Tracee Ellis Ross Recalls Emotional Moment She Played Her Songs for Mom Diana Ross

Tracee Ellis Ross may be used to performing for big crowds, but the “black-ish” star was always nervous about sharing her musical side with her mom, legendary singer Diana Ross.

“I recorded songs, I sang on a stage with a live audience and a live mic, and I do all these big, scary things in my life … somehow when I share the singing thing with my mom, it’s terrifying,” Ross said on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna on Oct. 11 as she recalled working on her 2020 film "The High Note."

When Ross, 49, recorded multiple songs for the comedy-drama, she knew it was time to take the plunge and let her mom hear her voice — an emotional experience she still remembers.

“When I first recorded my songs, I played them for my mom in her car,” Ross said. “She was crying and she grabbed my hand, and it was amazing.”

Ross played an R&B singer in “The High Note” and recorded several songs for the movie’s soundtrack, including the lead single, “Love Myself.”

“I always wanted to sing but I was too terrified. ... And then I did ‘The High Note’ and I faced my fear,” Ross said.

The actor also shared that her mom had long encouraged her to pursue a musical career, but that she had always been too intimidated.

“When I was 22, she actually looked at me and said, ‘It’s time to record an album,’” Ross said. “And I was like, no. I just couldn’t do it. I was too scared.”

As she embraced her singing voice in later years, Ross said it freed something inside of her.

“Not that I was necessarily meant to be a singer, but by cutting off a part of myself just because I was afraid, I had closed off certain doors to part of my identity and myself, and so things just started to open up when I found my voice,” she said.

Ross also reflected on feeling “wiser and more comfortable” in her skin as she approaches her 50th birthday later this month, and shared how it feels being single at this point in her life.

“Great, honestly,” she said. “I have built a really beautiful life around me. And I get lonely sometimes, and one of the things about being single is that you have to be really choiceful about curating what you want to do. You can’t hide behind a relationship, a child, a kid, a dog, anything. So I have beautiful friends around me, I have made friends with loneliness.

“I think that there’s wonderful men out in the world. I do want a partner, but I want a partner that’s going to add to my life,” she continued. “I don’t want a partner just ‘cause."

She added that she is open to romance and finds “dating to be really fun.”

“I will repeat, there are really wonderful men out there, so come and find me!” she joked, gesturing to her floral-patterned jumpsuit. “Come and find me in my flowers.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com