usually child or adolescent. When he becomes an adult he's described as a man. The most apparent thing that differentiates a boy from a girl is that a boy typically has a penis while girls do not. However some intersex children with ambiguous genitals, and biologically female transgender children, may also be classified or self-identify as a "boy".

The term "boy" is primarily used to indicate biological sex distinctions, cultural gender role distinctions or both. The latter most commonly applies to adult men, either considered in some way immature or inferior, in a position associated with aspects of boyhood, or even without such boyish connotation as age-indiscriminate synonym. The term can be joined with a variety of other words to form these gender-related labels as compound words.

Etymology[link]

The word "boy" comes from Middle English boi, boye ("boy, servant"), related to other Germanic words for boy, namely East Frisian boi ("boy, young man") and West Frisian boai ("boy"). Though the exact etymology is obscure, the English and Frisian forms probably derive from an earlier Anglo-Frisian *bō-ja ("little brother"), a diminutive of the Germanic root *bō- ("brother, male relation"), from Proto-Indo-European *bhā-, *bhāt- ("father, brother"). The root is also found in Flemish boe ("brother"), Norwegian dialectal boa ("brother"), and, through a reduplicated variant *bō-bō-, in Old Norse bófi, Dutch boef "(criminal) knave, rogue", German Bube ("knave, rogue, boy"). Furthermore, the word may be related to Bōia, an Anglo-Saxon personal name.

Overview[link]

Ongoing debates about the influences of nature versus nurture in shaping the behavior of girls and boys raises questions about whether the roles played by boys are mainly the result of inborn differences or of socialization. Images of boys in art, literature and popular culture often demonstrate assumptions about gender roles.

An adult male human is a man, but when age is not a crucial factor, both terms can be interchangeable, e.g., 'boys and their toys' applies equally to adults and young boys, just as 'Are you mice or men?' can also apply to young boys.

Japanese boys wearing fundoshi at a festival.

The age boundary is not clear cut, rather dependent on the context or even on individual circumstances. A young man who has not assumed (or has been denied) the traditional roles of a man might also be called a boy. It may feel uncomfortable to a young male upon being referred to as a "man" before he believes he has assumed these roles, such as having a career, a partner, a household of his own, fatherhood, etc., though the addition of a jocular modifier such as "young man" or "little man" might lessen the dissonance. Conversely, it may feel uncomfortable to a male to be called a "boy" if he believes he has assumed the traditional roles of a "man". In mother's/mama's boy, the word emphatically implies a male (minor or adult in years) who is too immature to be independent.

In some traditions boyhood is held to be exchanged for adult manhood, or at least approach it significantly, by certain -in se independent- acts assuming a role deemed to be typical for a "normal" man (though there are limits) as marriage, fathering offspring or military service. Various cultural and/or religious rites of passage serve, partially or specifically, to mark the transition to manhood.

Boy siiting in the stair of School in Kasaragod, Kerala, India

There is often a number of traditional differences in attire between boys and adult men, which may even give rise to a metaphoric term such as broekvent in Dutch (i.e., a boy who has not yet "graduated" from shorts to trousers) and in what is socially accepted as appropriate behaviour, e.g., boys may be publicly seen naked in cultures where men are not.

In English, the words youth, teenager and adolescent may refer to either male or female. No gender-specific term exists for an intermediate stage between a boy and a man, except "young man", although the term puberty, for one who reached sexual reproductivity (or the legally assumed age, e.g. 14 for boys, often set lower for girls) without being a legal adult yet, stems from a Latin word for boys only, itself named after the accompanying male body hair, pubes, on face and genital region.

Many occasions occur when an adult male is commonly referred to as a boy. A person's boyfriend or loverboy may be of any age; this even applies to a 'working' call-boy, toyboy (though usually younger than the client as youth is generally considered attractive). Reflecting the general aesthetic preference for youth, one says pretty boy (e.g. in the nickname of Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd, who committed his first bank robbery at age 30) or Adonis (name of a mythological youth) even when a male beauty is clearly of riper age. In terms (used pejoratively or neutrally) for homosexuals such as batty boy (alongside "batty man"; from "bottom") or "bum boy", age is not essential, but the connotation of immaturity can strengthen insulting use.

Boy Scouts at summer camp in the United States.

A man's group of male friends etc. engaged in Male bonding are often called "the boys". It is most common to refer to men, irrespective of age or even in an adult age group, as boys in the context of a team (especially all-male), such as old boys for networking of adult men who attended the same school(s) as boys, or as professional colleagues, e.g. "the boys at the office, - police station etc." (often all adults). The members of a student fraternity can be called frat(ernity) boys, technically preferable to the pleonasm frat-bro(ther), and remain so for life as adults, after graduation.

In sports 'the boys' commonly refers to the teammates; e.g., UK football managers quite often refer to their players as "The boy so-and-so" and this usage is by no means restricted to the youngest players, though it is rarely applied to the most senior.

In US urban, particularly African American and Latino slang the term boy is used with a possessive as meaning friend (my boy, his boys), presumably as a reduction of homeboy, originally a male from the same area.

In some cases, the word boy is used merely to designate the age of the (male) person, irrespective of the function, as in altar boy, a minor acting as liturgical acolyte, or in Boy Scouts, an organisation specifically for boys. Thus the compound -man can then be replaced by -boy, as in footboy; or boy is simply added, either as a prefix (e.g., in boy-racer) or as a suffix (e.g., in Teddy Boy).

An adult equivalent (with or without -man) is not to be expected when -boy designates an apprentice (for which some languages use a compound with the equivalent of boy, e.g. leerjongen 'learning boy' in Dutch) or lowest rank implying specific on the job training if promotion is to be obtained, as in kitchen-boy. Similarly schoolboy only applies to minors; the modern near-synonym pupil originally designated a minor in Roman law as being under a specific adult's authority, as in loco parentis.

