title: Area 51

text: The original rectangular base of is now part of the so-called "Groom box", a rectangular area, measuring , of restricted airspace. The area is connected to the internal Nevada Test Site (NTS) road network, with paved roads leading south to Mercury and west to Yucca Flat. Leading northeast from the lake, the wide and well-maintained Groom Lake Road runs through a pass in the Jumbled Hills. The road formerly led to mines in the Groom basin but has been improved since their closure. Its winding course runs past a security checkpoint, but the restricted area around the base extends farther east. After leaving the restricted area, Groom Lake Road descends eastward to the floor of the Tikaboo Valley, passing the dirt-road entrances to several small ranches, before converging with State Route 375, the "Extraterrestrial Highway", south of Rachel.


title: Area 51

text: Area 51 shares a border with the Yucca Flat region of the Nevada Test Site, the location of 739 of the 928 nuclear tests conducted by the United States Department of Energy at NTS. The Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository is southwest of Groom Lake.


title: Area 51

text: Groom Lake is a salt flat in Nevada used for runways of the Nellis Bombing Range Test Site airport (XTA/KXTA) on the north of the Area 51 USAF military installation. The lake at elevation is approximately from north to south and from east to west at its widest point. Located within the namesake Groom Lake Valley portion of the Tonopah Basin, the lake is south of Rachel, Nevada.


title: Area 51

text: The origin of the name "Area 51" is unclear. It is believed to be from an Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) numbering grid, although Area 51 is not part of this system; it is adjacent to Area 15. Another explanation is that 51 was used because it was unlikely that the AEC would use the number. According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the correct names for the facility are Homey Airport (XTA/KXTA) and Groom Lake, though the name "Area 51" was used in a CIA document from the Vietnam War. The facility has also been referred to as "Dreamland" and "Paradise Ranch", among other nicknames, with the former also being the approach control call sign for the surrounding area. The USAF public relations has referred to the facility as "an operating location near Groom Dry Lake". The special use airspace around the field is referred to as Restricted Area 4808 North (R-4808N).


title: Area 51

text: Lead and silver were discovered in the southern part of the Groom Range in 1864, and the English company "Groome Lead Mines Limited" financed the Conception Mines in the 1870s, giving the district its name (nearby mines included Maria, Willow, and White Lake). J. B. Osborne and partners acquired the controlling interest in Groom in 1876, and Osbourne's son acquired it in the 1890s. Mining continued until 1918, then resumed after World War II until the early 1950s.


title: Area 51

text: The airfield on the Groom Lake site began service in 1942 as Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field and consisted of two unpaved 5,000-foot (1,524 m) runways.


title: Area 51

text: The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) established the Groom Lake test facility in April 1955 for Project AQUATONE: the development of the Lockheed U-2 strategic reconnaissance aircraft. Project director Richard M. Bissell Jr. understood that the flight test and pilot training programs could not be conducted at Edwards Air Force Base or Lockheed's Palmdale facility, given the extreme secrecy surrounding the project. He conducted a search for a suitable testing site for the U-2 under the same extreme security as the rest of the project. He notified Lockheed, who sent an inspection team out to Groom Lake. According to Lockheed's U-2 designer Kelly Johnson:


title: Area 51

text: The lake bed made an ideal strip for testing aircraft, and the Emigrant Valley's mountain ranges and the NTS perimeter protected the site from visitors; it was about north of Las Vegas. The CIA asked the AEC to acquire the land, designated "Area 51" on the map, and to add it to the Nevada Test Site.


title: Area 51

text: Johnson named the area "Paradise Ranch" to encourage workers to move to "the new facility in the middle of nowhere", as the CIA later described it, and the name became shortened to "the Ranch". On 4May 1955, a survey team arrived at Groom Lake and laid out a north–south runway on the southwest corner of the lakebed and designated a site for a base support facility. The Ranch initially consisted of little more than a few shelters, workshops, and trailer homes in which to house its small team. A little over three months later, the base consisted of a single paved runway, three hangars, a control tower, and rudimentary accommodations for test personnel. The base's few amenities included a movie theater and volleyball court. There was also a mess hall, several wells, and fuel storage tanks. CIA, Air Force, and Lockheed personnel began arriving by July 1955. The Ranch received its first U-2 delivery on 24 July 1955 from Burbank on a C-124 Globemaster II cargo plane, accompanied by Lockheed technicians on a Douglas DC-3. Regular Military Air Transport Service flights were set up between Area 51 and Lockheed's offices in Burbank, California. To preserve secrecy, personnel flew to Nevada on Monday mornings and returned to California on Friday evenings.


title: Area 51

text: Project OXCART was established in August 1959 for "antiradar studies, aerodynamic structural tests, and engineering designs" and all later work on the Lockheed A-12. This included testing at Groom Lake, which had inadequate facilities consisting of buildings for only 150 people, a asphalt runway, and limited fuel, hangar, and shop space. Groom Lake had received the name "Area 51" when A-12 test facility construction began in September 1960, including a new runway to replace the existing runway.


title: Area 51

text: Reynolds Electrical and Engineering Company (REECo) began construction of "Project 51" on 1October 1960 with double-shift construction schedules. The contractor upgraded base facilities and built a new runway (14/32) diagonally across the southwest corner of the lakebed. They marked an Archimedean spiral on the dry lake approximately two miles across so that an A-12 pilot approaching the end of the overrun could abort instead of plunging into the sagebrush. Area 51 pilots called it "The Hook". For crosswind landings, they marked two unpaved airstrips (runways 9/27 and 03/21) on the dry lakebed.


title: Area 51

text: By August 1961, construction of the essential facilities was complete; three surplus Navy hangars were erected on the base's north side while hangar7 was new construction. The original U-2 hangars were converted to maintenance and machine shops. Facilities in the main cantonment area included workshops and buildings for storage and administration, a commissary, a control tower, a fire station, and housing. The Navy also contributed more than 130 surplus Babbitt duplex housing units for long-term occupancy facilities. Older buildings were repaired, and additional facilities were constructed as necessary. A reservoir pond surrounded by trees served as a recreational area one mile north of the base. Other recreational facilities included a gymnasium, a movie theater, and a baseball diamond. A permanent aircraft fuel tank farm was constructed by early 1962 for the special JP-7 fuel required by the A-12. Seven tanks were constructed, with a total capacity of 1,320,000 gallons.


title: Area 51

text: Security was enhanced for the arrival of OXCART and the small mine was closed in the Groom basin. In January 1962, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) expanded the restricted airspace in the vicinity of Groom Lake, and the lakebed became the center of a 600-square mile addition to restricted area R-4808N. The CIA facility received eight USAF F-101 Voodoos for training, two T-33 Shooting Star trainers for proficiency flying, a C-130 Hercules for cargo transport, a U-3A for administrative purposes, a helicopter for search and rescue, and a Cessna 180 for liaison use, and Lockheed provided an F-104 Starfighter for use as a chase plane.


title: Area 51

text: The first A-12 test aircraft was covertly trucked from Burbank on 26 February 1962 and arrived at Groom Lake on 28 February. It made its first flight 26 April 1962 when the base had over 1,000 personnel. The closed airspace above Groom Lake was within the Nellis Air Force Range airspace, and pilots saw the A-12 20 to 30 times. Groom was also the site of the first Lockheed D-21 drone test flight on 22 December 1964. By the end of 1963, nine A-12s were at Area 51, assigned to the CIA-operated "1129th Special Activities Squadron".


title: Area 51

text: Following the loss of Gary Powers' U-2 over the Soviet Union, there were several discussions about using the A-12 OXCART as an unpiloted drone aircraft. Although Kelly Johnson had come to support the idea of drone reconnaissance, he opposed the development of an A-12 drone, contending that the aircraft was too large and complex for such a conversion. However, the Air Force agreed to fund the study of a high-speed, high-altitude drone aircraft in October 1962. The Air Force interest seems to have moved the CIA to take action, the project designated "Q-12". By October 1963, the drone's design had been finalized. At the same time, the Q-12 underwent a name change. To separate it from the other A-12-based projects, it was renamed the "D-21". (The "12" was reversed to "21"). "Tagboard" was the project's code name.


title: Area 51

text: The first D-21 was completed in the spring of 1964 by Lockheed. After four more months of checkouts and static tests, the aircraft was shipped to Groom Lake and reassembled. It was to be carried by a two-seat derivative of the A-12, designated the "M-21". When the D-21/M-21 reached the launch point, the first step would be to blow off the D-21's inlet and exhaust covers. With the D-21/M-21 at the correct speed and altitude, the LCO would start the ramjet and the other systems of the D-21. "With the D-21's systems activated and running, and the launch aircraft at the correct point, the M-21 would begin a slight pushover, the LCO would push a final button, and the D-21 would come off the pylon".


title: Area 51

text: Difficulties were addressed throughout 1964 and 1965 at Groom Lake with various technical issues. Captive flights showed unforeseen aerodynamic difficulties. By late January 1966, more than a year after the first captive flight, everything seemed ready. The first D-21 launch was made on 5March 1966 with a successful flight, with the D-21 flying 120 miles with limited fuel. A second D-21 flight was successful in April 1966 with the drone flying 1,200 miles, reaching Mach 3.3 and 90,000 feet. An accident on 30 July 1966 with a fully fueled D-21, on a planned checkout flight, suffered from an unstart of the drone after its separation, causing it to collide with the M-21 launch aircraft. The two crewmen ejected and landed in the ocean 150 miles offshore. One crew member was picked up by a helicopter, but the other, having survived the aircraft breakup and ejection, drowned when sea water entered his pressure suit. Kelly Johnson personally cancelled the entire program, having had serious doubts about its feasibility from the start. A number of D-21s had already been produced, and rather than scrapping the whole effort, Johnson again proposed to the Air Force that they be launched from a B-52H bomber.


