Florence Ballard, American singer (b. 1943)
Florence Glenda Chapman (née Ballard; June 30, 1943 – February 22, 1976) was an American singer and a founding member of the Motown vocal female group the Supremes. She sang on 16 top 40 singles with the group, including ten number-one hits. After being removed from the Supremes in 1967, Ballard tried an unsuccessful solo career with ABC Records before she was dropped from the label at the end of the decade.
Ballard struggled with alcoholism, depression, and poverty for three years. She was making an attempt at a musical comeback when she died of a heart attack in February 1976 at the age of 32. Ballard's death was considered by one critic as "one of rock's greatest tragedies". Ballard was posthumously inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Supremes in 1988.
1976Feb, 22
Florence Ballard
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Events on 1976
- 5Jan
Democratic Kampuchea
The Khmer Rouge proclaim the Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea. - 13Apr
Thomas Jefferson
The United States Treasury Department reintroduces the two-dollar bill as a Federal Reserve Note on Thomas Jefferson's 233rd birthday as part of the United States Bicentennial celebration. - 8May
Six Flags Magic Mountain
The rollercoaster The New Revolution, the first steel coaster with a vertical loop, opens at Six Flags Magic Mountain. - 11Oct
Gerald R. Ford
George Washington's appointment, posthumously, to the grade of General of the Armies by congressional joint resolution Public Law 94-479 is approved by President Gerald R. Ford. - 13Oct
Ebola
The first electron micrograph of an Ebola viral particle is obtained by Dr. F. A. Murphy, now at U.C. Davis, who was then working at the C.D.C.