Claim: Poverty was a struggle for Florence Ballard.

Florence Glenda Chapman -LRB- née Ballard ; June 30 , 1943 -- February 22 , 1976 -RRB- was an American vocalist . She was one of the founding members of the popular Motown vocal female group the Supremes . Ballard sang on 16 top forty singles with the group , including ten number-one hits .   After being removed from the Supremes in 1967 , Ballard tried an unsuccessful solo career with ABC Records before she was dropped from the label at the end of the decade . Ballard struggled with alcoholism , depression , and poverty for three years . She was making an attempt for a musical comeback when she died of a heart attack in February 1976 at the age of 32 . Ballard 's death was considered by one critic as `` one of rock 's greatest tragedies '' . Ballard was posthumously inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Supremes in 1988 .