The success of the Supremes

By Benazir Wehelie, Special to CNN

Published 1105 GMT (1905 HKT) November 19, 2015

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The Supremes prepare for a show at New York's Apollo Theater in 1965. The singing group had several hit songs that year, including "Stop! In the Name of Love," "Back in My Arms Again" and "I Hear a Symphony." Bruce Davidson photographed the Supremes in New York and Detroit. "I was able to come close and personal because somehow they trusted my eye," he said 50 years later. "They allowed me, with my little Leica camera, to photograph. ... Whether it was performing, whether it was looking at themselves in the backstage mirror or whether it was resting between performances, sitting on a bed, I was allowed and no one closed any doors." Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos

The group began as a trio consisting of Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson. The three met while living in a housing project in Detroit, and they rose to fame with Motown Records in the 1960s. "I photographed them as a group. Diana wasn't famous-famous at that point," Davidson said. "They seemed to be very mellow." Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos

Ross sits on a bed at the Apollo Theater. The Supremes were the most successful female group of the '60s, achieving worldwide popularity. "It was a time of Black Power," Davidson said, referring to how the group formed at the height of the civil rights movement. "I was lucky to be accepted in a certain way. But also aware that there was something going on in the air." Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos

"I photographed them rehearsing for a future concert ... and then they spontaneously had a snowball fight," Davidson said about this photo taken in Detroit. "They must have liked me because they didn't throw any snowballs at me." Before they were the Supremes, the teenagers called themselves the Primettes, performing locally in Detroit. Ross became acquainted with Smokey Robinson, who arranged the group's first audition for Motown President Berry Gordy. In 1961, the group signed to Motown and Gordy suggested they change their name to the Supremes. Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos

The Supremes rehearse at Motown's studios in Detroit. The group performed at various venues and nightclubs both in and out of the United States. It also appeared on popular shows like "Shindig," "Hullabaloo," and "The Ed Sullivan Show." Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos

Ross, Ballard and Wilson rehearse at Motown. "I just tried to be invisible, and I was invisible to them," Davidson said. "They didn't in any way affect my being able to be a kind of fly on the wall. ... I was there to observe an aspect of their life as musicians." Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos

Ross looks at a mirror in a hotel room at the Apollo Theater. "I didn't know them as performers, I knew them as people, as human beings. ... I didn't know about their fame, I just knew them before the camera," Davidson said. "I was comfortable with them, and they were comfortable with me." Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos

"Today, you couldn't take (these kinds of pictures)," Davidson said of this photo from a hotel room. "There'd be hair and makeup. There would be an art director. There would be a public relations person standing there, their arms folded. There was a certain innocence and authenticity in (this) encounter." To date, the Supremes are the most successful vocal group in the United States, responsible for 12 No. 1 singles on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. After 18 years, the group disbanded in 1977, performing for the last time together at London's Drury Lane. Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos