Florence "Flo" Ballard formed "The Supremes", which was originally called "The Primettes", in 1959 and was the original lead singer. In 1961, when "The Primettes" were signed to Motown^© Records, Florence was told to choose the name to something different. She chose "The Supremes". Originally, Mary and Diana did not like this because they thought this sounded to masculine. But they eventually got used to it.

For a little bit, Florence was the lead singer for the group (for example, "Buttered Popcorn"). But, shortly after the group was signed, Motown^© founder, Berry Gordy, placed Diana Ross as the lead singer because he thought her voice would appeal to white audiences.

For some years, Florence didn't mind this - well, at least she didn't show it much. But soon, around 1966 or 1967, she started to feel pushed over from her own group that SHE formed and that no one was paying any attention to her. As a result, she began drinking heavily, and constantly gained weight and dropped weight. Sometimes, she was to drunk to perform or she couldn't fit into any of her outfits. So Gordy started making arrangements to replace her. He called up Cindy Birdsong, a "Blue Belle" in "Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles", and asked her to just fill in for Florence when she couldn't perform. But in mid-'67, Florence's condition got so bad, that Gordy finally decided to expel her from her own group.

For a year she decided to take a break rfom singing. Then in 1968, she attempted to launch her own career with Motown and produced a record for ABC. But ABC lost interest and her album was shelved. Then she slipped into depression and started drinking again. She also had a family of three children to support. Eventually, she and her husband, Thomas Chapman, got devorced. Then her house was foreclosed upon, and was even more depressed. In the early '70^s, she filed a lawsuit against Motown^© Records and said that she was treated unfairly and that Diana Ross and Gordy was having a relationship, so Ross was not focusing on the Supremes and losing focus. Unfortunately, the court ruled in favor of Motown^©, leading to more depression. But soon, around 1974, Ballard bought a new house at 17701 Shaftsbury St., in Detroit. Also, she got back together with Thomas Chapman, and things were looking up. In 1975, she began to start a succesfull career, and she was performing, she was even offered a contract, and her career was looking really good.

But as her success went up, her health went down. She started to age really quick, and wasn't looking to good.