title: Area 51

text: By late summer of 1967, the modification work to both the D-21 (now designated D-21B) and the B-52Hs was complete. The test program could now resume. The test missions were flown out of Groom Lake, with the actual launches over the Pacific. The first D-21B to be flown was Article 501, the prototype. The first attempt was made on 28 September 1967 and ended in complete failure. As the B-52 was flying toward the launch point, the D-21B fell off the pylon. The B-52H gave a sharp lurch as the drone fell free. The booster fired and was "quite a sight from the ground". The failure was traced to a stripped nut on the forward right attachment point on the pylon. Several more tests were made, none of which met with success. However, the fact is that the resumptions of D-21 tests took place against a changing reconnaissance background. The A-12 had finally been allowed to deploy, and the SR-71 was soon to replace it. At the same time, new developments in reconnaissance satellite technology were nearing operation. Up to this point, the limited number of satellites available restricted coverage to the Soviet Union. A new generation of reconnaissance satellites could soon cover targets anywhere in the world. The satellites' resolution would be comparable to that of aircraft but without the slightest political risk. Time was running out for the Tagboard.


title: Area 51

text: Several more test flights, including two over China, were made from Beale AFB, California, in 1969 and 1970, to varying degrees of success. On 15 July 1971, Kelly Johnson received a wire canceling the D-21B program. The remaining drones were transferred by a C-5A and placed in dead storage. The tooling used to build the D-21Bs was ordered destroyed. Like the A-12 Oxcart, the D-21B Tagboard drones remained a Black airplane, even in retirement. Their existence was not suspected until August 1976, when the first group was placed in storage at the Davis-Monthan AFB Military Storage and Disposition Center. A second group arrived in 1977. They were labeled "GTD-21Bs" (GT stood for ground training).


title: Area 51

text: Davis-Monthan is an open base, with public tours of the storage area at the time, so the odd-looking drones were soon spotted and photos began appearing in magazines. Speculation about the D-21Bs circulated within aviation circles for years, and it was not until 1982 that details of the Tagboard program were released. However, it was not until 1993 that the B-52/D-21B program was made public. That same year, the surviving D-21Bs were released to museums.


title: Area 51

text: During the Cold War, one of the missions carried out by the United States was the test and evaluation of captured Soviet fighter aircraft. Beginning in the late 1960s, and for several decades, Area 51 played host to an assortment of Soviet-built aircraft. Under the HAVE DOUGHNUT, HAVE DRILL and HAVE FERRY programs, the first MiGs flown in the United States were used to evaluate the aircraft in performance, technical, and operational capabilities, pitting the types against U.S. fighters.


title: Area 51

text: This was not a new mission, as testing of foreign technology by the USAF began during World War II. After the war, testing of acquired foreign technology was performed by the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC, which became very influential during the Korean War), under the direct command of the Air Materiel Control Department. In 1961, ATIC became the Foreign Technology Division (FTD) and was reassigned to Air Force Systems Command. ATIC personnel were sent anywhere where foreign aircraft could be found.


title: Area 51

text: The focus of Air Force Systems Command limited the use of the fighter as a tool with which to train the front line tactical fighter pilots. Air Force Systems Command recruited its pilots from the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California, who were usually graduates from various test pilot schools. Tactical Air Command selected its pilots primarily from the ranks of the Weapons School graduates.


title: Area 51

text: In August 1966, Iraqi Air Force fighter pilot Captain Munir Redfa defected, flying his MiG-21 to Israel after being ordered to attack Iraqi Kurd villages with napalm. His aircraft was transferred to Groom Lake in late 1967 for study. In 1968, the US Air Force and Navy jointly formed a project known as HAVE DOUGHNUT in which Air Force Systems Command, Tactical Air Command, and the U.S. Navy's Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Four (VX-4) flew this acquired Soviet made aircraft in simulated air combat training. As U.S. possession of the Soviet MiG-21 was, itself, secret, it was tested at Groom Lake. A joint Air Force-Navy team was assembled for a series of dogfight tests.


title: Area 51

text: Comparisons between the F-4 and the MiG-21 indicated that, on the surface, they were evenly matched. The HAVE DOUGHNUT tests showed the skill of the man in the cockpit was what made the difference. When the Navy or Air Force pilots flew the MiG-21, the results were a draw; the F-4 would win some fights, the MiG-21 would win others. There were no clear advantages. The problem was not with the planes, but with the pilots flying them. The pilots would not fly either plane to its limits. One of the Navy pilots was Marland W. "Doc" Townsend, then commander of VF-121, the F-4 training squadron at NAS Miramar. He was an engineer and a Korean War veteran and had flown almost every navy aircraft. When he flew against the MiG-21, he would outmaneuver it every time. The Air Force pilots would not go vertical in the MiG-21. The HAVE DOUGHNUT project officer was Tom Cassidy, a pilot with VX-4, the Navy's Air Development Squadron at Point Mugu. He had been watching as Townsend "waxed" the Air Force MiG-21 pilots. Cassidy climbed into the MiG-21 and went up against Townsend's F-4. This time the result was far different. Cassidy was willing to fight in the vertical, flying the plane to the point where it was buffeting, just above the stall. Cassidy was able to get on the F-4's tail. After the flight, they realized the MiG-21 turned better than the F-4 at lower speeds. The key was for the F-4 to keep its speed up. An F-4 had defeated the MiG-21; the weakness of the Soviet plane had been found. Further test flights confirmed what was learned. It was also clear that the MiG-21 was a formidable enemy. United States pilots would have to fly much better than they had been to beat it. This would require a special school to teach advanced air combat techniques.


title: Area 51

text: On 12 August 1968, two Syrian air force lieutenants, Walid Adham and Radfan Rifai, took off in a pair of MiG-17Fs on a training mission. They lost their way and, believing they were over Lebanon, landed at the Betzet Landing Field in northern Israel. (One version has it that they were led astray by an Arabic-speaking Israeli). Prior to the end of 1968 these MiG-17s were transferred from Israeli stocks and added to the Area 51 test fleet. The aircraft were given USAF designations and fake serial numbers so that they could be identified in DOD standard flight logs. As in the earlier program, a small group of Air Force and Navy pilots conducted mock dogfights with the MiG-17s. Selected instructors from the Navy's Top Gun school at NAS Miramar, California, were chosen to fly against the MiGs for familiarization purposes. Very soon, the MiG-17's shortcomings became clear. It had an extremely simple, even crude, control system that lacked the power-boosted controls of American aircraft. The F-4's twin engines were so powerful it could accelerate out of range of the MiG-17's guns in thirty seconds. It was important for the F-4 to keep its distance from the MiG-17. As long as the F-4 was one and a half miles from the MiG-17, it was outside the reach of the Soviet fighter's guns, but the MiG was within reach of the F-4's missiles.


title: Area 51

text: The data from the HAVE DOUGHNUT and HAVE DRILL tests were provided to the newly formed Top Gun school at NAS Miramar. By 1970, the HAVE DRILL program was expanded; a few selected fleet F-4 crews were given the chance to fight the MiGs. The most important result of Project HAVE DRILL is that no Navy pilot who flew in the project defeated the MiG-17 Fresco in the first engagement. The HAVE DRILL dogfights were by invitation only. The other pilots based at Nellis Air Force Base were not to know about the U.S.-operated MiGs. To prevent any sightings, the airspace above the Groom Lake range was closed. On aeronautical maps, the exercise area was marked in red ink. The forbidden zone became known as "Red Square".


title: Area 51

text: During the remainder of the Vietnam War, the Navy kill ratio climbed to 8.33 to 1. In contrast, the Air Force rate improved only slightly to 2.83 to 1. The reason for this difference was Top Gun. The Navy had revitalized its air combat training, while the Air Force had stayed stagnant. Most of the Navy MiG kills were by Top Gun graduates.


title: Area 51

text: In May 1973, Project HAVE IDEA was formed, which took over from the older HAVE DOUGHNUT, HAVE FERRY and HAVE DRILL projects, and the project was transferred to the Tonopah Test Range Airport. At Tonopah, testing of foreign technology aircraft continued and expanded throughout the 1970s and 1980s.


title: Area 51

text: Area 51 also hosted another foreign materiel evaluation program called HAVE GLIB. This involved testing Soviet tracking and missile control radar systems. A complex of actual and replica Soviet-type threat systems began to grow around "Slater Lake", a mile northwest of the main base, along with an acquired Soviet "Barlock" search radar placed at Tonopah Air Force Station. They were arranged to simulate a Soviet-style air defense complex.


title: Area 51

text: The Air Force began funding improvements to Area 51 in 1977 under project SCORE EVENT. In 1979, the CIA transferred jurisdiction of the Area 51 site to the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, California. Sam Mitchell, the last CIA commander of Area 51, relinquished command to USAF Lt. Col. Larry D. McClain.


title: Area 51

text: In 2017, a USAF aircraft crashed at the site, killing the pilot, Colonel Eric "Doc" Schultz. The USAF refused to release further information regarding the crash. In 2022, unconfirmed reports emerged that the crash involved an SU-27 that was part of the classified Foreign Materials Exploitation program. The reports claimed that the aircraft suffered a technical issue that resulted in both crew members ejecting from the aircraft, resulting in the death of Schultz.


title: Area 51

text: The Lockheed Have Blue prototype stealth fighter (a smaller proof-of-concept model of the F-117 Nighthawk) first flew at Groom in December 1977.


title: Area 51

text: In 1978, the Air Force awarded a full-scale development contract for the F-117 to Lockheed Corporation's Advanced Development Projects. On 17 January 1981 the Lockheed test team at Area 51 accepted delivery of the first full-scale development (FSD) prototype "79–780", designated YF-117A. At 6:05 am on 18 June 1981 Lockheed Skunk Works test pilot Hal Farley lifted the nose of YF-117A "79–780" off the runway of Area 51.


title: Area 51

text: Meanwhile, Tactical Air Command (TAC) decided to set up a group-level organization to guide the F-117A to an initial operating capability. That organization became the 4450th Tactical Group (Initially designated "A Unit"), which officially activated on 15 October 1979 at Nellis AFB, Nevada, although the group was physically located at Area 51. The 4450th TG also operated the A-7D Corsair II as a surrogate trainer for the F-117A, and these operations continued until 15 October 1982 under the guise of an avionics test mission.


