Maps of Music

Blue (2006)

Where the lyrics of Blue take you, and where it was really made.

Motown shelved this jazz album after it was recorded in 1971 and 1972, and it was not released until 2006, more than three decades later.

Place unknown

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Blue, originally titled The Blue Album: 23rd studio album by American singer Diana Ross
Released 20 June 2006 by Motown Records
Jazz-flavored album overseen by musical director Gil Askey
All songs produced and conducted by Gil Askey

Originally conceived as a follow-up to the soundtrack for the 1972 biographical drama film Lady Sings the Blues, in which Ross starred
Berry Gordy and Motown decided to shelve the album
Ross' next release was the more pop-oriented Touch Me in the Morning (1973)

Diana Ross was born March 26, 1944 in Detroit, Michigan, and was the lead singer of the Supremes.
The Supremes joined Motown in 1961 under the name chosen by Florence Ballard, after the group first formed as the Primettes.
The Supremes became Motown's most successful act in the 1960s and one of the best-selling girl groups of all time.

The Supremes' members included Diana Ross, Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, and later Cindy Birdsong.
Ross left the Supremes in 1970 and began a solo career.

The Supremes remain the best-charting female group in history, with 12 number-one pop singles on the Billboard Hot 100.
Ross's solo career produced six Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, including "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Endless Love".
Ross starred in Lady Sings the Blues (1972), earning Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations, and later starred in Mahogany and The Wiz.
Ross has sold over 100 million records worldwide as a solo artist.
Ross was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 as a member of the Supremes and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.

AllMusic editor Rob Theakston: Gil Askey's arrangements are top-notch and do not sound like dinner theater knock-offs
Compared with Stevie Wonder's and Marvin Gaye's works recorded around the same time, described as an equally bold artistic statement
For Ross fans, described as every bit as enjoyable as her sultriest moments

Blue was originally titled The Blue Album before its release.
Starbucks' US stores sold the album for its first 30 days, and the chain sold out of its supply nationwide.
Motown's Berry Gordy shelved the album, and Ross's next release was Touch Me in the Morning (1973).
The album was conceived as a follow-up to the soundtrack of Ross's film Lady Sings the Blues (1972).