A talented vocalist whose warm, strong sound recalled such Motown stars as Diana Ross and Mary Wells, Chicago soul diva Jackie Ross was born in St. Louis, Missouri on January 30, 1946. The daughter of husband-and-wife preachers, she made her performing debut on her parents' radio gospel show at the age of three. Following her father's 1954 death, the family relocated to the Windy City; there the legendary Sam Cooke, a friend of her mother, recruited Ross for his SAR label, where she issued her debut single, "Hard Times," in 1962. Following a stint singing with Syl Johnson's ba...