title: Area 51

text: Flying squadrons of the 4450th TG were the 4450th Tactical Squadron (Initially designated "I Unit") activated on 11 June 1981, and 4451st Tactical Squadron (Initially designated "P Unit") on 15 January 1983. The 4450th TS, stationed at Area 51, was the first F-117A squadron, while the 4451st TS was stationed at Nellis AFB and was equipped with A-7D Corsair IIs painted in a dark motif, tail coded "LV". Lockheed test pilots put the YF-117 through its early paces. A-7Ds were used for pilot training before any F-117As had been delivered by Lockheed to Area 51, later the A-7D's were used for F-117A chase testing and other weapon tests at the Nellis Range. On 15 October 1982, Major Alton C. Whitley Jr. became the first USAF 4450th TG pilot to fly the F-117A.


title: Area 51

text: Although ideal for testing, Area 51 was not a suitable location for an operational group, so a new covert base had to be established for F-117 operations. Tonopah Test Range Airport was selected for operations of the first USAF F-117 unit, the 4450th Tactical Group (TG). From October 1979, the Tonopah Airport base was reconstructed and expanded. The 6,000-foot runway was lengthened to 10,000 feet. Taxiways, a concrete apron, a large maintenance hangar, and a propane storage tank were added.


title: Area 51

text: By early 1982, four more YF-117As were operating at the base. After finding a large scorpion in their offices, the testing team (Designated "R Unit") adopted it as their mascot and dubbed themselves the "Baja Scorpions". Testing of a series of ultra-secret prototypes continued at Area 51 until mid-1981 when testing transitioned to the initial production of F-117 stealth fighters. The F-117s were moved to and from Area 51 by C-5 during darkness to maintain security. The aircraft were defueled, disassembled, cradled, and then loaded aboard the C-5 at night, flown to Lockheed, and unloaded at night before reassembly and flight testing. Groom performed radar profiling, F-117 weapons testing, and training of the first group of frontline USAF F-117 pilots.


title: Area 51

text: While the "Baja Scorpions" were working on the F-117, there was also another group at work in secrecy, known as "the Whalers" working on Tacit Blue. A fly-by-wire technology demonstration aircraft with curved surfaces and composite material, to evade radar, was a prototype, and never went into production. Nevertheless, this strange-looking aircraft was responsible for many of the stealth technology advances that were used on several other aircraft designs, and had a direct influence on the B-2; with the first flight of Tacit Blue being performed on 5February 1982, by Northrop Grumman test pilot, Richard G. Thomas.


title: Area 51

text: Production FSD airframes from Lockheed were shipped to Area 51 for acceptance testing. As the Baja Scorpions tested the aircraft with functional check flights and L.O. verification, the operational airplanes were then transferred to the 4450th TG.


title: Area 51

text: On 17 May 1982, the move of the 4450th TG from Groom Lake to Tonopah was initiated, with the final components of the move completed in early 1983. Production FSD airframes from Lockheed were shipped to Area 51 for acceptance testing. As the Baja Scorpions tested the aircraft with functional check flights and L.O. verification, the operational airplanes were then transferred to the 4450th TG at Tonopah.


title: Area 51

text: The R-Unit was inactivated on 30 May 1989. Upon inactivation, the unit was reformed as Detachment 1, 57th Fighter Weapons Wing (FWW). In 1990, the last F-117A ("843") was delivered from Lockheed. After completion of acceptance flights at Area 51 of this last new F-117A aircraft, the flight test squadron continued flight test duties of refurbished aircraft after modifications by Lockheed. In February/March 1992 the test unit moved from Area 51 to the USAF Palmdale Plant 42 and was integrated with the Air Force Systems Command 6510th Test Squadron. Some testing, especially RCS verification and other classified activity was still conducted at Area 51 throughout the operational lifetime of the F-117. The recently inactivated (2008) 410th Flight Test Squadron traces its roots, if not its formal lineage to the 4450th TG R-unit.


title: Area 51

text: Since the F-117 became operational in 1983, operations at Groom Lake have continued. The base and its associated runway system were expanded, including the expansion of housing and support facilities. In 1995, the federal government expanded the exclusionary area around the base to include nearby mountains that had hitherto afforded the only decent overlook of the base, prohibiting access to of land formerly administered by the Bureau of Land Management. On 22 October 2015, a federal judge signed an order giving land that belonged to a Nevada family since the 1870s to the United States Air Force for expanding Area 51. According to the judge, the land that overlooked the base was taken to address security and safety concerns connected with their training and testing.


title: Area 51

text: The United States government has provided minimal information regarding Area 51. The area surrounding the lake is permanently off-limits to both civilian and normal military air traffic. Security clearances are checked regularly; cameras and weaponry are not allowed. Even military pilots training in the NAFR risk disciplinary action if they stray into the exclusionary "box" surrounding Groom's airspace. Surveillance is supplemented using buried motion sensors. Area 51 is a common destination for Janet, a small fleet of passenger aircraft operated on behalf of the Air Force to transport military personnel, primarily from Harry Reid International Airport.


title: Area 51

text: The USGS topographic map for the area only shows the long-disused Groom Mine. A civil aviation chart published by the Nevada Department of Transportation shows a large restricted area, defined as part of the Nellis restricted airspace. The National Atlas shows the area as lying within the Nellis Air Force Base. There are higher resolution and newer images available from other satellite imagery providers, including Russian providers and the IKONOS. These show the runway markings, base facilities, aircraft, and vehicles.


title: Area 51

text: On 25 June 2013, the CIA released an official history of the U-2 and OXCART projects which acknowledged the existence of Area 51 in response to a Freedom of Information Act request submitted in 2005 by Jeffrey T. Richelson of George Washington University's National Security Archive. It contains numerous references to Area 51 and Groom Lake, along with a map of the area.


title: Area 51

text: In 1994, five unnamed civilian contractors and the widows of contractors Walter Kasza and Robert Frost sued the Air Force and the United States Environmental Protection Agency. They alleged that they had been present when large quantities of unknown chemicals had been burned in open pits and trenches at Groom. Rutgers University biochemists analyzed biopsies from the complainants and found high levels of dioxin, dibenzofuran, and trichloroethylene in their body fat. The complainants alleged that they had sustained skin, liver, and respiratory injuries due to their work at Groom and that this had contributed to the deaths of Frost and Kasza. The suit sought compensation for the injuries, claiming that the Air Force had illegally handled toxic materials and that the EPA had failed in its duty to enforce the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act which governs the handling of dangerous materials. They also sought detailed information about the chemicals, hoping that this would facilitate the medical treatment of survivors. Congressman Lee H. Hamilton, former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told "60 Minutes" reporter Lesley Stahl, "The Air Force is classifying all information about Area 51 in order to protect themselves from a lawsuit."


title: Area 51

text: The government invoked the State Secrets Privilege and petitioned U.S. District Judge Philip Pro to disallow disclosure of classified documents or examination of secret witnesses, claiming that this would expose classified information and threaten national security. Judge Pro rejected the government's argument, so President Bill Clinton issued a Presidential Determination exempting what it called "the Air Force's Operating Location Near Groom Lake, Nevada" from environmental disclosure laws. Consequently, Pro dismissed the suit due to lack of evidence. Turley appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on the grounds that the government was abusing its power to classify material. Secretary of the Air Force Sheila E. Widnall filed a brief which stated that disclosures of the materials present in the air and water near Groom "can reveal military operational capabilities or the nature and scope of classified operations." The Ninth Circuit rejected Turley's appeal and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear it, putting an end to the complainants' case.


title: Area 51

text: The President annually issues a determination continuing the Groom exception which is the only formal recognition that the government has ever given that Groom Lake is more than simply another part of the Nellis complex. An unclassified memo on the safe handling of F-117 Nighthawk material was posted on an Air Force web site in 2005. This discussed the same materials for which the complainants had requested information, which the government had claimed was classified. The memo was removed shortly after journalists became aware of it.


title: Area 51

text: In December 2007, airline pilots noticed that the base had appeared in their aircraft navigation systems' latest Jeppesen database revision with the ICAO airport identifier code of KXTA and listed as "Homey Airport". The probably inadvertent release of the airport data led to advice by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) that student pilots should be explicitly warned about KXTA, not to consider it as a waypoint or destination for any flight even though it now appears in public navigation databases.


title: Area 51

text: The perimeter of the base is marked out by orange posts and patrolled by guards in white pickup trucks and camouflage fatigues. The guards are popularly referred to as "cammo dudes" by enthusiasts. The guards will not answer questions about their employers; however, according to the New York "Daily News", there are indications they are employed through a contractor such as AECOM. Signage around the base perimeter advises that deadly force is authorized against trespassers.


title: Area 51

text: Technology is also heavily used to maintain the border of the base; this includes surveillance cameras and motion detectors. Some of these motion detectors are placed some distance away from the base on public land to notify guards of people approaching.


title: Area 51

text: Dwayne A. Day published "Astronauts and Area 51: the Skylab Incident" in "The Space Review" in January 2006. It was based on a memo written in 1974 to CIA director William Colby by an unknown CIA official. The memo reported that astronauts on board Skylab had inadvertently photographed a certain location.


title: Area 51

text: The name of the location was obscured, but the context led Day to believe that the subject was Groom Lake. Day argues that "the CIA considered no other spot on Earth to be as sensitive as Groom Lake". The memo details debate between federal agencies regarding whether the images should be classified, with Department of Defense agencies arguing that it should and NASA and the State Department arguing that it should not be classified. The memo itself questions the legality of retroactively classifying unclassified images.


title: Area 51

text: The declassified documents do not disclose the outcome of discussions regarding the Skylab imagery. The debate proved moot, as the photograph appeared in the Federal Government's Archive of Satellite Imagery along with the remaining Skylab photographs.


title: Area 51

text: On January 28, 2019, an unidentified man drove through a security checkpoint near Mercury, Nevada, in an apparent attempt to enter the base. After an vehicle pursuit by base security, the man exited his vehicle carrying a "cylindrical object" and was shot dead by NNSS security officers and sheriff's deputies after refusing to obey requests to halt. There were no other injuries reported.


title: Area 51

text: Area 51 has become a focus of modern conspiracy theories due to its secretive nature and connection to classified aircraft research. Theories include:


title: Area 51

text: Many of the hypotheses concern underground facilities at Groom or at Papoose Lake (also known as "S-4 location"), south, and include claims of a transcontinental underground railroad system, a disappearing airstrip nicknamed the "Cheshire Airstrip", after Lewis Carroll's Cheshire cat, which briefly appears when water is sprayed onto its camouflaged asphalt, and engineering based on alien technology.


