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No mountain high enough

Diana Ross wasn’t always an icon. The singer shared stories of her life with an audience Tuesday to help them understand the many lessons she’s learned along the way, and told the crowd to define what matters most in theirs.

"It’s important to me to be able to come into peoples’ hearts and homes through my music, and I don’t take that lightly," Ross said. "I got where I am today through work – I earned it."

Ross, whose speech Tuesday at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts was part of the Brilliant Lecture Series, spoke about her mother as an influential source in her life and ended the lecture by sharing memories of her own children with the audience.

Her mother, the youngest of 12 children, was the first to believe in Ross, who said she has never forgotten that support.

"My mentors were the women in my family who guided me and demonstrated the importance of personal sacrifice, hard work, perseverance (and) unconditional love," Ross said. "Never underestimate the power of love and mentorship."

At the age of 7 or 8 Ross moved to Alabama from Detroit with her mother’s family where she learned about racial prejudice, Ross said.

"I received part of my grade school education in the segregated south," she said. "This lets me know where I came from, so I don’t take where I go lightly."

"He had succeeded in recording music, and it made me know that if he could, then maybe I could," Ross said.

When Ross, who had never had any professional singing lessons, arrived in Motown with The Supremes, they became so successful they turned into a phenomenon.

"We became an example of what was possible for young girls growing up," Ross said. "I am motivated by generations of young women today who must follow in my footsteps. As always, I have a clear commitment to turning on the lights and letting our young people see what is possible."

After The Supremes’ era, Ross took a new direction and learned about the commitment that being a solo artist required.

"I felt that at last it was my time to take control of my own destiny. And that was not always easy," Ross said.

Ross said you have to choose who you listen to.

She related to the audience a story about her days in grade school and the two teachers she remembered most. One teacher believed in her and told her there was nothing she couldn’t do, Ross said. The other had a different opinion.

"I remember him saying when I tried out for a play in school, he said ‘You know your voice is OK, but not that good.’ It was as if he was telling me to go and get a job in a market or something," Ross said. "That’s when I was determined to know that there was more, and I wanted to sing and I wanted to design clothes and I wanted to see my mother and father happy."

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