JBL and Aliyah Autograph Signing Report (11/03/2024)

I’ve mentioned several times that I really only listen to music from the 50’s and 60’s. Well, on October 23, I was able to meet an original member of one of my favourite groups: The Supremes. This original member was Mary Wilson. While Diana Ross was the lead singer for the group’s biggest hits, Mary was a founding member and stuck with the group through its various member changes until the Supremes’ ultimate disbandment. With her performing not too far from Toronto, I went to go see her, and dragged my dad to come along with me.

The theatre was really small, but the acoustics were great, and so was Mary. Mary did most of the Supremes’ biggest hits, as well as some of her favourite non-Supremes songs. Mary sounded great, though it’s important to remember that these songs were written for Diana Ross’ voice. The show was a lot better than we expected. Better yet, Mary was extremely energetic and even wore similar attire to what she wore back in the 60’s.



Knowing that she signs autographs after her shows, I brought along all of the Supremes records that I have (7 – not too many as I recently just started getting into vinyl). Mary ended the show with John Lennon’s “Imagine” then said she will see us in a few minutes. Once the show ended, my dad and I went to look for the line and joined it. There were about 20 people in front of us. It took about 10 minutes for Mary to come out, and once she did, she started signing and was very gracious of everyone who came to see her.

When it was my turn to meet her, she sees my stack of records and asks “did you bring all of them?!” I reply “I wish I had all of them! I’m a big fan!”. She smiles and thanks me. She also seemed intrigued to see that someone so young was at her show lol. She tells me that she’ll sign a few right now and told me to come back at the end and she’ll sign the rest. She said that so as to keep the line moving, which is fair. This worked out because I wanted her to do a marker switch anyway, so I had her sign all the ones I wanted in white paint before exiting and reentering the line at the end. I ask her to make them out to Alex, and she was more than happy to. As she signs the “I Hear A Symphony” album, she even tells me that she has a grandchild with my name. The next album she signed featured the 1970’s lineup of the Supremes. When she saw it, she asked “Which one am I?” then laughs and says, “I’m in a different spot on every album!”. She then signs the live album of their performance at the Copa. She comments that she loves that album. She remembered the year by saying “I love this one. This was at the Copacabana in ’65!”.



Once she signs those three, we thank each other, and she tells me to come back. I wait for the line to die down and rejoin it. The second last fan also had a stack of records. He wanted the records personalized to himself. On one of the records, she accidentally puts someone else’s name. She tried to fix it and said she’s never made a mistake like that before lol. Once it was my turn again, she remembers me by name and jokes that the fan before me will hate her for the rest of his life for messing up his name. I laugh at that. She signs the rest of my records in a blue Sharpie. As she signs, I tell her that this concert was my fifth one this year. I tell her, “this year, I saw Frankie Valli, Petula Clark..”, and before I could continue, she excitedly cuts me off and says “I love Frankie Valli! How was he?” I tell him that he was great and that seeing him this year was actually the third time I saw him. She replies, “he and I are buddies!” Then, as she signs the live Talk of the Town album, she says that she’s been looking for this particular record and says, “I like having three of each one!”



I then have her sign our tickets. Though my dad doesn’t care about autographs, I had her sign my dad’s ticket personalized to him. She then asks: “where is he?”. I point to my dad who is standing off to the side taking pictures. With a smile, she nodded and asked, “did you enjoy the show”, to which my dad said he did, which she really seemed to appreciate. Mary then asks me if my dad got me into this music. I tell her that he somewhat did. (There are some commonalities with our tastes, but there are also a lot of differences). She also signs the merch I bought at her show, which was a CD and an 8x10.



Once she finished signing, I ask for a photo. We take the photo and she then thanks me by name. I shake her hand, thank her again, and tell her that I really enjoyed the show. She thanks me again sincerely and tells my dad “you got a good one [son]! You did a good job, (name)!” We thank her again to end the night.

Mary Wilson was not only a great performer, but a great person to meet. I could tell that she wasn’t all about the money like a lot of celebrities are. She signed all of my items for free, and when a fan told her that he was thinking of coming to the show “tomorrow night” (she’s in the area for two nights, but at two different cities/venues), she told him “it’s going to be the same show”, so as to be completely honest. Definitely a great night out!



If you read this one too, thank you!