title: Area 51

text: In the mid-1950s, civilian aircraft flew under 20,000 feet while military aircraft flew up to 40,000 feet. The U-2 began flying above 60,000 feet and there was an increasing number of UFO sighting reports. Sightings occurred most often during early evening hours, when airline pilots flying west saw the U-2's silver wings reflect the setting sun, giving the aircraft a "fiery" appearance. Many sighting reports came to the Air Force's Project Blue Book, which investigated UFO sightings, through air-traffic controllers and letters to the government. The project checked U-2 and later OXCART flight records to eliminate the majority of UFO reports that it received during the late 1950s and 1960s, although it could not reveal to the letter writers the truth behind what they saw. Similarly, veterans of experimental projects such as OXCART at Area 51 agree that their work inadvertently prompted many of the UFO sightings and other rumors:


title: Area 51

text: They believe that the rumors helped maintain secrecy over Area 51's actual operations. The veterans deny the existence of a vast underground railroad system, although many of Area 51's operations did occur underground.


title: Area 51

text: Bob Lazar claimed in 1989 that he had worked at Area 51's "Sector Four (S-4)", said to be located underground inside the Papoose Range near Papoose Lake. He claimed that he was contracted to work with alien spacecraft that the government had in its possession. Similarly, the 1996 documentary "Dreamland" directed by Bruce Burgess included an interview with a 71-year-old mechanical engineer who claimed to be a former employee at Area 51 during the 1950s. His claims included that he had worked on a "flying disc simulator" which had been based on a disc originating from a crashed extraterrestrial craft and was used to train pilots. He also claimed to have worked with an extraterrestrial being named "J-Rod" and described as a "telepathic translator". In 2004, Dan Burisch (pseudonym of Dan Crain) claimed to have worked on cloning alien viruses at Area 51, also alongside the alien named "J-Rod". Burisch's scholarly credentials are the subject of much debate, as he was apparently working as a Las Vegas parole officer in 1989 while also earning a PhD at State University of New York (SUNY).


title: Area 51

text: In July 2019, more than 2,000,000 people responded to a joke proposal to storm Area 51 which appeared in an anonymous Facebook post. The event, scheduled for 20 September 2019, was billed as "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us", an attempt to "see them aliens". Air Force spokeswoman Laura McAndrews said the government "would discourage anyone from trying to come into the area where we train American armed forces". Two music festivals in rural Nevada, AlienStock and Storm Area 51 Basecamp, were subsequently organized to capitalize on the popularity of the original Facebook event. Between 1,500 and 3,000 people showed up at the festivals, while over 150 people made the journey over several miles of rough roads to get near the gates to Area 51. Seven people were reportedly arrested at the event.


title: Diana Ross

text: Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. They remain the best-charting female group in


title: Diana Ross

text: history, with a total of twelve number-one hit singles on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, including "Where Did Our Love Go", "Baby Love", "Come See About Me", and "Love Child".


title: Diana Ross

text: Following departure from the Supremes in 1970, Ross embarked on a successful solo career in music, film, television and on stage. Her eponymous debut solo album featured the U.S. number-one hit "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and music anthem "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)". It was followed with her second solo album, "Everything Is Everything" (1970), which spawned her first UK number-one single "I'm Still Waiting". She continued her successful solo career by mounting elaborate record-setting world-wide concert tours, starring in a number of highly watched prime-time television specials, and releasing hit albums like "Touch Me in the Morning" (1973), "Mahogany" (1975), and "Diana Ross" (1976) as well as their number-one hit singles, "Touch Me in the Morning", "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)", and "Love Hangover", respectively. Ross further released numerous top-ten hits on various "Billboard" charts throughout the 1970s, '80s, and '90s. She achieved several more global number-one singles, "Upside Down" (1980), "Endless Love" (1981), "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" (1982), "Chain Reaction" (1986), "If We Hold on Together" (1988) and "When You Tell Me That You Love Me" (1991).


title: Diana Ross

text: Ross has also achieved mainstream success and recognition as an actor. Her first role was her Golden Globe Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated portrayal of Billie Holiday in the film "Lady Sings the Blues" (1972); she also recorded its soundtrack, which became a number one hit on the U.S. album chart. She also starred in two other feature films, "Mahogany" (1975) and "The Wiz" (1978), and later appeared in the television films "Out of Darkness" (1994), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, and "Double Platinum" (1999).


title: Diana Ross

text: Ross was named the "Female Entertainer of the Century" by "Billboard" in 1976. Since her solo career began in 1970, Ross has released 25 studio albums, numerous singles, and compilations that have sold more than 100 million records worldwide. She is the only female artist to have had number-one singles on the "Billboard" Hot 100 as a solo artist, as the other half of a duet, as a member of a trio, and as an ensemble member. In 2021, "Billboard" ranked her the 30th greatest Hot 100 artist of all time. Her hits as a Supreme and a solo artist combined put Ross among the Top 5 artists on the "Billboard" Hot 100 singles chart from 1955 to 2018. She had a top 10 UK hit in every one of the last five decades, and sang lead on a top 75 hit single at least once every year from 1964 to 1996 in the UK, a period of 33 consecutive years and a record for any performer. In 1988, Ross was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Supremes. She was the recipient of a Special Tony Award in 1976, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.


title: Diana Ross

text: Diana Ross was born in Detroit, Michigan, on March 26, 1944. She was born the second of six children to Ernestine (née Moten; January 27, 1916October 9, 1984) and Fred Ross, Sr. (July 4, 1920November 21, 2007). Her mother named her Diane, but the birth certificate was mistakenly filled out with the name Diana. Her family and Detroit friends called her Diane all her life. Ross grew up with two sisters (Barbara and Rita) and three brothers: Arthur; Fred Jr.; and Wilbert, also known as Chico.


title: Diana Ross

text: Ross and her family originally resided at 635 Belmont St., in the North End section of Detroit, near Highland Park, Michigan, where her neighbor was Smokey Robinson. When Ross was seven, her mother contracted tuberculosis, causing her to become seriously ill. Ross' parents sent their children to live with Ernestine's parents, the Reverend (pastor of Bessemer Baptist Church) and Mrs. William Moton in Bessemer, Alabama. After her mother recovered, she and her siblings returned to Detroit.


title: Diana Ross

text: On her 14th birthday in 1958, her family relocated to the working-class Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects settling at St. Antoine Street. Attending Cass Technical High School, a four-year college and preparatory magnet school, in downtown Detroit, Ross began taking classes including clothing design, millinery, pattern making, and tailoring, as she had aspired to become a fashion designer. She also took modeling and cosmetology classes in the evenings and weekends – for which Ross has written that Robinson loaned her the funds required to attend – and participated in several of the school's extracurricular activities, including its swim team. In 1960, Hudson's downtown Detroit store hired Ross as its first African American bus girl. For extra income, she also provided hairdressing services for her neighbors. Ross graduated from Cass Tech in January 1962.


title: Diana Ross

text: At fifteen, Ross joined the Primettes, a sister of another group: a male vocal group called the Primes, after being brought to the attention of music manager Milton Jenkins by Primes member Paul Williams. Along with Ross, the other members included Florence Ballard, the first group member hired by Jenkins, Mary Wilson, and Betty McGlown, Williams' then-girlfriend. After winning a 1960 talent competition in Windsor, Ontario, the Primettes were invited to audition for Motown Records by A&R executive and songwriter, Robert Bateman.


title: Diana Ross

text: Later, following local success via live performances at sock hops, etc., Ross approached former neighbor (and rumored childhood former boyfriend), William "Smokey" Robinson, who insisted that the group audition for him first. Robinson agreed to bring the Primettes to Motown, in exchange for letting him and the Miracles hire the Primettes' guitarist, Marv Tarplin, discovered by Ross, for an upcoming tour. Tarplin played in Robinson's band(s) for the next 30-plus years. In her autobiography, "Secrets of a Sparrow", Ross wrote that she felt that deal was "a fair trade".


title: Diana Ross

text: The Primettes later auditioned for Motown, before various Motown executives. In Berry Gordy's autobiography, "To Be Loved", Gordy recalled he was heading to a business meeting when he heard Ross singing "There Goes My Baby" and Ross's voice "stopped me in my tracks". He approached the group and asked them to perform it again but, learning of their ages, Gordy advised them to return to the company only after graduating from high school.


title: Diana Ross

text: Undeterred, the group returned to Motown's Hitsville U.S.A. headquarters daily, offering to provide extra help for Motown's recordings, often including hand claps and background vocals. That year, the group recorded two tracks for Lu Pine Records, with Ross singing lead on one of the tracks. During the group's early years, Ross served as its hairstylist, make-up artist, seamstress, and costume designer. In late 1960, having replaced McGlown with Barbara Martin, the Primettes were allowed to record their own songs at Hitsville's studio, many written by "Smokey" Robinson, who, by then, was vice president of Motown ("Your Heart Belongs to Me" and "A Breathtaking Guy"). Gordy, too, composed songs for the trio, including "Buttered Popcorn" (featuring Ballard on lead) and "Let Me Go the Right Way". While these songs were regional hits, they were not nationwide successes.


title: Diana Ross

text: In January 1961, Gordy agreed to sign the group on the condition they change their name. Songwriter and Motown secretary Janie Bradford approached Florence Ballard, the only group member at the studio at the time, to pick out a new name for the group. Ballard chose "Supremes", reportedly, because it was the only name on the list that did not end with "ette". Upon hearing the new name, the other members weren't impressed, with Ross telling Ballard she feared the group would be mistaken for a male vocal group (a male vocal group was, indeed, named the Supremes). Gordy signed the group under their new name on January 15, 1961.


title: Diana Ross

text: A year later, Barbara Martin left the group, reducing the quartet to a trio. In late 1963, the group had their first hit with "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes", peaking at No. 23 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 pop chart. At the end of the year, Gordy assigned Ross the role of the group's lead singer.


title: Diana Ross

text: In June 1964, while on tour with Dick Clark's Cavalcade of Stars, the group scored their first number-one hit with "Where Did Our Love Go", paving the way for 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. The group had also become a hit with audiences both domestically and abroad, going on to become Motown's most successful vocal act throughout the sixties.


