Singer Faith Evans has established herself as an actress in the early 2000s. The onetime wife of Hip Hop icon Notorious B.I.G. starred alongside Ja Rule in 2000’s Turn It Up, as well as 2003’s The Fighting Temptations. After nearly eight years removed from acting, it has been announced that Evans will play the role of Florence Ballard in Blondie: The Florence Ballard Story.
Ballard is known as a founder of legendary R&B/Pop group The Supremes. Between 1959 and 1967, Ballard sang alongside Diana Ross and Mary Wilson, during what is universally considered the Motown Records group’s most famous and successful lineup. Ballard is believed to have left the group due to problems with the name-change to Diana Ross & The Supremes. From 1967 through her 1976 death, Ballard experienced minor solo success.
Last month Faith Evans released her latest album, There’s Something About Faith on E1 Entertainment. The album features Redman and Snoop Dogg.
Blondie: The Florence Ballard Story is planned for summer 2011 release, according to RapIndustry.com, and will feature tribute songs from Lauryn Hill, Kelly Price and Evans.
hiphopbaby76
sounds good…we need more insight to the lives of people who paved the way for all the artists today. this lady florence that faith is playing is a TRUE PIONEER..why?? because she stood her ground and took a loss all for the betterment of her self worth n belief, that no one is more important when your in a group. you come as a group you stay as a group…real talk.
Have they picked who will play Diana Ross and Mary Wilson yet? My suggestion is Lauryn Hill for Mary, and Eryka Badu for Diana!!
Milt Jenkins, The Primettes’ original manager founded the group, not Florence, as a “sister act” to his male group, The Primes, later known as The Temptations.
Ballard was, frankly, rightly fired in 1967 because her alcoholism became detrimental to the group. She’d miss rehearsals, shows & recordings, became too fat for her expensive costumes, appeared inebriated onstage. Her mood swings, which some diagnose as bi-polar disorder, caused even more tension within the group. Her constant complaints didn’t help, either. Something had to give.
The notion of “begin as a group, stay a group” is absurdly juvenile. Everyone has a job to do within the group.
As with any other type of employment, you don’t do your job, you deserve to lose your job.
It’s time for Black folks to stop blaming everyone else for our failures, and take responsibility for our own lives.
To milt, who proves he doesn’t know jack, there was reason behind Flo’s anger, Diana slept her way to the top literally, and in the process knocked Flo out of the spot of the lead singer. Diana’s constant negative remarks to Flo(which I found about later) didn’t help matters. With the “It’s time for Black folks to stop blaming everyone else for our failures, and take responsibility for our own lives.” How dare you say that regarding her? She did her job and put up with alot of mess (Mary as well) and the constant pushing to the background as if they were back up singers, not actually co signers that once shared equal responsibility. You didn’t know what went down, and to that extent, neither do I, but back then there were no tell all that she could do, then again, they would black ball her for it anyhow.