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Ballard had a voice resembling that of Billie Holliday; however, it was Ross's voice that stormed The Supremes into the charts, and the group ended up achieving nine number one hits from 1964 to 1967. In the early days of The Supremes, all three girls took turns singing lead vocals, with Ballard singing lead on songs such as "Buttered Popcorn" and "Heavenly Father." Diana Ross was made the permanent lead singer in 1962 because Motown chief Berry GordyBerry Gordy, Jr. born Detroit, November 28, 1929) is an American record producer, founder of the Motown record label and director of its subsidiary Gordy Records. Gordy was the seventh of eight children born to the middle class family of Berry Gordy, Sr. believed that her voice, with its higher register, would attract white audiences to the group. Diana Ross' vocals certainly appealed to a white audience, but there is speculation as to whether her voice was "accepted" by the black community at the time.

Resentful and depressed for being pushed out of the spotlight, Ballard became a heavy drinker and gained weight until she no longer fit many of her performance outfits. In July 1967, she was fired from The Supremes and from Motown; Cindy BirdsongCindy Birdsong (born December 15, 1939 in Camden, New Jersey) was a member of Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles ( 1960- 1967) and later, the Supremes ( 1967- 1972, 1973- 1976). After leaving the Supremes, Cindy worked at UCLA Medical Center under her marr took her place in the group, which was renamed Diana Ross & The Supremes at this time. Ballard married Thomas Chapman , a former chauffeurA chauffeur is someone who drives a car as a job, most often meaning a luxury car as a limousine or a "stretch limo", although technically anybody who drives can be called a chauffeur; the word is simply French for "professional driver". Rich people often for Motown, in 1968Events Undated Booker Prize for Fiction is established by Booker plc. 1968 is known as the year of the Prague Spring and also the year of the Paris riots. The ASCII character code is standardized as ANSI Standard X3. Nauru adopt his national anthem of the, and signed with ABC Records the same year. Two singles, "It Doesn't Matter How I Say It," and "Love Ain't Love" were released, but the album she recorded was shelved. After that, Ballard's musical career went into extreme decline, and in 19711971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). Events January January 1 British divorce Reform Act comes into force January 2 66 die in stairway crush at Rangers v Celtic football match, Glasgow, Scotland. See Ibrox disaster. Janua she sued Motown for royalty payments she felt were due her. Flo eventually was awarded a settlement, but her lawyers disappeared with the money, and Ballard had to sue her lawyers to attempt to collect her settlement.

Eventually separating from Chapman, Ballard found herself back in the Detroit public housing projects, on welfare with three daughters to feed. Deeply depressed, she continued to drink, and began taking a number of drugs as well, allowing her health to deteriorate. In 1975, she finally received the money from her settlement, got herself cleaned up and back in shape, and began making steps towards a comeback. She also reconciled her marriage with Chapman.

However, on February 21, 1976, Ballard entered Mt. Carmel Mercy Hospital, complaining of numbness in her extremities. The next day, she died of a coronary thrombosis, a blood clot in one of her coronary arteries. She was only 32 years old.

In 2002, The Supreme Florence "Flo" Ballard, which included all the tracks from the album she recorded on ABC Records in 1968, was released by a London-based company on compact disc.