Expressions such as "boys will be boys" (i.e., a male always retains a tendency for boyish games or mischief) allude to stereotypically ascribed characteristics of boys and men; in the term tomboy, a woman's (according to the counterpart-gender stereotype) uncharacteristically bold nature is even described solely by comparing her to a boy.

The use of boy (like kid) in (fantasy or descriptive) nicknames, also for adult men (e.g. Shark Boy for a wrestler with matching costume), may also connote to the informal or naughty image of boyhood.

In such terms as 'city boy' or 'home boy', the age notion is at most anachronistic, as they indicate any male who grew up (or by extension lived a long time) in a certain environment.

Specific uses and compounds[link]

The following subsections treat some specific contexts where the term boy is frequently used, as such or in compound terms, often 'emancipated' from the age notion as such.

• Master was replaced (not for a slave owner or his overseer etc.) by the late 19th century, as a form of address, especially employed by servants, by Mister (etymologically equal) for the master of the household and other adults, but retained for boys until age 13.

Military[link]

The term 'our boys' is commonly used for a nation's soldiers, often with sympathy. Given the physical demands of battle, recruits are preferably in their physical prime, but adult professionals remain included in the term as long as they remain in service. A case where the term is formally used for (adult) men is sideboy, a member of an even-numbered group of seamen posted in two rows at the Quarterdeck when a visiting dignitary boards or leaves a ship. In the Ottoman empire, the young, mainly Christian military recruits for life (often forcibly enlisted by 'devshirme') were officially called acemi oglanlar ("novice boys").

Thus "-boy" can enter the nickname for a particular nation's soldiers, e.g. the US (infantry) doughboy, or a specific force, e.g. Fly-boy is slang for an airman.

Furthermore, specific terms refer to minors used in the armed forces:

• Drummer boy
• Ship's boy is a minor in naval training; boy seaman refers to specific, low-paid apprentice ranks, notably in the Royal Navy; until the middle of the twentieth century, they were the only Navy staff subject (like their civilian age-peers, at home and in school) to physical punishment, usually spanking, traditionally administered on the bare bottom (as in English public schools; the adults were lashed on the backside above the waist), either formally (ordered in court martial, publicly executed on deck) or, more often but less severely, summary; the same was true of a midshipman, also a minor, but indicated with "-man" rather than "-boy", possibly reflecting their higher status as future naval officers. Sometimes in ex-servicemen's parades, an old man is described as "ship's boy" to say that he served so classed in the Navy as a boy.

However, when a minor in military employ is considered (historically often far less restrictive then nowadays) too young to be a 'normal' warrior (illegal under present UN rules, but without precise enforceable age limits), he's called boy soldier, regardless whether he's used as an armed fighter or only in logistic or similar functions such as bearer.

Domestic, residential and similar 'personal' attendants[link]

• Bellboy was originally a ship's bell-ringer, later a hotel page.
• Busboy is a rank in restaurants etc. below (head) waiter, fitting for trainees but may be held by ripe adults, even under younger (e.g. better qualified) superiors
• Cabana boy
• Cabin boy
• Hall boy
• Hamam oğlanı "bath boy" (also called Tellak) working in a Turkish bath.
• Houseboy, or often "boy" for short, became a common term for domestic staff, notably non-European natives in the Asian and African colonies, adopted as such in other languages, e.g. in Dutch and French (also in the Belgian colonies).
• Kitchen boy, belows the cook(s); in a large household there may be specific functions, such as spitboy
• Linkboy like linkman meant torch- or other light-bearer
• Page, from the Greek παις pais, again in many languages, already in Hellenistic times παίδες βασιλικοί paides basilikoi 'royal (i.e. court) boys'.

Cultural and religious life[link]

• Altar boy (see above)
• Choir boy designates a boy (always a minor) singer in a choir; here applies a specific physiological, artistically relevant criterion: they remain a musical category of their own (boy soprano, also known as a treble) until their voice 'breaks', during puberty, to join one of the adult male voice registers (countertenor (closest to treble), alto, tenor, baritone, or bass); only the castrato may (not guaranteed) remain a soprano as an adult man; historically the term was designed for all-male (mainly church) choirs, with men with already broken voices (often former choir boys), in modern times it also applies to mixed choirs.

Rural life and professions[link]

• Cowboy originally designated a herdsboy employed as cowherd, but lost the age notion, first retaining the connotation of inferior status, later applying to the whole ranch life culture; by contrast "shepherd's boy" (rather herding sheep or goats, representing less capital) remained restricted to minors.

Commercial and other services[link]

Often the term "boy" describes positions of the trainee type, such as stable boy (a junior stable hand).

• Best boy in a film crew denotes the chief assistant, usually of the gaffer or key grip, next in line to be promoted; an example of a use where the term is traditionally unaltered in crediting female incumbents
• Breaker boys were boys between 8 and 12 years old who worked as coal breakers in U.S. coal mines. The job resulted in a high number of fatal and debilitating injuries and the practice of employing children as coal breakers largely ended by 1920 due to the efforts of the National Child Labor Committee.
• Office boy and copy boy refer to a young(est) employee (i.e. lacking experience), in training and/or performing menial services such as carrying typewritten texts between offices of a newspaper.
• Even into the early 20th century, the British empire systematically employed boy clerks, including a specific rank of boy copyist, recruited by examination (despite the name, requiring schooling) and reserved for candidates aged 15–18, not retained in that rank after the age of 20.

Certain jobs need so little training or formal qualifications that they can easily be performed as student jobs, and thus tend to be filled mostly or exclusively by minors, as it would not pay to employ an adult at or above minimum wage. Thus an equivalent word with the compound man (or similar) may be the rarer one, or even inexistent. Examples include delivery boy, errand boy, messenger boy and various specific terms naming the product to deliver, such as paperboy (closest adult counterpart postman), pizza boy (alongside pizzaman), or to serve, such as a potboy (drinks waiter). In other cases the compound mentions a crucial attribute of his task, e.g. ball boy (more recently also girls) in tennis.