title: Diana Ross

text: Ross began to dominate interviews with the media, answering questions aimed at Ballard or Wilson. She pushed for more pay than her colleagues. In 1965, she began using the name Diana from the mistake on her birth certificate, surprising Ballard and Wilson who had only known her as Diane. Following significant issues with comportment, weight, and alcoholism, Florence Ballard was fired from the Supremes by Gordy in July 1967, hiring Cindy Birdsong from Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles as Ballard's replacement. Gordy renamed the group "Diana Ross & the Supremes", making it easier to charge a larger performance fee for a solo star and a backing group, as it did for other renamed Motown groups. Gordy initially considered having Ross leave the Supremes for a solo career in 1966, eventually changing his mind because he felt the group's success was still too significant for Ross to pursue solo obligations. Ross remained with the Supremes until early 1970.


title: Diana Ross

text: The group appeared as a trio of singing nuns in a 1968 episode of the popular NBC TV series "Tarzan". Between their early 1968 single "Forever Came Today" and their final single with Ross, "Someday We'll Be Together", Ross would be the only Supremes member to be featured on many of their recordings, often accompanied by session singers the Andantes or, as in the case of "Someday We'll Be Together", Julia and Maxine Waters and Johnny Bristol. Still, Wilson and Birdsong continued to sing on recordings.


title: Diana Ross

text: Gordy drove Ross relentlessly throughout this period and Ross, due to anxiety arising from Gordy's demands of her, began suffering from anorexia nervosa, according to her autobiography, "Secrets of a Sparrow". During a 1967 performance in Boston, Massachusetts, Ross collapsed onstage and had to be hospitalized for exhaustion.


title: Diana Ross

text: In 1968, Ross began to perform as a solo artist on television specials, including the Supremes' own specials such as "TCB" and "G.I.T. on Broadway", "The Dinah Shore Show", and a Bob Hope special, among others. In mid-1969, Gordy decided that Ross would depart the group by the end of that year, and Ross began recording her initial solo work that July. One of the first plans for Ross to establish her own solo career was to publicly introduce a new Motown recording act.


title: Diana Ross

text: Though she herself did not claim their discovery, Motown's publicity department credited Ross with having discovered the Jackson 5. Ross would introduce the group during several public events, including "The Hollywood Palace". In November, Ross confirmed a split from the Supremes in "Billboard". Ross's presumed first solo recording, "Someday We'll Be Together", was eventually released as a Supremes recording and became the group's final number-one hit on the Hot 100. It was also the final number-one "Billboard" Hot 100 single of the 1960s. Ross made her final appearance with the Supremes at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 14, 1970.


title: Diana Ross

text: In May 1970, Ross released her eponymous debut solo album, which included her signature songs, "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", the latter becoming Ross's first number-one solo single. Follow-up albums, "Everything Is Everything" (1970) and "Surrender" (1971) came out shortly afterwards. In 1971, the ballad "I'm Still Waiting" became her first number-one single in the UK. Later in 1971, Ross starred in her first solo television special, "Diana!", which included the Jackson 5.


title: Diana Ross

text: In 1971, Diana Ross began working on her first film, "Lady Sings the Blues" (1972), which was a loosely based biography on singer Billie Holiday. Despite some criticism of her for taking the role, once the film opened in October 1972, Ross won critical acclaim for her performance in the film. Jazz critic Leonard Feather, a friend of Holiday's, praised Ross for "expertly capturing the essence of Lady Day". Ross's role in the film won her Golden Globe Award and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress. The soundtrack to "Lady Sings the Blues" became just as successful, reaching No. 1 on the "Billboard" 200, staying there for two weeks, and selling two million units.


title: Diana Ross

text: In 1973, Ross had her second number-one hit in the U.S. with the ballad "Touch Me in the Morning". Later in the year, Motown issued "Diana & Marvin", a duet album with fellow Motown artist Marvin Gaye. The album became an international hit. Touring throughout 1973, Ross became 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.


title: Diana Ross

text: In April 1974, Ross became the first African-American woman to co-host the Academy Awards, with John Huston, Burt Reynolds, and David Niven.


title: Diana Ross

text: After the release of a modestly successful album, "Last Time I Saw Him" (1973), Ross's second film, "Mahogany", was released in 1975. The film reunited her with Billy Dee Williams, her co-star in "Lady Sings the Blues" and featured costumes designed by Ross herself. 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.


title: Diana Ross

text: 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".


title: Diana Ross

text: Nonetheless, Ross had her third number-one hit in the U.S. with "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)".


title: Diana Ross

text: A year later, in 1976, Ross released her fourth solo number-one hit, "Love Hangover", a sensual, dramatic mid-tempo song that bursts into an uptempo disco tune. Later that year, Ross launched her "An Evening with Diana Ross" tour. The tour's success led to a two-week stint at Broadway's Palace Theatre and a 90-minute, Emmy-nominated television special of the same name, featuring special make-up effects by Stan Winston, for a scene in which Ross portrayed legendary cabaret artist Josephine Baker and blues singers Bessie Smith and Ethel Waters, and a Special Tony Award.


title: Diana Ross

text: In 1977, Motown had acquired the film rights to the Broadway play "The Wiz", an African-American reinterpretation of L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". The film initially was to include the stage actors who had performed on the play, but, producer Rob Cohen could not garner the interest of any major Hollywood film studios. It was not until Ross convinced Cohen to cast her (instead of Stephanie Mills, who portrayed Dorothy on Broadway) as Dorothy that Universal Pictures agreed to finance the production.


title: Diana Ross

text: This casting decision led to a change in the film's script, in which Dorothy went from a schoolgirl to a schoolteacher. The role of the Scarecrow, also performed by someone else onstage, was eventually given to Ross's former Motown labelmate, Michael Jackson. Ross and Jackson had a modest dance hit with their recording for the film 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.


title: Diana Ross

text: The film adaptation of "The Wiz" had been a $24 million production, but upon its October 1978 release, it earned only $21,049,053 at the box office. 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. At the time, it was the most expensive film musical ever made. The film's failure ended Ross's 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.


title: Diana Ross

text: In 1979, Ross released "The Boss", continuing her popularity with dance audiences, as the title song became a number-one dance single. On July 16, 1979, Ross guest-hosted an episode of Johnny Carson's "The Tonight Show", featuring Lynda Carter, George Carlin, and Muhammad Ali as guests. Later that year, Ross hosted the HBO special, "Standing Room Only", filmed at Caesars Palace's Circus Maximus Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada, during her "Tour '79" concert tour. This concert special is noted for its opening, during which Ross literally makes her entrance through a movie screen. In November of that year, Ross performed "The Boss" album's title track as a featured artist during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, in New York City.


title: Diana Ross

text: In 1980, Ross released her most successful album to date, "Diana". Composed by Chic's guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards, the album included the hits "I'm Coming Out" and "Upside Down", the latter becoming her fifth chart-topping single in the U.S.


title: Diana Ross

text: Ross scored a Top 10 hit in late 1980 with the theme song to the film "It's My Turn". Continuing her connections with Hollywood, Ross recorded the duet ballad "Endless Love", with Lionel Richie. The song would become her sixth and final single to reach number one on the "Billboard" Hot 100.


title: Diana Ross

text: Ross began negotiations to leave Motown at the end of 1980. After over 20 years with the label, Ross received US$250,000 as severance. RCA Records offered Ross a $20 million, seven-year recording contract, which gave her complete production control of her albums. Before signing onto the label, Ross allegedly asked Berry Gordy if he could match RCA's offer. Gordy stated that doing so was "impossible". Ross then signed with RCA on May 20, 1981. At the time, Ross's was music history's most expensive recording deal.


title: Diana Ross

text: In October 1981, Ross released her first RCA album, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love". The album sold over a million copies and featured hit singles such as her remake of the classic hit of the same name and "Mirror Mirror". Shortly thereafter, Ross established her production company, named Anaid Productions ("Diana" spelled backwards), and also began investing in real estate and touring extensively in the United States and abroad.


title: Diana Ross

text: Before the release of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love", Ross hosted her first TV special in four years, "Diana". Directed by Steve Binder, the concert portions of the special were filmed at Inglewood, California's 17,500-seat The Forum indoor stadium and featured performances by Michael Jackson, Muhammad Ali, "Dallas" actor Larry Hagman, music impresario Quincy Jones and members of the Joffrey Ballet.


title: Diana Ross

text: In early 1982, Ross sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XVI and appeared on the musical variety show "Soul Train". The episode, devoted completely to her, featured Ross performing several songs from "Why Do Fools Fall in Love".


title: Diana Ross

text: On May 6, 1982, Ross was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She followed up the success of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" with "Silk Electric", which featured the Michael Jackson-written and -produced "Muscles", resulting in another Top 10 Grammy nominated success for Ross. The album eventually went gold on the strength of that song. In 1983, Ross ventured further out of her earlier soul-based sound for a more pop rock-oriented sound following the release of the "Ross" album. Though the album featured the Top 40 hit single, "Pieces of Ice", the "Ross" album did not generate any more hits or achieve gold status.


title: Diana Ross

text: On July 21, 1983, Ross performed a free concert on Central Park's Great Lawn, aired live worldwide by Showtime. 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 began. Ross tried to continue performing, but the severe weather forced the show to be stopped after 45 minutes. Ross urged the large crowd to exit the venue safely, promising to perform the next day.


title: Diana Ross

text: The next day's concert suffered no rain, but the memorabilia that was supposed to be sold to raise money for the playground had already been destroyed by the storm. When journalists discovered the exorbitant costs of the two concerts, Ross faced criticism from Mayor Ed Koch and the Parks Department commissioner. During a subsequent mayoral press conference, Ross handed Koch a check for US$250,000 for the project. The Diana Ross Playground was built three years later.


title: Diana Ross

text: In 1984, Ross released "Swept Away". The album featured "All of You", a duet with friend Julio Iglesias. The single was featured on both Ross's album and Iglesias's "1100 Bel Air Place", his first English-language album. It became an international hit, as did the Lionel Richie-penned ballad "Missing You", composed as a tribute to Marvin Gaye, who had been killed earlier that year. "Swept Away" garnered gold record sales status.


