Diana Ross’s only solo number one album was not a pop record but the 1972 soundtrack to Lady Sings the Blues, the Billie Holiday biopic that was also her first screen role. Recorded in California in 1972 with Berry Gordy as executive producer and Gil Askey producing, it brought in Michel Legrand, Benny Golson and Oliver Nelson to compose, conduct and arrange. Critics noted that Ross captured Holiday’s sound and phrasing while keeping her own voice, which let the album work both in the theater and on a home turntable.
In 1973 it reached number one on the Billboard 200, the Cash Box Top 100 and Record World’s album and R&B charts, and number two on Billboard’s R&B albums chart. It sold more than two million copies in the United States, went gold in the United Kingdom, and was the top soundtrack of 1973 for both Cash Box and Record World. The album mixes full songs like God Bless the Child, Strange Fruit and Good Morning Heartache with short dialogue and scene cues, and it was the only Motown album to replace the label’s Detroit map with a custom design matching the cover.
- Good Morning Heartache was issued as the lead single in December 1972.
- Brief cue tracks include The Arrest, Baltimore Brothel and Louis Visits Billie on Tour.
- The custom label design also carried over to the album’s singles.
- Michel Legrand’s love theme was later recorded by Michael Jackson as Happy.
- The UK gold certification represented more than 100,000 units sold.
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