In some cases his small, light body makes a boy a better choice, e.g. as jockey where no weight handicap is in force.

• A nipper originally was a boy send out by an adult (often his own father) as pickpocket, later a boy assistant to various professions such as a carter, still later (recorded since 1859) a boys' age term roughly equal to toddler

Race[link]

Historically, in countries such as the U.S. and South Africa, "boy" was not only a 'neutral' term for domestics but also used as a disparaging racist insult towards men of colour (especially of African descent), recalling their subservient status even after the 20th century legal emancipation (from slavery, evolved to race segregation, viz. Apartheid) and alleged infantility, and many still consider it offensive in that context to this day since it denotes that men of colour (especially of African descent) are less than men.

The use of the term "boy" has not always been used as an insult. As an example, Thomas Branch, an early African-American Seventh-day Adventist missionary to Nyassaland (Malawi) referred to the native students as boys:

There is one way by which we judge many of our present boys to be quite different from some of those who were here long ago: those that are married have their wives here with them, and build their own houses, and all are busy making their gardens. I have told all the boys that if they wished to stay here and learn, those that had wives must bring them. This is having a good effect on them. They stay longer, and are more attentive to their work and their studies.^[1]

Non-function specific analogous terms[link]

Boys, in the strict or a wider sense, are often informally referred to by analogous or metaphorical terms. The literal connotations, which may be ironic or downright pejorative, have often been eroded by common use. Some terms are unisex, with or without (at least historical) preponderance of use for boys:

• Cub, pup(py) and whelp compare boys to the young of predatory animals, the slang tadpole even to that of an amphibian;
• Buck, another animal young, usually refers to a sexually adventurous male youngster
• Loon, originally an (idle) lout, has got -mainly in Scotland- unrelated specific meanings, including boy, simpleton and looney person
• Sprout compares to a plant's young shoots
• References to the boy's generally lighter physique than a man include stripling 'slender youth' and -rather insulting- slang like half-pint or small-fry
• More specifically, shaveling (or in slang shaver) refers to boys' lesser hair growth than men's before - and densification around puberty
• Various terms refer to children's, often especially boys', lack of adult manners (e.g. "snot(ty) nose(d) (kid)") or to often mischievous behavior, e.g. "rascal", also by analogy with animals, e.g. "monkey", "urchin" (as 'prickly' as a hedgehog); "(spoiled) brat" refers to such undiscipline for lack of firm upbringing.
• Furthermore, common boys' names have also been used metonymically to stand for boys and/or men in general, as in 'every Dick and Tom'.

Analogous uses and popular etymology[link]

By analogy "boy" can also refer as an anthropomorphic term to a young male (or any male) of another animal, either in general or species-specific; in the last case it may even have a specific term, notably derived from a boy's name, such as "billy goat" for a 'boy' goat, or tomcat (known since 1809, for any male cat; but just Tom, applied to male kittens, is recorded since c.1303)

Again by analogy "boy" can occasionally even refer to a 'male' object.

Some words contain 'boy' in English by mistake (folk etymology), actually referring to a (near) homophone such as French bois = "wood" (e.g. in "low boy", a type of furniture, and in "tallboy", both furniture and a high glass or goblet).

Similar originally youth-related terms[link]

Boys in art[link]

Many mythological boys have frequently been represented in various arts, e.g. Venus' often mischievous son Cupid, himself a young god of love which he 'inflicts' on humans by shooting his arrows; in some style periods even multiplied as naked little boys called putti.

In religious art, generally adults preponderate (except as extras), with certain marked, stereotypical exceptions such as the infant Jesus or angels which may even act as 'Christianized' putti.

In children's books of English folklore, elves are often portrayed as mischievous little boys who are very small with leaf-shaped ears and blond hair.

In portrait art, and generally in commissioned work (including funeral art), the subjects are usually determined by the wishes of the (adult) client, so minors are often in the minority, yet in wealthy families especially heirs are (re)presented as part of their social positioning in view of future marriage and succession, generally either as mini-adults or stereotypical youth, e.g. at play or in cozy home scenes.

Some artists displayed a clear predeliction for scenes with boys, in certain cases (especially if frequently depicting revealing poses) believed to have to do with a homo-erotic taste, as is believed of the highly respected Old Master Caravaggio, or Henry Scott Tuke who kept producing such works even though the market circa 1900 was rather unappreciative.

In music, boys' voices, before they 'break' being of a soprano register (specifically known as treble) unlike adult men (in a choir usually tenor and bass), have been most sought-after, especially where female voices were considered inappropriate as often in church and certain theatrical music - this even led to the practice of physically trying to prevent their 'angelical' voices ever to break by surgically cutting short the hormonal drive to manhood: for centuries, castrato singers, who coupled adult strength and experience with a treble register, starred in contratenor parts, mainly in operatic styles.

Gallery[link]

• 

  Roman-Egyptian funeral portrait of a young boy

• 

  Sir Walter Raleigh and his son, 1602

• 

  Die Söhne des Künstlers Christian Leberecht Vogel

• 

  Die Geschwister an der Ostsee, by Ernst Weise, 1915

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Boys

• Boy band
• Boy bishop
• Boi (gender)
• Boy Scouts
• Pederasty

References[link]

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (March 2009)

• Etymology Online - entry for "boy"
• H. H. Malincrodt, Latijn-Nederlands woordenboek (Latin-Dutch dictionary)
• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary
• Buck, Carl Darling (1949). A Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principal Indo-European Languages. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-07937-6 (1988 reprint). 

External links[link]

Look up boy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Boyhood Studies, website and journal for the study of boys
• Boyhood Studies Forum, discusses news items, new research
• Historical Boys' Clothing

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Diana Ross
Diana Ross performing at the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo
Background information
Birth name	Diana Ernestine Earle Ross
Born	(1944-03-26) March 26, 1944 (age 68) Detroit, Michigan
Genres	R&B, soul, disco, jazz, pop, dance
Occupations	Singer, record producer, actress
Years active	1959-present
Labels	Lu Pine, Motown, RCA, EMI
Associated acts	The Supremes, The Temptations, The Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie
Website	www.dianaross.com

Diana Ernestine Earle Ross (born March 26, 1944^[1]) is an American singer, record producer, and actress.

