Diana Ross to perform first concerts in isles

In a career spanning more than 50 years, Diana Ross has sold 50 million albums, recorded 18 No. 1 singles, earned one Academy Award nomination and performed in Hawaii … zero times.

That will change June 13 when Ross makes her isle debut at Blaisdell Arena. A performance at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center will follow the next night.

Tickets for both shows go on sale at 10 a.m. March 27. Promoter Rick Bartalini said he is working with the venues to make sure Hawaii residents get first crack at tickets. "We expect a sellout, and though it’s impossible to eliminate scalpers, we will do our best," he said.

Ticket prices range from $45 to $225 and will be available at RBPconcerts.com or ticketmaster.com, at the Blaisdell box office and by phone at 800-745-3000. For the Maui show, tickets are $55 to $250 and will be available at RBPconcerts.com and mauiarts.org, the MACC box office and by phone at 242-7469.

The Detroit-born Ross became a household name in the mid-1960s when she and the Supremes rode her sweet soprano to the top of Billboard’s Hot 100 with five straight singles — including "Baby Love," "Come See About Me" and "Stop! In the Name of Love" — helping the Motown record label integrate the pop charts. Ross went solo in 1970, topping the charts almost immediately with "Ain’t No Mountain High Enough." Two years later she earned an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday in "Lady Sings the Blues." She remained a force on the music charts, adding five more No. 1 songs, including her 1981 duet with Lionel Richie, "Endless Love."

Based on the reviews of her performance for the reopening of the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, N.Y., last month, Ross is as good at 70 as she has been throughout her career. The New York Times called her "a human sparkler … with a thousand-watt smile," and the Hollywood Reporter said she was "in fine voice" for an 80-minute set that "proceeded at a frenetic pace, with the star barreling from one number to the next."