50 free The Supremes trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Supremes trivia quiz covers the three girls from Detroit's Brewster-Douglass projects who became the most successful American vocal group of all time. The easy questions are the ones every Motown fan knows: the lead singer who went solo in 1970, the label boss who signed them, the songwriting team behind their hits and the number of Billboard number ones they racked up. From there it moves through the Primettes years, the run of five straight chart-toppers, the Copacabana and Ed Sullivan appearances, and the switch to Diana Ross & the Supremes. The harder end is for the collectors: the name Berry Gordy nearly gave the group instead, the single that finally knocked Hey Jude off number one, why the group's final number one had none of the other Supremes on it, the boxer whose sister replaced Ross, the album that beat Revolver, the test oscillator mistaken for a Moog, and how much money each Supreme received in January 1965. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedia entries for the group, its members and its singles before publishing, and the supporting sentence is stored with each question. Nothing here quotes a lyric; if you want the words, sing along to the records. If you enjoy this one, try our Motown, Diana Ross and 1960s music quizzes next.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Under what name did the Supremes form in Detroit in 1959?
The Primettes
They were the sister act to the Primes, whose Paul Williams and Eddie Kendricks went on to form the Temptations.
Q 02How many Billboard Hot 100 number one singles did the Supremes have?
12
That made them the most successful American vocal group of the era and Motown's premier act.
Q 03Which Detroit public housing project did all four original members come from?
Brewster-Douglass
In January 1965 each Supreme used part of a $100,000 cheque to buy her family a house on the same street and leave the projects.
Q 04Which member of the group chose the name 'the Supremes' from Berry Gordy's list?
Florence Ballard
Rejected alternatives on the list included the Darleens, the Sweet Ps, the Melodees and the Jewelettes.
Q 05Which Motown star did Diana Ross ask to arrange the group's audition for Berry Gordy in 1960?
Smokey Robinson
He liked the girls but liked their guitarist Marvin Tarplin even more, and hired him for the Miracles.
Q 06Why did Berry Gordy initially turn the girls away at their first Motown audition?
They were too young and inexperienced
He told them to come back once they had graduated from high school.
Q 07Which original member left in 1960 after becoming engaged, to be replaced by Barbara Martin?
Betty McGlown
Martin herself left in 1962 to start a family, and the group carried on as a trio.
Q 08What nickname did the group earn at Hitsville when their first six singles missed the Top 40?
The no-hit Supremes
They compensated by taking any studio work going, including hand claps and backing vocals for Marvin Gaye.
Q 09On which Motown subsidiary label were the Supremes' first two singles released?
Tamla
The songs were I Want a Guy and Buttered Popcorn.
Q 10Which songwriting and production team wrote most of the Supremes' number one hits?
Holland-Dozier-Holland
Lamont Dozier and the brothers Brian and Eddie Holland left Motown in early 1968 after a royalties dispute.
Q 11What was the Supremes' first number one, in August 1964?
Where Did Our Love Go
They were touring on Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars when it hit the top, much to their surprise.
Q 12Which Motown girl group, per Mary Wilson, turned down the song that became the Supremes' first number one?
The Marvelettes
Brian Holland disputed the story, though Eddie Holland and Lamont Dozier both said the song was offered to them first.
Q 13How many consecutive US number ones did the Supremes score starting with their first in 1964?
5
Four more chart-toppers followed the first, ending with Back in My Arms Again.
Q 21The Supremes A' Go-Go knocked which Beatles album off the top of the Billboard 200 in October 1966?
Revolver
It was the first album by an all-female group to reach number one in the US.
Q 22Whose 1962 country covers album was the model for The Supremes Sing Country, Western and Pop?
Ray Charles
Motown issued the Supremes' version in February 1965 as their fourth studio album.
Q 23Which New York supper club did Berry Gordy book the Supremes into to broaden their audience?
The Copacabana
Broadway standards joined the hits in their set as they became one of the first black acts with sustained crossover success.
Q 14Which Supremes single was the first to top the UK chart as well as the US chart?
Baby Love
Berry Gordy insisted it be produced to sound as much like its predecessor as possible, right down to the foot stomps.
Q 15Come See About Me opens with which then-novel studio technique?
A fade-in
It topped the chart twice, non-consecutively, swapping places with the Beatles' I Feel Fine.
Q 16In the Supremes' Stop! In the Name of Love choreography, one hand is on the hip; what does the other do?
Held out like a traffic cop
The 1965 recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001.
Q 17Which 1965 flop prompted Berry Gordy's memo that the Supremes would 'only release number-one records'?
Nothing but Heartaches
It missed the Top Ten by one place, and the writers responded with the more complex I Hear a Symphony.
Q 18The Supremes' 1966 hit about a mother's advice on patience drew on a church song by which singer?
Dorothy Love Coates
Phil Collins took his 1982 cover to number one in the UK.
Q 19Which British singer took You Keep Me Hangin' On back to number one in the US in 1987?
Kim Wilde
That made it one of only six songs in the Hot 100's first 32 years to hit number one for two different acts.
Q 20The signature guitar riff of You Keep Me Hangin' On was inspired by what?
A Morse-code-style radio news sting
Lamont Dozier heard the sound effect and took the idea to the Holland brothers.
Q 24How many times did the Supremes appear on The Ed Sullivan Show?
17
Their last appearance with Ross, singing Someday We'll Be Together, came on 21 December 1969.
Q 25Which unusual product did the Supremes endorse with their own brand in the mid-1960s?
Bread
They also recorded soundtrack songs and appeared in the 1965 beach movie Beach Ball.
Q 26Who ran Motown's finishing school that readied the Supremes for 'kings and queens'?
Maxine Powell
Cholly Atkins created their graceful choreography.
Q 27Months after the Supremes' billing changed in 1967, which other Motown group put its lead singer's name up front?
Martha & the Vandellas
The Miracles had taken their frontman's name two years earlier; David Ruffin lobbied in vain for the same treatment.
Q 28Cindy Birdsong was recruited from which group in 1967?
Patti LaBelle & the Blue Belles
That group's lawyers filed an injunction after her Hollywood Bowl debut, so Gordy had to buy out her contract.
Q 29At which Las Vegas hotel was the group's founding member dismissed on 1 July 1967?
The Flamingo
She had performed inebriated after discovering an extra set of gowns brought along for her replacement.
Q 30How much did Ballard sue Motown for in 1971, claiming Gordy and Ross had conspired to force her out?
$8.7 million
The judge ruled for Motown; she died of a coronary thrombosis in 1976 at just 32.