Diana Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that has included successful ventures into film and Broadway. She received a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her role as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues (1972), for which she won a Golden Globe award. She has won seven American Music Awards, was honored with a 2012 Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award,^[2] and won a Tony Award for her one-woman show, An Evening with Diana Ross, in 1977.^[3]

In 1976, Billboard magazine named her the "Female Entertainer of the Century."^[4] In 1993, the Guinness Book of World Records declared Diana Ross the most successful female music artist in history due to her success in the United States and United Kingdom for having more hits than any female artist in the charts with a career total of 18 number one records in the United States. Diana Ross has sold more than 100 million records worldwide.^[5]

Ross is one of the few recording artists to have two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame—one as a solo artist and the other as a member of The Supremes. In December 2007, she received the Kennedy Center Honors.

Early life[link]

Diana Ross, the daughter of Ernestine (née Moten) (January 27, 1916 – October 9, 1984), a schoolteacher, and Fred Ross, Sr. (July 4, 1920 – November 21, 2007), a former United States Army soldier, was born at Hutzel Women's Hospital^[6] in Detroit, Michigan. Ross said that she did not see her father until he returned from serving in World War II. Much has been made of whether her first name ends in an "a" or an "e". According to Ross, her mother actually named her "Diane" but a clerical error resulted in her name being recorded as "Diana" on her birth certificate. She always went by "Diane" at home and at school. Her high school yearbook listed her as "Diana" and as early as 1963, when The Supremes released their first album, she was listed in the liner notes as "Diana". At The Supremes' first Copacabana engagement in 1965, she introduced herself to the audience as "Diane", but later that year she started introducing herself as "Diana". Her intimates still call her "Diane".^[7][8]

After living on Belmont Road in Detroit's North End for several years, Ross's family settled on St. Antoine Street in the Brewster-Douglass housing projects on Ross' fourteenth birthday in 1958. Ross aspired to be a fashion designer, and studied design, millinery, pattern-making and seamstress skills while attending Cass Technical High School, a four-year college preparatory magnet school, in downtown Detroit. In her late teens, Ross worked at Hudson's Department Store where, it was claimed in biographies, that she was the first black employee "allowed outside the kitchen". Ross graduated in January 1962, one semester earlier than her classmates. Ross' parents had a difficult marriage and separated when Ross was still in her teens.

Career[link]

The Supremes: 1959–1970[link]

In 1959, Ross was brought to the attention of Milton Jenkins, the manager of the local doo-wop group The Primes, by Mary Wilson. Primes member Paul Williams convinced Jenkins to enlist Ross in the sister group The Primettes, which included Wilson, Florence Ballard and Betty McGlown. Ross, Wilson and Ballard each sang lead during live performances. In 1960, Lu Pine Records signed the group and issued the Ross-led single "Tears of Sorrow" backed with the Wilson-led "Pretty Baby". After winning a singing contest in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Ross approached former neighbor Smokey Robinson for an audition at the label with which he recorded, Motown Records. The group garnered the audition and impressed Motown's CEO, Berry Gordy (who arrived at the audition during the group's performance), but declined to work with the group due to their being underaged. Undeterred, the group would stand outside the label's Hitsville U.S.A. studios hoping to grab attention, eventually providing backing vocals & hand claps for many of Motown's more established artists. Meanwhile during the group's struggling early years, Ross earned pay in the day as Berry Gordy's secretary. She also served at the group's main hair stylist, make-up artist, seamstress & costume designer during this period.

In 1961, having already replaced McGlown with Barbara Martin, the quartet signed with Motown Records under their new moniker, The Supremes, chosen by Florence Ballard, who was the only member to be present when the group was offered a name change. Both Ross and Wilson initially disliked the name, afraid they would be mistaken for a men's group (Ruby & the Romantics' original name was The Supremes) but the name stuck regardless.

Following Martin's exit in 1962, the group remained a trio. In 1963, Ross became the group's lead singer, as Berry Gordy felt the group could "cross over" to the pop charts with Ross' unique vocal quality, and the Ross-led "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes" became the group's first Billboard Top 40 Pop single. The Supremes hit number one with "Where Did Our Love Go", a song rejected by The Marvelettes, and then achieved unprecedented success: between August 1964 and May 1967, Ross, Wilson and Ballard sang on ten number-one hit singles, all of which also made the UK Top 40.

Gordy removed Florence Ballard from the group in July 1967 and chose Cindy Birdsong, a member of Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles, as her replacement. At about the same time, he changed the group's name to Diana Ross & the Supremes.

Motown initially conceived of a solo career for Diana Ross in 1966, but did not act on it until 1968. Television specials such as TCB (1968) and G.I.T. on Broadway (1969) were designed to spotlight her as a star in her own right, and much of the later Ross-led Supremes material was recorded by Ross with session singers The Andantes, not Wilson and Birdsong, on backing vocals. By the summer of 1969, Ross began her first solo recordings. In November of the same year, three years after it was first rumored, Billboard magazine confirmed Ross's departure from the group to begin her solo career. That same year, Ross introduced Motown's newest act, The Jackson 5, to national audiences on The Hollywood Palace television variety program.

Ross recorded her initial solo sessions with a number of producers, including Bones Howe and Johnny Bristol. Her first track with Bristol, "Someday We'll Be Together", was tagged as a potential solo single, but it instead was issued as the final Diana Ross & the Supremes release. "Someday We'll Be Together" was the 12th and final number-one hit for the Supremes and the last American number-one hit of the 1960s. Ross made her final appearance with the Supremes at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas on January 14, 1970.