title: Diana Ross

text: Her 1985 album "Eaten Alive", produced by Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees, garnered a number one single overseas and a Top 20 spot on the album charts. The song "Chain Reaction" reached number one in the U.K., Australia, South Africa, Israel and Ireland, and the title track, a collaboration with Michael Jackson and Gibb, also performed well. Both songs had strong music videos that propelled the tracks to success. The "Eaten Alive" video was patterned after the 1970s horror film "The Island of Dr. Moreau", while the one for "Chain Reaction" saluted the 1960s "American Bandstand"-style TV shows. The video for "Experience", the third single from the album, reignited the "Eaten Alive" romantic storyline with Ross and actor Joseph Gian.


title: Diana Ross

text: Earlier in 1985, Ross appeared as part of USA for Africa's "We Are the World" charity single, which sold over 20 million copies worldwide. Ross's 1987 follow-up to "Eaten Alive", "Red Hot Rhythm & Blues" found less success; it reached No. 39 on the "Billboard" Top R&B Albums chart and No. 12 in Sweden. However, the album's accompanying television special was nominated for three Emmy Awards and won two: Outstanding Costume Design for a Variety or Music Program (Ray Aghayan and Ret Turner) and Outstanding Lighting Direction (Electronic) for a Miniseries or a Special (Greg Brunton).


title: Diana Ross

text: On January 27, 1986, Ross hosted the 13th annual "American Music Awards". Ross returned the next year to host the 14th annual telecast.


title: Diana Ross

text: In 1988, Ross chose to not renew her RCA contract and had been in talks with her former mentor Berry Gordy to return to Motown. When she learned of Gordy's plans to sell Motown, Ross tried advising him against the decision, though he ended up selling it to MCA Records in June of that year. Following the sale of the company, Ross was asked to return to the Motown label with the condition that she have shares in the company as a part-owner; Ross accepted the offer.


title: Diana Ross

text: That same year, Ross was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Supremes alongside her former singing partners Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard. She also recorded the theme song to animated adventure drama film "The Land Before Time" (1988). "If We Hold on Together" became an international hit, reaching number one in Japan.


title: Diana Ross

text: Ross's next album, 1989's "Workin' Overtime", was not a commercial success, despite the title track reaching the top three of the "Billboard"s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The album peaked at No. 34 on the "Billboard" Hot R&B Albums chart, and achieved top 25 placings in Japan and the UK, attaining a silver certification in the latter country. Subsequent releases, such as "The Force Behind the Power" (1991), "Take Me Higher" (1995), and "Every Day Is a New Day" (1999) produced similar results, achieving more international than domestic success.


title: Diana Ross

text: In 1991, Ross became one of the few American artists to have headlined the annual Royal Variety Performance, performing a selection of her UK hits before Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at the Victoria Palace Theatre, London. This marked her second appearance at the Royal Variety Performance, the first being in 1968 with the Supremes.


title: Diana Ross

text: "The Force Behind the Power" sparked an international comeback of sorts when the album went double platinum in the UK. led by the near chart-topping No. 2 UK hit single "When You Tell Me That You Love Me". The single's duet version with Irish boy band, Westlife, also hit No. 2 in the UK in 2005. The album performed well across Europe and into Japan as "The Force Behind the Power" achieved Gold record status in the nation. The album produced an astounding 9 singles across international territories, including another Top 10 hit, "One Shining Moment".


title: Diana Ross

text: In 1993, Ross returned to acting with a dramatic role in the television film, "Out of Darkness". Ross won acclaim for her role in the TV movie and earned her third Golden Globe nomination, although she did not win.


title: Diana Ross

text: In 1994, "", a career retrospective compilation, became a number one hit in the UK, selling quadruple platinum, and selling well across Europe and in the English-speaking world. The retrospective was EMI's alternative to Motown's box set "".


title: Diana Ross

text: Ross performed during the opening ceremony of the 1994 FIFA World Cup held in Chicago, where she infamously missed a penalty kick that was part of her act, and during the pre-match entertainment of the 1995 Rugby League World Cup final at Wembley Stadium.


title: Diana Ross

text: On January 28, 1996, Ross performed at the Super Bowl XXX halftime show, held at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Earlier that month, Ross's Tokyo concert, "Diana Ross: Live in Japan", filmed live at the city's Nippon Budokan Stadium, was released.


title: Diana Ross

text: In May 1996, Ross received the World Music Awards' Lifelong Contribution to the Music Industry Award. On November 29, EMI released the compilation album, "Voice of Love", featuring the singles "In the Ones You Love", "You Are Not Alone" and "I Hear (The Voice of Love)".


title: Diana Ross

text: On February 8, 1997, EMI released the Japanese edition of Ross's album, "A Gift of Love", featuring the single, "Promise Me You'll Try". In May, she performed with operatic tenors Plácido Domingo and José Carreras again at the Superconcert of the Century concert, held in Taipei, Taiwan. She later inducted the Jackson 5 into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on May 6.


title: Diana Ross

text: On February 19, 1998, Ross hosted the Motown 40 telecast on ABC. In 1999, Ross 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 soon 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 and pasty-covered nipple, amazed at the young rapper's brashness.


title: Diana Ross

text: In 1999, she and Brandy Norwood co-starred in the television movie, "Double Platinum", which was aired prior to the release of Ross's album, "Every Day Is a New Day".


title: Diana Ross

text: Ross reunited with Mary Wilson first in 1976 to attend the funeral service of Florence Ballard, who had died in February of that year. In March 1983, Ross agreed to reunite with Wilson and Cindy Birdsong for the television special "". The Supremes did not rehearse their performance for that evening, due to time constraints. A scheduled medley of hits was cancelled.


title: Diana Ross

text: Instead of following producer Suzanne de Passe's instructions to recreate their choreography from their final Ed Sullivan Show appearance, Wilson (according to her autobiography) planned with Birdsong to take a step forward every time Ross did the same, then began to sing lead on the group's final number-one hit song, "Someday We'll Be Together", on which Wilson did not perform.


title: Diana Ross

text: Later, Wilson introduced Berry Gordy from the stage (unaware that the program's script called for Ross to introduce Gordy), at which point Ross subtly pushed down Wilson's hand-held microphone, stating, "It's been taken care of." Ross then re-introduced Gordy. These moments 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."


title: Diana Ross

text: In 1999, Ross and mega-tour promoter SFX Entertainment (which later became Live Nation) began negotiations regarding a Diana Ross tour which would include a Supremes segment. During negotiations with Ross, the promoters considered the creation of a Supremes tour, instead. Ross agreed. As the tour's co-producer, Ross invited all living former Supremes to participate. Neither Jean Terrell nor late 1970s member Susaye Greene chose to participate. 70s Supremes Lynda Laurence and Scherrie Payne were then touring as Former Ladies of the Supremes.


title: Diana Ross

text: Ross contacted Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong, who then began negotiations with SFX. Negotiations with Wilson and Birdsong (who allowed Wilson to negotiate on her behalf) failed when Wilson refused SFX's and Ross's offer of $4 million for 30 performances. Following the passage of SFX's final deadline for Wilson to accept their offer, Payne and Laurence, already negotiating with SFX, signed on to perform with Ross on the tour.


title: Diana Ross

text: Laurence and Payne would later say that they got along well with Ross. The newly formed group performed together on "Today" and "The Oprah Winfrey Show", as well as VH1's "". The Return to Love Tour launched in June 2000, to a capacity audience in Philadelphia. The tour's final performance was at New York City's Madison Square Garden. The tour was cancelled by SFX shortly thereafter, due to mediocre ticket sales, despite glowing reviews from media as varied as "Billboard" magazine, the "Detroit Free Press", the "Los Angeles Times" and "The Village Voice" newspapers.


title: Diana Ross

text: On December 5, 2000, Ross received a Heroes Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS). The Heroes Award is the highest distinction bestowed by the New York Chapter.


title: Diana Ross

text: Diana Ross's first public post-RTL appearance was at a fundraiser for former president Bill Clinton. In January 2001, "" was released in the United Kingdom, becoming Ross's 17th gold album in that country. In June, Ross presented costume designer Bob Mackie with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the American Fashion Awards.


title: Diana Ross

text: Two days before the September 11 attacks, Ross performed "God Bless America" at the US Open before the tournament's women's final, between Venus and Serena Williams. Immediately following the attacks, Ross performed the song again at Shea Stadium, before the New York Mets first game, after driving cross-country to be with her children (in the wake of the attacks, flying in the U.S. was temporarily restricted.). Ross teamed with legendary singers Patti LaBelle and Eartha Kitt, among others, for a Nile Rodgers-produced recording of Sister Sledge's classic disco hit, "We Are Family", recorded to benefit the families of 9/11 victims.


title: Diana Ross

text: In May 2002, Ross and all five of her children appeared on Barbara Walters' Mother's Day television special. Shortly thereafter, Ross admitted herself into the 30-day substance abuse program at the Promises Institute in Malibu, California, after friends and family began to notice a burgeoning alcohol problem. Ross left the program three weeks later and began to fulfill previously scheduled concert dates, beginning with a performance before a 60,000-strong crowd at London's Hyde Park, for Prince Charles' Prince's Trust charity.


title: Diana Ross

text: U.S. ticket sales for the new tour were brisk, from coast to coast. Venues, such as Long Island's Westbury Music Fair, California's Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts and Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay, attempted to add extra shows, due to public demand. Sold-out performances in Boston and Ontario, Canada, followed. In August, shortly after the tour began, however, Ross re-entered the Promises Institute's substance abuse rehabilitation program. That December, during her stay at Arizona's Canyon Ranch Health Resort, Ross was pulled over by Tucson police for driving the wrong way on a one-way street. She failed a breathalizer test and was arrested for a DUI. Ross was later sentenced to 48 hours in jail, which she served near her home in Greenwich, Connecticut.


title: Diana Ross

text: In January 2003, Ross was honored as Humanitarian of the Year by Nile Rodgers' We Are Family Foundation. Shortly thereafter, Ross was feted as an honored guest at the National Association of Black-Owned Broadcasters Awards. Later that year, Ross was the guest performer at that year's Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute's annual gala, in an ensemble custom-designed by fashion designer Tom Ford, followed by an appearance as the surprise celebrity model for American couturier Dennis Basso's runway show.


title: Diana Ross

text: In February 2003, the Supremes were honored by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation with its Pioneer Award.


