Tracee Ellis Ross Recounts Emotional, Nerve-Wracking Onstage Performance With Mom, Diana Ross
It can be pretty intimidating sharing the stage with the legendary Diana Ross – even if you’re her own daughter.
Last week at a concert in Las Vegas, Ross surprised her daughter, actress Tracee Ellis Ross of the show Black-ish, by inviting her onstage to sing. You might assume that since they’re family this happens all the time, but yesterday on Facebook Tracee explained how unexpected and nerve-wracking the experience was: “I think the last time my mom asked me to sing I was 5 or 6 years old…There is no way to describe the pressure, the fear of what it feels like to allow my voice to be heard as Diana Ross’ child.”
Working through the fear, Ross’s daughter performed a few lines from the Oscar-nominated song “Lady Sings The Blues”, itself from the 1972 biopic of the same name, which starred the older Ross as Billie Holiday.
The mother/daughter moment was brief but packed an emotional punch – mostly for the actress herself. Ellis Ross continued talking about her mother on Facebook, writing: “She is a nurturing and fierce mom, intimate and ancient, in a setting that isn’t meant to support mothering: on stage with the whole world watching.”
And while most people fortunate enough to share the stage with Diana Ross would probably pick the singing part as a highlight, her daughter chose something else completely: “My favorite part was me burying my head into her shoulder. It has been ages since I’ve hidden so deeply in my mother’s embrace and it was awesome.”
For live music you can watch from home, check out rock band Silverstein tonight at 10:00 p.m. PT. We are exclusively streaming their show on the Live Nation channel on Yahoo right here.
