Tracee Ellis Ross’ showering of her mother, Diana Ross, with tribute birthday posts has their fans talking.
The singer celebrated her 79th birthday on March 26. In the first Instagram post, Tracee described her mother as an “otherworldly icon” she loves so much. To mark the special occasion, she shared their first Essence cover story from 2004.
But it is Tracee’s second post that has fans raving over her methods of paying homage to the Motown legend. The second time around, the “Girlfriends” actress reached into her archives to uncover a tribute she filmed almost a decade ago.
“In honor of my mom @dianaross’s 79th birthday today, Pt 2: in 2014, I recreated my mom’s ‘Work That Body’ video and I did what the kids call a mashup. Happy birthday to my incredible otherworldly icon of a mom. I love you so so so so much,” she wrote.
In the recording, Tracee, 50, mimicked every shimmy, twitch of the hips, hair toss, and more that Diana did in the original video that was filmed in 1981. It even appeared as though Tracee may have also dipped into her mother’s closet to snag a few of the leotards that the artist Diana wore.
She also playfully showcased cupcakes as the lyrics, “Every morning when we wake
To make up for that piece of cake.” Fans loved every minute of the special birthday tribute, which was originally shared in 2015. Some of them commented:
“One flex is ‘My mother is Diana Ross’ the other flex is ‘I’m muthaeffing Tracee Ellis Ross.’ It’s a win either way.”
“You understood the assignment!!! Happy Birthday to The Queen!”
“She looks like her moma here. So magnificent so beautiful.”
“I see them 23 chromosomes of momma Ross at work in you LOVE IT.”
The “Black-ish” star is no stranger to playing dress up and recreating some of her mother’s most memorable looks. In fact, she has been doing it for years.
While hosting the 2017 American Music Awards, Tracee donned Diana’s black rhinestone-embellished button up blouse. The “Love Hangover” songstress and Michael Jackson famously wore the same top in 1981 during a joint performance.
“OK, does this look familiar to anybody?” Tracee asked the award show audience. She went on say, “Diana Ross and Michael Jackson twinsie outfits from one of my mother’s specials. This was the actual original shirt which I found in the garage, and you ask what was I doing in the garage? I was shopping, slash, stealing!”
And in a 2021 interview on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” she again admitted to nabbing things such as jewelry from her mother’s collection. The Pattern Beauty CEO and founder also shared that recreating her mom’s past looks is something she loves to do.
Meaning there is a good chance fans will have another tribute to ooh and awe over in the future.