Early solo career: 1970–1981[link]

After a half-year of recording material with various producers, Ross settled with the production team of Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, the creative force behind Marvin Gaye's and Tammi Terrell's hit duets and Diana Ross & the Supremes' "Some Things You Never Get Used To". Ashford and Simpson helmed most of Ross's first album, Diana Ross, and continued to write and produce for her for the next decade.

In 1994, The Supremes were recognized with a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7060 Hollywood Blvd.

In May 1970, Diana Ross was released on Motown. The first single, the gospel-influenced waltz, "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)", peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album's second single, a fully rearranged cover of Gaye's and Terrell's 1967 hit, and another Ashford and Simpson composition, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", was an international hit, and gave Ross her first #1 pop single and gold record award as a solo artist. "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female. In 1971, Motown released Ross's second album Everything Is Everything, which produced Ross's first UK number-one solo single, "I'm Still Waiting". Several months later, Ross released Surrender, which included the top-20 pop hit, "Remember Me". That year, she hosted her first solo television special, Diana!, featuring guest appearances by The Jackson 5, Bill Cosby and Danny Thomas.

In 1973 Ross returned to number-one with the single "Touch Me in the Morning". The album of the same name became her first top five charted pop release. Later that same year, Ross and fellow Motown star Marvin Gaye released a duet album, Diana & Marvin. The duo scored an international hit with their cover of The Stylistics' "You Are Everything". Also in 1973, she was the first entertainer in Japan's history to receive an invitation to the Imperial Palace for a private audience with the Empress Nagako, wife of Emperor Hirohito.

Ross' 1974 follow-up album, Last Time I Saw Him, wasn't as successful despite the success of its country-tinged title track. Two years later Ross ventured into disco with "Love Hangover", which returned her to number-one. The self-titled parent album became another top five hit and included her previous number-one, the movie theme, "Do You Know Where You're Going To (Theme from Mahogany)". Ross' subsequent follow-ups, including Baby It's Me (1977) and Ross (1978) fell off the charts soon after they appeared. Ross did have success with her first Broadway one-woman show, An Evening with Diana Ross. Her performance later won her a Tony. She was featured in TV special with the same name.

In 1979 Ross hired former collaborators Ashford & Simpson, who had left Motown in 1973 due to contractual issues with Berry Gordy, to overlook the production of her next album, The Boss. That album produced the hit title track and the modestly successful "It's My House". Ross' working relationship with Berry Gordy had deteriorated at that point as Gordy refused to be an executive producer of the project. In 1980, Ross hired Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of the group CHIC to overlook production of her final contractual Motown album, diana. That album led to major success with "Upside Down" returning Ross to number-one on the pop charts for the first time since "Love Hangover". Its follow-up, "I'm Coming Out", was as successful and both songs found major success overseas.

In 1981, Ross decided not to renew her Motown contract only to discover that everything she thought she had owned was only leased to her by Berry Gordy. Ross accepted a $20 million deal with RCA in 1981, then the most lucrative contract in music. To complete contractual obligations to Motown, Ross recorded several songs with Lionel Richie, one of which, "Endless Love", led to the duo having an international number-one hit. The song was the theme song of the movie of the same name. When "Endless Love" hit #1 in 1981, Diana Ross became the first woman in music history to chart six #1 records. Combining her 12 as lead singer of The Supremes, Diana Ross' career total of number one records is 18, the most for any female recording artist in music history. Mariah Carey tied Ross' record in 2007. Motown issued a compilation album, To Love Again, to compete with Ross' RCA debut.

Film career: 1972–1999[link]

Though Ross had previously appeared in two films while a member of The Supremes, it wasn't until the early 1970s when Berry Gordy began to focus on making Ross an actress. In late 1971, Motown announced that Diana Ross was going to portray jazz icon Billie Holiday in a Motown-produced film loosely based on Holiday's autobiography Lady Sings the Blues (1956) written by Holiday and William Dufty. The movie co-starred Billy Dee Williams as Holiday's lover, Louis McKay. The cast also included comedian Richard Pryor as the "Piano Man".

Some critics ridiculed Ross's casting in the role. Ross and Holiday were considered to be "miles apart" in vocal styling and appearance. Undeterred, Ross immersed herself in Holiday's music and life story. She went to drug clinics and talked with doctors as research for the role. Ross made a crucial decision when it came to interpreting Holiday's music. Instead of imitating Billie Holiday's voice, Ross focused on Holiday's seemingly inimitable vocal phrasing.

Opening in October 1972, Lady Sings the Blues was a major success, and Ross's performance was lauded and well received. Jazz critic Leonard Feather, a friend of Billie Holiday, praised Ross for "expertly capturing the essence of Lady Day." In 1973, Ross was nominated for both a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award for "Best Actress". Ross along with fellow nominee that year Cicely Tyson, were the second African American actresses to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress after Dorothy Dandridge. Ross won the Golden Globe for Best Newcomer, but lost the Best Actress Oscar to her friend Liza Minnelli for her role in Cabaret. The soundtrack album for Lady Sings the Blues reached number one on the Billboard 200 for two weeks and broke then industry records by shipping 300,000 copies during its first eight days of release. The double-pocket custom label record is one of Ross's best-selling albums of all time, with total sales to date of nearly two million copies.