title: Diana Ross

text: In May 2004, Ross and daughter Tracee Ellis Ross appeared on the cover of "Essence" magazine, in celebration of its 50th anniversary. On December 8, 2004, Ross was the featured performer for Stevie Wonder's "Billboard" Music Awards' Century Award tribute.


title: Diana Ross

text: On January 14, 2005, Ross performed at the "Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope" TV concert to help raise money for the tsunami victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. On January 20, 2005, Ross launched her M.A.C. Icon makeup collection, as part of the beauty corporation's Icon Series. In 2005, Ross participated in Rod Stewart's "" recording a duet version of the Gershwin standard, "I've Got a Crush on You". The song was released as promotion for the album and later reached No. 19 on the "Billboard" Hot Adult Contemporary chart, marking her first "Billboard" chart entry since 2000. Ross was featured in another hit duet, this time with Westlife, on a cover of Ross's 1991 hit "When You Tell Me That You Love Me", repeating the original recording's chart success, garnering a No. 2 UK Singles Chart hit (No. 1 in Ireland).


title: Diana Ross

text: Also in 2005, Ross was featured as an honored guest at Oprah Winfrey's Legends Ball Weekend, a three-day celebration honoring 25 African-American women in art, entertainment and civil rights. On May 22, 2006, a year after the celebration, a one-hour program about the weekend aired on ABC, including celebrity interviews and behind-the-scenes moments. On March 22, 2006, Ross's televised Central Park concerts, entitled "For One & for All", were named TV Land Awards' Viewer's Choice for Television's Greatest Music Moment.


title: Diana Ross

text: In June 2006, Universal released Ross's shelved 1972 "Blue" album. It peaked at No. 2 on "Billboard"s Top Jazz Albums chart. Later in 2006, Ross released her first studio album in seven years with "I Love You". It would be released on EMI/Manhattan Records in the United States in January 2007. EMI Inside later reported the album had sold more than 622,000 copies worldwide. "I Love You" peaked at No. 32 on "Billboard"s Hot 200 albums chart and No. 16 on "Billboard"s Top R&B Albums chart. Ross later ventured on a world tour to promote "I Love You". In 2007, Ross was honored with the BET Awards' Lifetime Achievement Award and, later, as one of the honorees at the Kennedy Center Honors.


title: Diana Ross

text: On August 28, 2008, Ross performed at the opening of the US Open tennis tournament, as part of a tribute to Billie Jean King. Ross headlined the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway.


title: Diana Ross

text: In October 2009, Ross was the featured performer at the annual "Symphonica in Rosso" concert series, held at the GelreDome Stadium in Arnhem, Netherlands.


title: Diana Ross

text: In 2010, Ross embarked on her first headlining tour in three years titled the "". Dedicated to the memory of her late friend Michael Jackson, the concert tour garnered positive reviews, nationwide.


title: Diana Ross

text: In February 2012, Ross received her first Grammy Award, for Lifetime Achievement, and announced the nominees for the Album of the Year. In May, a DVD of her Central Park concert performances, "For One & For All", was released and featured commentary from Steve Binder, who directed the special. A month later, on December 9, she performed as the marquee and headlining performer at the White House-hosted "Christmas in Washington" concert, where she performed before former President Barack Obama. The event was later broadcast as an annual special on TNT.


title: Diana Ross

text: In 2013, Ross completed a tour in South America and a tour in the United States. On July 3, 2014, Ross was awarded the Ella Fitzgerald Award for "her extraordinary contribution to contemporary jazz vocals", at the Montreal International Jazz Festival. On November 20, 2014, Ross presented the Dick Clark Award for Excellence to Taylor Swift at the American Music Awards.


title: Diana Ross

text: In 2015, Ross appeared in the video for the song "How to Live Alone" performed by her son Evan Ross. On April 1, 2015, Ross began the first of nine performances as a part of her mini-residency, "" at The Venetian in Las Vegas, Nevada. On November 27, 2015, Motown/Universal released the album "Diana Ross Sings Songs from The Wiz", recorded in 1978. The album features Ross's versions of songs from the film version of the musical "The Wiz", in which she starred along with Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross, Richard Pryor and Lena Horne.


title: Diana Ross

text: In February 2016, Ross resumed her In the Name of Love Tour, which began in 2013. On November 22, 2016, Ross was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama.


title: Diana Ross

text: In December 2016, "Billboard" magazine named her the 50th most successful dance club artist of all time.


title: Diana Ross

text: On June 30, 2017, Ross headlined the Essence Festival in New Orleans, Louisiana, with her daughter Rhonda Ross-Kendrick performing as the opening act. On November 19, 2017, Ross received the American Music Awards Lifetime Achievement Award. Ross performed several of her hits, ending with "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", during which she brought all of her grandchildren onstage. Her eldest grandson, eight-year-old Raif-Henok Emmanuel Kendrick, son of Rhonda Ross-Kendrick and husband, Rodney, performed an impromptu dance behind Ross, which gained attention. Ross was then joined onstage by all of her children, their spouses, first ex-husband Robert Ellis, Smokey Robinson (who brought Ross to Motown) and Motown founder, Berry Gordy.


title: Diana Ross

text: In December 2017, Ross appeared on the Home Shopping Network to promote her first fragrance, Diamond Diana. The fragrance sold out within hours. Ross made several hour-long appearances on the network, and also released a tie-in CD retrospective collection of her music titled "Diamond Diana". "Diamond Diana" peaked at No. 6 on the "Billboard" R&B Albums chart and No. 5 on its Top Album Sales chart. The CD's first single release, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough 2017", remixed by Eric Kupper, reached No. 1 on the "Billboard" Dance Club Songs chart.


title: Diana Ross

text: On February 8, 2018, Ross began a new mini-residency at Wynn Las Vegas. On August 4, 2018, Ross scored another No. 1 hit on Billboard's Top Dance Chart with "I'm Coming Out/Upside Down 2018". She performed a song from a to-be-released compilation Christmas album at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 22, 2018.


title: Diana Ross

text: In December 2018, Ross consolidated her status as a dance diva by ranking No. 3 in the Billboard "Dance Club Songs" Artists year-end chart.


title: Diana Ross

text: On February 10, 2019, The Recording Academy honored Ross at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. Ross performed "The Best Years of My Life" and "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)". In 2019, her song "The Boss" was remixed by Eric Kupper as "The Boss 2019", and reached No. 1 on "Billboard"'s Top Dance Chart on April 13.


title: Diana Ross

text: On October 10, 2019, it was announced that Ross would play the Sunday legends slot on the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival for the festival's 50th anniversary; however, the festival was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Then on November 10, 2021, Ross confirmed that she would play the legends slot at the 2022 festival.


title: Diana Ross

text: In May 2020, Ross released "Supertonic: Mixes", a collection of nine of her greatest hits remixed by Eric Kupper and featuring her four back-to-back No.1 hits on "Billboard" Dance Club Songs chart: "Ain't No Mountain High Enough 2017", "I'm Coming Out/Upside Down 2018", "The Boss 2019", and "Love Hangover 2020". In July 2020, "Supertonic: Mixes" was also released on CD and crystal-clear vinyl LP.


title: Diana Ross

text: Ross released her twenty-fifth studio album "Thank You" in November 2021. It was written and recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and contains her first original material since 1999's "Every Day Is a New Day".


title: Diana Ross

text: In May 2022, she released the single "Turn Up the Sunshine", a collaboration with psychedelic pop band Tame Impala. The track is the lead single from the Jack Antonoff-produced of the film "". With the exception of this track, the album primarily features new spins on classic 1970s hits by artists such as Brittany Howard, St. Vincent, H.E.R., and many others.


title: Diana Ross

text: On June 4, 2022, Ross appeared as the finale act at the Platinum Party at the Palace in celebration of the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II.


title: Diana Ross

text: Ross became romantically involved with Motown CEO Berry Gordy in 1965. The relationship lasted several years, resulting in the birth of Ross's eldest child, Rhonda Suzanne Silberstein, in August 1971. Two months into her pregnancy with Rhonda, in January 1971, Ross married music executive Robert Ellis Silberstein, who raised Rhonda as his own daughter, despite knowing her true paternity. Ross told Rhonda that Gordy was her biological father when Rhonda was 13 years old. Beforehand, Rhonda referred to Gordy as "Uncle B.B."


title: Diana Ross

text: Ross has two daughters with Silberstein, Tracee Joy Silberstein (Tracee Ellis Ross) and Chudney Lane Silberstein, born in 1972 and 1975, respectively. Ross and Silberstein divorced in 1977.


title: Diana Ross

text: Ross dated Gene Simmons, bassist and co-lead singer for the band Kiss, from 1980 to 1983. They began dating after Cher, who had remained friends with Simmons following their break-up, suggested he ask Ross to help him choose her Christmas present. Simmons, in his autobiography, contends that he was not dating Cher when he met Ross. Ross ended her relationship with Simmons when he gave Ross the erroneous impression that he had resumed his relationship with Cher. Simmons' story differed in 2015 when he revealed that he fell in love with Ross while dating Cher, which ended Ross and Cher's friendship.


title: Diana Ross

text: Ross met her second husband, Norwegian shipping magnate Arne Næss Jr., in 1985, and married him the following year. She became stepmother to his three elder children; Katinka, Christoffer, and folk singer Leona Naess. They have two sons together: Ross Arne (born in 1987) and Evan Olav (born in 1988). Ross and Næss divorced in 2000, after press reports revealed that Næss had fathered a child with another woman in Norway. Ross considers Næss the love of her life. Næss fell to his death in a South African mountain climbing accident in 2004. Ross remains close with her three ex-stepchildren.


title: Diana Ross

text: Ross has seven grandchildren: grandson Raif-Henok (born in 2009 to her daughter Rhonda); grandsons Leif (born on June 5, 2016) and Indigo (born 2017), born to her son Ross Næss; granddaughters Callaway Lane (born in 2012) and Everlee (born October 2019) born to Ross's daughter Chudney; granddaughter Jagger Snow (born in 2015), and grandson Ziggy (born in 2020) to her son Evan.


title: Diana Ross

text: Diana Ross considers herself a Baptist. She used to sing in a church, where she gained her initial musical experience. Her mother Ernestine's father, Reverend William Moten, served as a pastor in the Bessemer Baptist Church in Bessemer, Alabama. Diana and her siblings spent considerable time with their maternal grandparents during their mother's bouts with tuberculosis.


