The Supreme Florence "Flo" Ballard are songs Florence took the lead on as a Supreme. Due to legal agreements between Motown and Ballard when she separated from The Supremes in 1967, Motown stated that Ballard was not allowed to mention that she had been a former member of the Supremes. As a result, her press release stated that "Florence has been a part of an entertainment trio for many years," which hindered her releases from garnering attention from the public. Although there was only one album by Ballard released, she was supposedly about to sign a contract just before her death. Ballard had also recorded
Florence Ballard Bessemer, Alabama; after his grandmother was shot and killed, he was adopted by the Ballard family. Jesse Ballard left his adoptive parents at 13, and soon engaged in an affair with Ballard's mother, who was only 14, in Rosetta. The Ballards moved to Detroit in 1929. Jesse soon worked at General Motors. Jesse, an amateur musician, helped instigate Florence's interest in singing; he taught her various songs and accompanied her on guitar. Financial difficulties forced the Ballard family to move to different Detroit neighborhoods; by the time Florence turned 15 they had settled at Detroit's Brewster-Douglass housing projects, and the