In 1975, Ross again co-starred with Billy Dee Williams in the Motown film Mahogany. The story of an aspiring fashion designer who becomes a runway model and the toast of the industry, Mahogany was a troubled production from its inception. The film's original director, Tony Richardson, was fired during production and Berry Gordy assumed the director's chair himself. In addition, Gordy and Ross clashed during filming, with Ross leaving the production before shooting was completed, forcing Gordy to use secretary Edna Anderson as a body double for Ross. While a box office success, the film was not well received by the critics: Time magazine's review of the film chastised Gordy for "squandering one of America's most natural resources: Diana Ross".^[9]

In 1977, Motown acquired the film rights to the Broadway play The Wiz, an African-American reinterpretation of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Although teenage Stephanie Mills, a veteran of the play, was originally cast as Dorothy, Ross convinced Universal Pictures producer Rob Cohen to have Ross cast as Dorothy. Because of Ross' age, the script was modified to make the protagonist a school teacher rather than a schoolgirl. Among Ross's costars were Lena Horne, Michael Jackson, Richard Pryor, Nipsey Russell and Ted Ross. Upon its October 1978 release, the film adaptation of The Wiz, a $24 million production, earned $21,049,053 at the box office.^[10][11][12] Though pre-release television broadcast rights had been sold to CBS for over $10 million, the film produced a net loss of $10.4 million for Motown and Universal.^[11][12] At the time, it was the most expensive film musical ever made.^[13] The film's failure ended Ross' short career on the big screen and contributed to the Hollywood studios' reluctance to produce the all-black film projects which had become popular during the blaxploitation era of the early-to-mid 1970s for several years.^[14][15][16] The Wiz was Ross' final film for Motown.

Ross had success with movie-themed songs. While her version of Holiday's "Good Morning Heartache" only performed modestly well in early 1973, her recording of "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" gave Ross her third number-one hit, in late 1975. Three years later, Ross and Michael Jackson had a modest dance hit with their recording of "Ease on Down the Road". Their second duet, actually as part of the ensemble of The Wiz, "Brand New Day", found some success overseas. Ross scored a Top 10 hit in late 1980 with the theme song to the 1980 film It's My Turn. The following year, she collaborated with former Commodores singer-songwriter Lionel Richie on the theme song for the film Endless Love. The Academy Award-nominated "Endless Love" single became her final hit on Motown Records, and the number one record of the year. Several years later, in 1988, Ross recorded the theme song to The Land Before Time. "If We Hold On Together" became an international hit reaching number-one in Japan.

Ross would be given movie offers over the years but reportedly turned them down because of either contractual obligations or fears of being typecast. Ross had campaigned to portray pioneering entertainer Josephine Baker in a feature film even during her later years in Motown. However, in 1991, the feature film turned into a TV film with Lynn Whitfield playing Baker instead of Ross. Ross was also offered a role in an early adaptation of The Bodyguard with Ryan O'Neal. However, plans of this adaptation fell through. Years later, Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner assumed the roles of Ross and O'Neal in the 1992 film. In 1993, Ross returned to making movies with a dramatic role in the TV film, Out of Darkness. Ross won acclaim for her role in the film and a well earned third Golden Globe nomination. In 1999, she and Brandy Norwood co-starred in the film, Double Platinum, which was released prior to the release of Ross' album, Every Day Is a New Day.

Later solo career: 1981–1999[link]

Diana Ross's RCA Records debut, Why Do Fools Fall in Love, was issued in October 1981. The album yielded three Top 10 hits including the title track "Why Do Fools Fall in Love", a remake of the 1956 Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers classic of the same name, and the single "Mirror Mirror". A third single, "Work That Body", hit the Top Ten in the UK. That success was repeated if only more modestly with the 1982 album, Silk Electric. Ross' recording of Michael Jackson's "Muscles" gave Ross another top ten hit. Ross' 1983 album, Ross, failed to produce any major success. It's single "Pieces Of Ice" peaked at #31 on the Hot 100 and was more popular as a music video than a Pop hit.

On January 24, 1982, Diana Ross sang the National Anthem at Super Bowl XVI.

On July 21, 1983, Ross performed a concert in Central Park for a taped Showtime special. Proceeds of the concert would be donated to build a playground in the singer's name. Midway through the beginning of the show, a torrential downpour occurred. Ross tried to keep on performing, but the severe weather required that the show be stopped. Ross urged the large crowd to exit the venue safely, promising to perform the next day. The second concert held the very next day was without rain. The funds for the playground were to be derived from sales of different items at the concert; however, all profits earned from the first concert were spent on the second. When the mainstream media discovered the exorbitant costs of the two concerts, Diana Ross faced criticism and poor publicity. Although representatives of Diana Ross originally refused to pay anything for the proposed playground, Ross later paid the $250,000 required to build the park. The Diana Ross Playground was finally built three years later.^[17] The Diana Ross Playground at 83rd and Central Park West is a beautiful assortment of wood structures and classic outdoor children's gym obstacles making it a lovely addition to the park.

In 1984, Ross' career spiked yet again with the release of the million-selling Swept Away. The title track became an international hit as did the chart-topping ballad, "Missing You", which was a tribute to Marvin Gaye, who had died earlier that year. Her 1985 album, Eaten Alive, found major success overseas with the title track and "Chain Reaction", although neither of the songs became the best-sellers she was once accustomed to in America. Earlier in 1985, she appeared as part of the supergroup USA for Africa on the "'We Are the World'" charity single, which sold over 20 million copies world wide. Ross' 1987 follow up to Eaten Alive, Red Hot Rhythm & Blues, found less success than the prior album. In 1988, Ross chose to not renew her RCA contract.

Motown Records was being sold by Berry Gordy for $60 million. Ross advised Gordy not to make the move. Before leaving Motown, Gordy offered Ross a contract back to Motown. Ross was at first hesitant to return to the label but agreed after Gordy offered her part-ownership of the label. Despite initial promotion, Ross' next album, Workin' Overtime, bombed. Subsequent follow-ups including The Force Behind the Power (1991), Take Me Higher (1995) and Every Day Is a New Day (1999) produced similarly disappointing sales. Ross had more success overseas with the albums than she did in America. In 1994, Ross performed at the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup, hosted in the USA. Her performance has become a running joke in football circles due to her obvious miming and for missing the goal from close range.^[18][19]

On January 28, 1996, Diana Ross performed the Halftime Show at Super Bowl XXX.

In 1999, she was named the most successful female singer in the history of the United Kingdom charts, based upon a tally of her career hits. Madonna would eventually succeed Ross as the most successful female artist in the UK.

