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Rhonda Ross, Diana’s daughter, is her own woman

Austin Hein Photography

Diana Ross is one of the most highly regarded singers of the last century. She was a member of The Supremes. As she performs tomorrow night at the Benedict music tent in Aspen, she’ll have a very special guest opening the show for her — daughter Rhonda.

Rhonda Ross was born in 1971, and she had what she says was a very normal, but also very extraordinary childhood. There were boarding schools in Europe, nannies and chefs to take care of the kids.

The “normal” came during every moment Diana spent with her kids. She never missed Christmas. Never missed birthdays. Rhonda says her mother’s main goal was to provide for her children.

“She allowed us to have an experience and perspective of the world that she never had,” said Rhonda.

 

Rhonda calls herself a “social artist”, meaning she makes art that she wants to be affecting and force people to think. It isn’t what all people make art for, she said. Sometimes it’s art for art’s sake.

Rhonda got her start as a singer in college when she realized that jazz music was what really spoke to her.

 

“Jazz at its core is a social art. It was created for the expression of the human spirit,” Rhonda said. “It was created to talk about what was going on in the world, and in the environment, as well as people’s individual responses to it.”

 

She said that being the daughter of Diana Ross isn’t something she gets tired of talking about — in fact she kind of forgets that is the way it is.

 

“I’m so used to just being around her and being with her, but every once in awhile I step back and think, ‘oh my goodness! Look who this is!’ She’s so comfortable to be around that you forget momentarily.”

 

Rhonda’s music career is spent usually playing in small clubs, but she added elements of rock and gospel to her music. Diana started listening, and invited her to perform together a few times in 2013 and 2014. Now they are on a six-week summer tour.

 

Rhonda said she feels no pressure or expectations to live up to what her mother, Diana, and her father Motown great Berry Gordy, had done in their lives. There was no shame in pursuing the same things they’d done.

 

“I just lived my life and I believe my siblings have done the same,” said Rhonda.

Patrick Fort grew up in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, nurturing a love for ice hockey and deli sandwiches. After moving to Colorado in 2010 to attend the University of Colorado to study music, Patrick discovered his love for journalism. In 2013, Patrick created and hosted the award-winning radio program Colorado Stories, a news program that covered CU and the surrounding community. An avid mountain and road cyclist, Patrick also referees youth ice hockey. He loves '60s pop bands and and trying new recipes ranging from milk-braised carnitas to flourless cakes.
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