title: Diana Ross

text: Diana Ross was arrested for DUI on December 30, 2002, in Tucson, Arizona, while undergoing substance abuse treatment at a local rehabilitation facility. She later served a two-day sentence near her Connecticut estate.


title: Diana Ross

text: Ross has influenced many artists including Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, Madonna, Jade Thirlwall, Questlove, Ledisi and the Ting Tings.


title: Diana Ross

text: Several of Ross's songs have been covered and sampled. "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" has been featured in the film "Chicken Little". The song has also been covered live and on albums by Jennifer Lopez and Amy Winehouse. Janet Jackson sampled "Love Hangover" on her 1997 song "My Need" (featured on the album "The Velvet Rope"), having already sampled "Love Child" and "Someday We'll Be Together" by Ross & the Supremes on her 1993 tracks "You Want This" and "If" (both released as singles from the Janet album). "Love Hangover" was also sampled in Monica's 1998 number 1 "The First Night" as well as being sampled by Will Smith, Master P (who also sampled "Missing You"), Heavy D and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, "It's Your Move" was sampled in 2011 by Vektroid for her song "Lisa Frank 420 / Modern Computing", which appeared in her ninth album "Floral Shoppe" under her one-time alias Macintosh Plus. "It's My House" was sampled by Lady Gaga for her song "Replay" which appeared on the 2020 album "Chromatica".


title: Diana Ross

text: Various works have been inspired by Ross's career and life. The character of Deena Jones in both the play and film versions of "Dreamgirls" was inspired by Ross.


title: Diana Ross

text: "" is a Broadway musical that launched on April 14, 2013. It is the story of Berry Gordy's creation of Motown Records and his romance with Diana Ross. She was portrayed by Valisia LeKae in 2013 and Lucy St. Louis in 2016. Ross was also portrayed by Candice Marie Woods (from 2017 to 2019) and Deri'Andra Tucker (2021) in the stage play "Ain't Too Proud". There have been many other petryals of Ross in films, television and other media including Holly Robinson Peete in "" (1992) and Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child on "American Soul" (2019).


title: Diana Ross

text: As a member of the Supremes, her songs "Stop! In the Name of Love" and "You Can't Hurry Love" are among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994, and entered into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2004, "Rolling Stone" placed the group at number 96 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".


title: Diana Ross

text: As lead singer of the Supremes and as a solo artist, Ross has earned 18 number-one singles (12 as lead singer of the Supremes and 6 as a solo artist). Ross is the only female artist to have number one singles as a solo artist; as the other half of a duet (Lionel Richie); as a member of a trio (the Supremes); and, as an ensemble member ("We Are the World" by USA for Africa). Ross was featured on the Notorious B.I.G.'s 1997 number-one hit "Mo Money Mo Problems" since her voice from her 1980 hit "I'm Coming Out" was sampled for the song.


title: Diana Ross

text: "Billboard" magazine named Ross the "female entertainer of the century" in 1976. Ross is also 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. After her 1983 concert in Central Park, Diana Ross Playground was named in her honor with a groundbreaking opening ceremony in 1986.


title: Diana Ross

text: Berry Gordy asked Ross to introduce The Jackson Five to the public. Eventually, public misunderstandings resulted in Ross erroneously being given credit for the discovery of the Jackson 5. Gordy decided that the misunderstanding was "good for business", so her "discovery" became a part of Motown's marketing and promotions plan for the Jackson 5. Consequently, their debut album was titled "Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5". Motown producer Bobby Taylor claims to have discovered the Jacksons, though, singer Gladys Knight also makes the claim. Even so, Ross embraced the role and became a good friend of Michael Jackson, serving as a mother figure to him.


title: Diana Ross

text: On January 24, 1985, Kaufman Astoria Studios held a dedication ceremony in Astoria, Queens to honor Ross by naming Studio 4 at the studios after her. The "Diana Ross Building" served as an acknowledgement of Ross' contribution in bringing the studio back to the forefront after being faced with possible demolition, through her involvement in "The Wiz".


title: Diana Ross

text: In 2006, Ross was one of 25 African-American women saluted at Oprah Winfrey's Legends Ball, a three-day celebration, honoring their contributions to art, entertainment, and civil rights.


title: Diana Ross

text: Diana Ross was named one of the Five Mighty Pop Divas of the Sixties along with Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin, Martha Reeves, and Dionne Warwick.


title: Diana Ross

text: On November 16, 2016, Ross was announced as one of the 21 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.


title: 2002 FIFA World Cup

text: The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea and Japan, with its final match hosted by Japan at International Stadium in Yokohama.


title: 2002 FIFA World Cup

text: A field of 32 teams qualified for this World Cup, which was the first to be held in Asia, the first to be held outside of the Americas or Europe, as well as the first to be jointly-hosted by more than one nation. China, Ecuador, Senegal, and Slovenia made their World Cup debuts.


title: 2002 FIFA World Cup

text: The tournament had several upsets and surprise results, which included the defending champions France being eliminated in the group stage after earning a single point without scoring a goal and second favourites Argentina also being eliminated in the group stage. South Korea managed to reach the semi-finals, beating Poland, Portugal, Italy and Spain en route. They became the first team from outside of the UEFA, CONMEBOL, and CONCACAF regions to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup. However, the most potent team at the tournament, Brazil, prevailed, winning the final against Germany 2–0, making them the first and only country to have won the World Cup five times. The victory qualified Brazil for the 2003 and subsequently 2005 FIFA Confederations Cups, its fourth and fifth Confederations Cup appearance in a row. In the third place play-off match against South Korea, Turkey won 3–2, taking third place in only their second ever FIFA World Cup, and scored the fastest goal in the FIFA World Cup history (10.8 seconds after kick-off).


title: 2002 FIFA World Cup

text: South Korea and Japan were selected as hosts by FIFA on 31 May 1996. Initially, South Korea, Japan and Mexico presented three rival bids. South Korea's entry into the race was seen by some as a response to the bid of political and sporting rival Japan. FIFA leaders were split on whom to favor as host as politics within the world governing body held sway. With Mexico regarded as a long shot, the battle to host the tournament came down to South Korea and Japan. The two Asian rivals went on a massive and expensive PR blitz around the world, prompting Sultan Ahmad Shah, the head of the Asian Football Confederation, to step in. FIFA boss João Havelange had long backed the Japanese bid, but his rival in FIFA, UEFA chief Lennart Johansson, sought to undermine Havelange's plans. UEFA and the AFC viewed co-hosting between the two Asian rivals as the best option. South Korea and Japan were finally faced with a choice of having no World Cup or a shared World Cup and they reluctantly chose to go along with co-hosting. South Korea and Japan were chosen unanimously as co-hosts in preference to Mexico. This was the first World Cup to be hosted by more than one country, the second being the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada. This is also the first ever World Cup to be hosted in Asia, the other being the 2022 FIFA World Cup twenty years later. The general secretary of South Korea's bidding committee, Song Young-shik, stated that FIFA was interested in staging some matches in North Korea in order to aid Korean reunification, but it was ruled out.


title: 2002 FIFA World Cup

text: At the time the decision was made, Japan had never qualified for a World Cup finals (although the Japanese did subsequently qualify for the 1998 competition). The only other countries to have been awarded a World Cup without previously having competed in a final tournament are Italy in 1934 and Qatar in 2022 (Uruguay hosted the first World Cup in 1930 so there was no prior tournament; they were defending Olympic champions from 1928).


title: 2002 FIFA World Cup

text: The unusual choice of host proved an issue for football fans in Europe, used to watching international matches on or close to their time zone. With games taking place in the European morning, some schools and businesses chose to open late on match days or set up communal watching events before the start of work.


title: 2002 FIFA World Cup

text: 199 teams attempted to qualify for the 2002 World Cup. The qualification process began with the preliminary draw held in Tokyo on 7 December 1999. Defending champions France and co-hosts South Korea and Japan qualified automatically and did not have to play any qualification matches. This was the final World Cup in which the defending champions qualified automatically.


title: 2002 FIFA World Cup

text: 14 places were contested by UEFA teams (Europe), five by CAF teams (Africa), four by CONMEBOL teams (South America), four by AFC teams (Asia) and three by CONCACAF teams (North and Central America and the Caribbean). The remaining two places were decided by playoffs between AFC and UEFA and between CONMEBOL and OFC (Oceania). Four nations qualified for the finals for the first time: China, Ecuador, Senegal and Slovenia. As of 2022, this was the last occasion on which the Republic of Ireland, Turkey and China qualified for a FIFA World Cup finals, as well as the last time that Australia and Switzerland failed to qualify.


title: 2002 FIFA World Cup

text: Turkey qualified for the first time since 1954, Poland and Portugal both qualified for the first time since 1986 and Costa Rica and Uruguay qualified for the first time since 1990. Sweden, Russia and the Republic of Ireland also returned after missing the 1998 World Cup. 1998 semi-finalists the Netherlands, three-time participants in the 1990s Romania and Colombia, and Bulgaria, Morocco and Norway, who had participated in the previous two finals tournaments, alongside Chile, Scotland and Iran which participated in the latest edition, failed to qualify, while South Korea set a record by appearing in a fifth successive finals tournament, the first nation from outside Europe or the Americas to achieve this feat.


title: 2002 FIFA World Cup

text: All seven previous World Cup-winning nations (Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy, and Uruguay) qualified, which broke the record of most previous champions at a tournament before the record was broken again in 2014. The highest ranked team not to qualify for the finals was Colombia (ranked 4th), while the lowest ranked team that did qualify was China PR (ranked 50th).


title: 2002 FIFA World Cup

text: The following 32 teams, shown with final pre-tournament rankings, qualified for the final tournament:


title: 2002 FIFA World Cup

text: South Korea and Japan each provided 10 venues, the vast majority of them newly built for the tournament. Groups A–D played all their matches in South Korea and Groups E–H played all their matches in Japan. The stadiums in Daegu, Suwon, Yokohama and Saitama all hosted 4 matches each, while the other 16 stadiums hosted 3 matches each. Notably, no matches were played in Tokyo, making it the first capital of a host country not to have a World Cup venue.