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 21, 1976, Ballard entered Mt. Carmel Mercy Hospital, complaining of numbness in her extremities. She died at 10:05 the next morning from cardiac arrest caused by a coronary thrombosis (a blood clot in one of her coronary arteries), at the age of 32. Ballard is buried in Detroit Memorial Park Cemetery located in Warren, Michigan. Florence Ballard's story has been referenced in a number of works by other artists. The 1980 song "Romeo's Tune", from Steve Forbert's album "Jackrabbit Slim" is "dedicated to the memory of Florence Ballard". The Billy Bragg song "King James Version" on his "William Bloke" album