Later that year, Ross presented at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards in September of the year and shocked the audience by touching rapper Lil' Kim's exposed breast, pasty-covered nipple, amazed at the young rapper's brashness.^[20]

Supremes reunions and Return to Love[link]

In 1983, Ross reunited with former Supremes Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong for the television special Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever. The three performed their 1969 number-one hit "Someday We'll Be Together", although alleged onstage altercations between Ross and Wilson became an issue during and after the taping of the special. A four-song Supremes set was planned but Ross, suffering from influenza, declined to rehearse with "The Girls" and stated that they would have to be happy just doing "Someday We'll Be Together". Before the special was taped later that evening, Wilson allegedly planned with Birdsong to take a step forward every time Ross did the same. This appeared to frustrate Ross, causing her to push Wilson's shoulder. Later, Wilson was not aware of the script set by producer Suzanne DePasse, in which Ross was to introduce Berry Gordy. Wilson took it upon herself to do so,^[21] at which point Ross pushed down Wilson's hand-held microphone, stating "It's been taken care of." Ross, then, introduced Gordy.^[22] These incidents were excised from the final edit of the taped special, but still made their way into the news media; People magazine reported that "Ross [did] some elbowing to get Wilson out of the spotlight."^[23]

The original Supremes were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. Original member Florence Ballard had died twelve years earlier. Ross was performing around the time of the induction ceremony and was unable to attend; Mary Wilson accepted the award.^{[citation needed]} In 1999, Ross, Wilson, Cindy Birdsong & mega-tour promoter SFX(Now LiveNation began negotiations regarding a Supremes tour in which all living former Supremes would participate(See Barbra Walters interview video below.). The negotiations failed, however, and Ross and SFX hired 1970s Supremes members Lynda Laurence and Scherrie Payne, who were touring as the Former Ladies of the Supremes, to participate. The Return to Love tour was launched in June 2000. The tour performed well in large markets, but, struggled in medium markets. Despite selling out its final performance, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, the tour ended abruptly after fourteen performances.^{[citation needed]}

Current work[link]

Wikinews has related news: Kennedy Center names 2007 honors recipients

Following successful European and American tours in 2004, Diana Ross returned to the Billboard music charts with two duets in 2005. "I've Got a Crush on You", recorded with Rod Stewart for his album The Great American Songbook, reached number 19 on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary chart. The second, recorded with Westlife, was a remake of Ross's 1991 number-2 UK single, "When You Tell Me You Love Me", and reached number 2 in the UK, just as the original had, and number 1 in Ireland. In January, 2005, M.A.C. Cosmetics named Diana Ross its beauty icon for 2005. In June 2006, Motown released the shelved Blue album, which peaked at number 2 on Billboard's Jazz Albums chart. Ross' new studio album, I Love You, was released worldwide on October 2, 2006 and January 16, 2007, in North America, on the Manhattan Records/EMI label.^[24] Since its release in 2007, EMI Inside reports that I Love You has sold more than 622,000 copies worldwide.

Diana Ross is applauded by her fellow Kennedy Center honorees as she is recognized for her career achievements by President George W. Bush in the East Room of the White House Sunday, Dec. 2, 2007, during the Kennedy Center Gala Reception. From left are singer-songwriter Brian Wilson; filmmaker Martin Scorsese; Ross; comedian, actor and author Steve Martin and pianist Leon Fleisher.

In January 2007, Ross appeared on a number of television shows across the U.S. to promote her new album and began touring in the spring. She appeared on American Idol as a mentor to the contestants^[25] Ross's United States "I Love You" tour garnered positive reviews,^[26] as did her European tour of the same year.^[27]

At the 2007 BET Awards, Ross was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by her five children and singer Alicia Keys. Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu and Chaka Khan performed musical tributes to Ross, covering several of her most popular recordings. During her acceptance speech, Ross lambasted the declining level of professional standards among the younger generation's musicians, as well as their overabundant use of vulgarity and profanity to garner press attention and record sales. Later that year, the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors committee, which recognizes career excellence, cultural influence and contributions to American culture, named Diana Ross as one of its honorees. Past honoree and fellow Motown alumni Smokey Robinson and actor Terrence Howard spoke on her behalf at the official ceremony that December, and singers Ciara, Vanessa L. Williams, Yolanda Adams and American Idol winner Jordin Sparks performed musical tributes.

The lectures are designed to present prolific and influential characters to speak about their life and inspirations. During her lecture Ross stated that it is "unlikely" that she would undertake any further movie projects.

In May 2008, Ross headlined at New York City's Radio City Music Hall's 'Divas with Heart' concert event, which also featured fellow performers Gladys Knight, Chaka Khan and Patti LaBelle. The following month she was a headliner at the City Stages music festival in Birmingham, AL, next to The Flaming Lips. The New York Times said about the duo, "the most incongruous headliners at an outdoor urban concert series, with the once-in-a-lifetime-at-most combination of Diana Ross and the Flaming Lips. Something for everyone, surely." She performed at two major events in the UK in July 2008: the famous Liverpool Pops Festival and the National Trust Summer Festival at Petworth House, West Sussex. In June 2009, Diana Ross' recording of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" was voted a Legendary Michigan Song.^[28] On October 16–17, 2009, Diana Ross headlined the annual Dutch concert event, Symphonica in Rosso, in the 34,000-seat Gelredome Stadium, in Arnhem, The Netherlands. She was accompanied by a 40-piece orchestra. Each of the two concerts was sold out.

