YOU don’t get much more starrier than The Supremes.

And Mary Wilson, the only member who was there from the beginning in 1959 to their demise in 1977, knows her worth.

She refused a Supremes reunion tour after being offered a fraction of Diana Ross’s pay. Good Champagne is pre-requisite in her dressing room.

“Mary Wilson is a perfect human being who doesn’t make mistakes,” she says rather scarily. Then she laughs. “Actually, I’ve made plenty of mistakes. But Mary Wilson is pretty cool.”

Mary Wilson is pretty cool. When she reflects she’s had three lives in one, it’s not a vain boast. After a poor childhood – she pooh poohs the rags to riches thing – she founded the first girl supergroup. She rebuilt her career after Diana left, then suffered the loss of her child only to go on to build a career as solo singer, writer and actress.

The Supremes need little introduction. Mary, her friends “Diane” and Frances Ballard, later replaced by Cindy Birdsong, chalked up 12 Number One US hits. But success didn’t come overnight.

“Prior to that, we had been called The ‘no hit’ Supremes. The Marvelettes had hit records, the Vandellas, the Four Tops got hit records, all our friends got them, we thought what about us?”

Appropriately enough, their first Number One, Where Did Our Love Go, was in 1964, the year the Civil Rights Bill was passed. Wilson grew up poor.

“Your parents know but you don’t have any idea,” she says. “My mother couldn’t read or write and had assistance from the Government. She had three children, which was a bit much for her so I was given to my auntie Ivory until she was back on her feet.

“I grew up pretty well there. I was an only child to my aunt and uncle and they were very well off at the time.”

She didn’t know her mother until she was about 10.

“I thought my mother was my aunt. When I finally moved back to my mother’s, it was very depressing, it was like being torn away from my parents. I was kind of angry until I started living with my mother and then I absolutely adored her. My aunt Ivory was an extremely strong personality and being with her helped me get through all the things I had to get through in life.”

Mary met Florence at school and recruited Diana Ross to form the Primettes. In 1961, they signed to Motown and changed their name to The Supremes. While they waited impatiently for their own hit, they were groomed for success.

“We were given artist development classes to learn etiquette. If you wanted to become what we became, you had to be sent to school. We were the prototype for girl groups.”

They were uber-slim, sheathed in gowns weighing up to 35lb, and heavily made-up. But she insists they didn’t feel overly controlled.

“We were three black girls making it,” she explains. “That was almost unheard of in those days. When we look back on it, perhaps we were manipulated somewhat. It was all for the good of moving forward.

“Diana may have been thin, we were nowhere near anorexics. Some people are born that way and Diana’s family were all really nice and thin. Florence and I had a little more volume. We were size eights (UK size 12).

“For us, Motown was a great record company and we did what they told us. It’s the ones who rebel who have it hard.”

By the late 60s, it became clear Diana was being prepped for a solo career. But there was no ill-feeling, insists Wilson.

“We were really girlfriends. We became best friends. All of us hung out at each other’s homes. When Berry Gordy decided to choose which one would do the lead, we were OK with that.

“The problem that probably came up later on was we couldn’t get to sing anything. I thought, well, what am I going to sing?

“We never felt betrayed by Diana in that regard,” says Wilson. “I could see what was going on.”

Diana eventually left the band in 1970 in pursuit of a solo career. The Supremes carried on for seven years “probably about two years after we should have ended it,” says Wilson.

When Wilson went solo, it was like starting “a whole new career from the bottom.” Although her singles failed to set the charts alight, her tours sold out fast. She says she “started over as an individual”.

Her autobiography, Dreamgirl, was a massive success and she won over critics with stage roles.

But on January 29, 1994, trag- edy struck. Mary was driving son Raphael in her Jeep Cherokee, in California, when she fell asleep at the wheel. Wilson suffered ser- ious injuries and Raphael died.

“It was one of those things you never want to happen, to see your child die before you,” she says evenly. “Thank God I had him 14 years.”

In 1999, Diana Ross contacted her with news of a planned Supremes reunion for which Wilson was reportedly offered £3m while Diana was to get about £15m. Wilson turned her down.

“It wasn’t just financial, it was would I be able to choose my gowns, choreography, all those things. I was one of the original members of The Supremes and it was what I thought I deserved. I was asking for a third. You have to stick up for yourself.”

The Once In a Lifetime – Motown Legends Live Tour which stops at the Liverpool Echo Arena next year will be different. As a fully acknow- ledged Motown Legend in her own right, she’ll be centre stage.

“I’m Mary Wilson and I don’t have to share it with anyone else.”

ONCE In A Lifetime – Motown Legends Live Tour 2009 will also feature Martha Reeves & the Vandellas and The Miracles, among others.

THE tour plays at Echo Arena, Liverpool on June 28. For tickets, ring the box office on 0844 8000400 or go to www. accliverpool.com

emma.pinch