For the first time in more than two decades, music icon Diana Ross will return to Australia.<\/p>\n
The 82-year-old singer will perform a one-off Sydney show on Mardi Gras weekend, as part of the Sydney Summertime concert series in Centennial Park.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It will be her first Australian appearance since 2006. British dance favourites Groove Armada will support, playing a DJ set.<\/p>\n
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Few artists loom larger over the history of popular music than Ross.<\/p>\n
Across six decades, she has helped define multiple eras of music while maintaining an enviable level of cultural relevance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As a singer, film actor and fashion icon, her influence stretches across genres and generations.<\/p>\n
As leader of The Supremes, Ross helped transform Motown into a global cultural force.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Songs such as Where Did Our Love Go, Baby Love and Stop! In The Name Of Love remain among the most recognisable recordings in popular music.<\/p>\n
After leaving that group, Ross successfully reinvented herself as a solo artist, enjoying major success across soul, pop and disco.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hits including I’m Coming Out, Upside Down, Touch Me In The Morning, Chain Reaction and Endless Love kept her all over pop charts and radio airwaves through the 1970s and 1980s.<\/p>\n
Her impact can be heard everywhere: Beyonc\u00e9 and Michael Jackson are just two of the superstars who have publicly proclaimed the influence Ross had on their careers.<\/p>\n
The honours have followed accordingly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ross was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Supremes, received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2016 was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then-US president Barack Obama.<\/p>\n