Live in Central Park | ||||
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Video by | ||||
Released | May 15, 2012 | |||
Recorded | July 21 and 22, 1983 | |||
Venue | Central Park (on the Great Lawn) in New York, United States | |||
Genre | Various | |||
Length | 1 hour, 48 minutes | |||
Label | Shout! Factory | |||
Director | Steve Binder | |||
Diana Ross chronology | ||||
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Live in Central Park is a DVD by Diana Ross released in 2012 that followed from a July 21, 1983 concert in The Great Lawn of New York City's Central Park, which was cut short by a massive lightning storm. [1] The concert was staged as a benefit to raise funds for a children's park, later known as the Diana Ross Playground, located inside the park at West 81st Street and Central Park West. [2]
The concerts were aired worldwide on the Showtime cable network and a reported crowd of eight-hundred thousand as For One and For All, while being directed by Steve Binder. [3] That concert lasted 45 minutes before the storm. Winds of nearly 50 mph were reported, and electrical power was disrupted for nearly 40,000 homes throughout the NYC metropolitan area during the storm.[ citation needed ] On July 22, 1983, the New York City Parks Department determined that the ground was dry enough for the crowd to stand on for a second concert, which began at 6pm that evening.
While the concert did not ultimately make a profit due to a number of factors, groundbreaking for the Diana Ross Playground took place in September 1986 after Ross made a personal donation. [4] [5]
These two concerts were part of the Up Front Tour to promote Ross's 1983 album.
TV Land awarded Most Memorable Television Performance in 2006, ABC Network chose it as one of the Top 20 Television Performances and VH1's 100 Greatest Moments on TV.
In 2012, the concert received its first official DVD release through Shout! Factory. [6]
In 2019, the concert had its first public showing in movie theaters across the U.S. and around the world, with collaboration from Fathom Events as part of Ross' Diana Ross: Her Life, Love and Legacy celebration coinciding with her 75th birthday. The footage was digitally remastered and was supplemented with new footage of interviews from Ross’ five children. [7]
Billie Holiday was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made a significant contribution to jazz music and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly influenced by jazz instrumentalists, inspired a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. She was known for her vocal delivery and improvisational skills.
Diana Ross is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was 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 history, with a total of 12 number-one pop singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, including "Where Did Our Love Go", "Baby Love", "Come See About Me", "Stop! In the Name of Love", "You Keep Me Hangin' On", and "Love Child".
Lady Sings the Blues is a 1972 American biographical musical drama film directed by Sidney J. Furie about jazz singer Billie Holiday, loosely based on her 1956 autobiography that, in turn, took its title from Holiday's song. It is produced by Motown Productions for Paramount Pictures. Diana Ross, in her feature film debut, portrays Holiday, alongside a cast that includes Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor, James T. Callahan and Scatman Crothers. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards in 1973, including Best Actress for Diana Ross.
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever is a 1983 television special, produced by Suzanne de Passe for Motown, to commemorate its 25th anniversary. The program was taped before a live audience at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California on March 25, 1983, and broadcast on NBC on May 16. Among its highlights were Michael Jackson's performance of "Billie Jean", Smokey Robinson's reunion with the Miracles, a Temptations / Four Tops "battle of the bands", Marvin Gaye's inspired speech about black music history and his memorable performance of "What's Going On", a Jackson 5 reunion, and an abbreviated reunion of Diana Ross & the Supremes, who performed their final #1 hit, "Someday We'll Be Together" from 1969. The show was written by Buz Kohan, Ruth Robinson, and de Passe. The broadcast was watched by over 47 million viewers.
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is a song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla label, a division of Motown. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and became a hit again in 1970 when recorded by former Supremes frontwoman Diana Ross. The song became Ross's first solo number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Lady Sings the Blues is the soundtrack to the Billie Holiday biopic of the same name, which starred Diana Ross in her 1972 screen debut. It became Ross' first #1 album, though the only one as a solo artist. It was certified gold in the UK for sales of over 100,000 copies. It was the fourth best-selling R&B album and fifth best-selling Pop album of 1973 in the US.
Alicia Michelle "Miki" Howard is an American R&B singer who had top 10 hit songs in the mid-1980s and early 1990s, including "Baby, Be Mine" (1987), "Come Share My Love" (1986) and "Love Under New Management" (1990). "Ain't Nobody Like You" (1992) and "Ain't Nuthin' in the World" (1989) both peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard Top R&B Singles chart.
"They Can't Take That Away from Me" is a 1937 popular song with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It was introduced by Fred Astaire in the 1937 film Shall We Dance and gained huge success.
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The Diana Ross Playground is located in New York City's Central Park, inside the park at West 81st Street and Central Park West.
An Evening with Diana Ross is a 1977 live double album released by American singer Diana Ross on the Motown label. It was recorded live at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles in December 1976 during the international tour of Ross' one-woman show, for which she was awarded a special Tony Award after the show's run at Broadway's Palace Theater, followed by an Emmy-nominated TV special of the same name. It marked the first time in history a solo female headlined a 90-minute TV special. The album reached #29 in the USA . The album showcased her live performances for the second time as a solo performer, following 1974's Live At Caesars Palace. It was the last live album Ross released until 1989's Greatest Hits Live.
T.A.M.I. Show is a 1964 concert film released by American International Pictures. It includes performances by numerous popular rock and roll and R&B musicians from the United States and England. The concert was held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on October 28 and 29, 1964. Free tickets were distributed to local high school students. The acronym "T.A.M.I." was used inconsistently in the show's publicity to mean both "Teenage Awards Music International" and "Teen Age Music International".
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"Mirror, Mirror" is a song by American singer Diana Ross. Written by Dennis Matkosky and Michael Sembello, and produced by Ross, the song was released as the second single from her Platinum-certified album Why Do Fools Fall in Love on December 11, 1981, by RCA Records.
Forever Diana: Musical Memoirs is a four-CD box set of recordings by American singer Diana Ross released on October 5, 1993 by Motown Records.
"Don't Explain" is a song written by jazz singer Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog Jr. It was Holiday's final song.
"No More" is a song with music by Toots Camarata and words by Bob Russell. It is usually mentioned in connection with Billie Holiday, who recorded it on October 4, 1944. The song is sometimes listed as "(You Ain't Gonna Bother Me) No More".
The More Today Than Yesterday: The Greatest Hits Tour is a concert tour by American recording artist Diana Ross. Primarily visiting the United States and Canada, the tour showcases Ross' greatest hits that span her nearly 50 years in the music industry. The tour was well received by critics and fans. The first leg of the tour earned over four million dollars, finishing at 66th place on Pollstar's "Top 100 North American Tours".
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