Ross performed a cross-country tour in the summer of 2010. The More Today Than Yesterday: The Greatest Hits Tour featured an all-new set list, stage design, and costumes galore, and was dedicated to her friend Michael Jackson who died in June 2009. The tour, which commenced on May 15, 2010, in Boston, Massachusetts, earned Ross excellent reviews in every city in which she performed, and concluded in Saratoga, California. An extended American leg of the tour began in September, 2010, and is scheduled to continue until March 2011, in Stamford, Connecticut, after which, another American leg of her tour will begin on September 11, 2011, at Temecula, CA's Pechanga Resort and Casino, & continuing throughout autumn, 2011. It is rumored that Ross will mount European & Asian legs of the tour. In June 2011, Diana Ross was voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends online Hall of Fame.^[29] On December 21, 2011, The Recording Academy has announced, along with several legendary artists, including bossa nova originator Antonio Carlos Jobim & late Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Diana Ross received a Grammy Special Merit Lifetime Achievement Award on February 11, 2012. On February 23, 2012, Ross will begin the fifth US leg of her highly successful More Today Than Yesterday: The Greatest Hits Tour at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, in Hollywood, Fla. On May 15, 2012, television studio Shout Out Factory! released an official DVD version of Ross' seminal July 22, 1983 Central Park concert, "For One & For All". Featuring commentary by director Steve Binder, the DVD also features both days' concerts in their entirety. As of May 23, 2012, the DVD is #5 on Amazon's Music Videos & Concerts Best Sellers List.

Personal life[link]

While Ross' mother was supportive of her career, her father was disappointed in her choice to be an entertainer rather than attend college like her other siblings. Biographies later stated Ross' drive was inspired by a lack of a support she felt from her father. Ross and her father's relationship repaired over the years until Fred Ross died in 2007. Ross' mother died in 1984.

Ross' elder sister Barbara found success as a doctor and in 1993, was appointed as dean of the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, becoming the first black American woman to administer a medical school in the United States. Rita Ross, Diana's younger sister, became a teacher. Brothers Arthur and Wilbert "Chico" Ross followed their sister into the recording industry and entertainment business, respectively. Arthur became a songwriter for Motown writing hits for Michael Jackson, The Miracles and Marvin Gaye while Chico became a professional dancer and choreographer joining his elder sister as a choreographer on her shows during the 1970s and 1980s. Eldest brother Fred Ross, Jr., a veteran of the Vietnam War, never followed his sister into show business settling for civilian life in his native Detroit. Brother Arthur and his wife, Patricia Robinson, were murdered in 1996 in the northern Detroit suburb of Oak Park, Michigan. Their bodies were found bound and gagged in their basement. As of this writing, no one has been convicted of the murders. A state's witness disappeared before the case's primary suspect could be tried.

Ross married twice. Her first husband was music business manager Robert Ellis Silberstein, whom she married in January 1971. They divorced in March 1977. In January 1986, after a romantic courtship, Ross married billionaire Norwegian shipping magnate Arne Næss, Jr.. After several years of legal separation, the couple were officially divorced in 2000. Næss was later killed in a mountain climbing accident in 2004. Ross attended his funeral.

Ross is the mother of five children. Daughter Rhonda Suzanne Silberstein was born on August 14, 1971, Rhonda's biological father is Berry Gordy. She is now married; her married name is Rhonda Ross Kendrick. Ross and Silberstein had two daughters: Tracee Joy Silberstein, born October 29, 1972 (now known as Tracee Ellis Ross) and Chudney Lane Silberstein, born November 4, 1975 (now known as Chudney Ross). Ross had two sons with Næss. Their sons are Ross Arne Næss (born October 7, 1987) and Evan Olav Næss (born August 26, 1988), now known as Evan Ross). Ross became a grandmother when daughter Rhonda gave birth to a boy, Raif-Henok Emmanuel Kendrick, on August 7, 2009.

Solo discography[link]

Filmography[link]

• 1964: T.A.M.I. Show (with The Supremes)
• 1965: Beach Ball (with The Supremes)
• 1972: Lady Sings the Blues
• 1975: Mahogany
• 1978: The Wiz
• 1994: Out of Darkness
• 1999: Double Platinum
• 2002: The Making and Meaning of We Are Family (documentary)
• 2010: Met With Sandra Ellison and Tamia Holmes

Television[link]

• 1968: Tarzan (with The Supremes)
• 1968: T.C.B. (with The Supremes)
• 1981: diana
• 1981: Standing Room Only: Diana Ross
• 1983: Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever
• 1983: For One And For All – Diana Ross Live! in Central Park
• 1987: Diana Ross: Red Hot Rhythm and Blues
• 1989: Diana Ross: Workin' Overtime
• 1992: Diana Ross Live! The Lady Sings... Jazz & Blues: Stolen Moments
• 1994: Out of Darkness
• 1996: Super Bowl XXX
• 1999: Double Platinum
• 2000: VH1 Divas 2000: A Tribute to Diana Ross
• 2005: Tsunami Aid
• 2007: BET Awards 2007
• 2007: Kennedy Center Honors
• 2008: Nobel Peace Prize Concert

Autobiographies[link]

• Ross, Diana (October 1993). Secrets of a Sparrow. Random House. ISBN 0-679-42874-7. 
• Ross, Diana; Rosanne Shelnutt (ed.) (December 2002). Diana Ross: Going Back. New York: Universe. ISBN 0-7893-0797-9.  (A scrapbook-style collection of photographs)

See also[link]

	Book: Diana Ross
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

The Supremes portal

• List of awards and nominations received by Diana Ross
• List of best-selling music artists
• List of number-one hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one in the United States
• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. dance chart

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Taraborrelli, J. Randy (2007-05-01). Diana Ross: A Biography. Citadel. ISBN 0-8065-2849-4. 

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (April 2012)

• Official website
• International Diana Ross website
• Diana Ross Tribute Fansite website
• Barbara Walters interviews Diana Ross about "Return To Love" Tour
• International Diana Ross Fanclub website
• Diana Ross Superstar website
• Diana Ross discography at Discogs
• Diana Ross discography at MusicBrainz
• Carlo's Supremes website
• Mark's Diana Ross website
• unofficial biography page
• Supremes 9.0 — fansite
• Diana Ross interview recorded 10.13.1968
• [2] on the Pop Chronicles
• Diana Ross at the Internet Movie Database