Cindy Birdsong

Cynthia Ann Birdsong (born December 15, 1939) is an American singer who became famous as a member of the Supremes in 1967, when she replaced co-founding member Florence Ballard. Birdsong had previously been a member of Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles.

Birdsong was born in Mount Holly, New Jersey on December 15, 1939, as the eldest child of Lloyd Green Birdsong Sr. and Annie Birdsong. After living in Philadelphia for a duration of her childhood, the family returned to New Jersey, settling in Camden. Birdsong set her sights on becoming a nurse and attending college in Pennsylvania. When she returned to Philadelphia, she was contacted by a longtime friend, Patsy Holte, in 1960 to replace Sundray Tucker in Holt's singing group the Ordettes. At 20 years of age, Birdsong was the oldest member of the group; the other group members were still in their mid-teens.

By 1962, the Ordettes gained two new members, Sarah Dash and Nona Hendryx, both of whom previously sang for a vocal group that had disbanded. In the same year, they auditioned for local record label owner Harold Robinson. Robinson agreed to work with the group after hearing LaBelle sing "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman".

Shortly after Robinson signed them, he had them record as the Blue Belles and they were selected to promote "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman", which had been recorded by the Starlets. It was ultimately recorded by the Bluebelles due to a conflict between record labels. The Starlets' manager sued Robinson after the Blue Belles were seen performing a lip-synched version of the song on the TV music show American Bandstand. After settling out of court, Robinson altered the group's name to "Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles". Initially, a Billboard magazine ad cited the group as "Patti Bell and the Blue Bells". In 1963, the group scored their first hit single with the ballad "Down the Aisle". Later in the year, they recorded their rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone"; the single was later re-released on Cameo-Parkway Records, where the group scored a second hit with the song on the pop charts in 1964. Another charted single, "Danny Boy", was released that same year. In 1965, after Cameo-Parkway folded, the group signed with Atlantic Records, where they recorded 12 singles for the label, including the modest hits "All or Nothing" and "Take Me for a Little While". The group's Atlantic tenure included their rendition of "Over the Rainbow" and a version of the song "Groovy Kind of Love".

By this time, Birdsong was contacted by Berry Gordy in April 1967. She was being considered by Diana Ross as a replacement for Florence Ballard due to Ballard's reported "erratic behavior". Birdsong said:

All I was told was they wanted me there. I was met at the airport by Motown executives and driven to Berry Gordy's house where the group was having a meeting with him. I was a still a member of Patti's group and didn't even tell her that I was going to Detroit. So, the door of the room swung open and Florence came out in tears. Her mother came out with her. Oh, she was so upset, so shaken, she didn't even see me. It was then I realized that I was to replace her. I felt so bad, but later on Florence understood why I did it.

Birdsong began to rehearse with the Supremes, singing Ballard's vocals in her place. When Ballard was fired from the Supremes at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, forcing her sudden return to Detroit, Birdsong officially assumed her place during the second July 1 show.

During her tenure with the group, Berry Gordy mostly used the Andantes on background vocals to accompany Ross instead of Birdsong and Wilson. However, when the single "Someday We'll Be Together" hit number one, the group performed it together on The Ed Sullivan Show for their final television appearance with Ross on December 21, 1969.