One Woman: The Ultimate Collection
One Woman: The Ultimate Collection is a compilation album by American singer Diana Ross, released on October 18, 1993 by EMI Records. The single-disc collection was the alternative to Ross' 1993 four-CD box set, Forever Diana: Musical Memoirs, which was a 30th anniversary commemorative of her hit-making years over three decades including work with The Supremes. This collection was similar featuring both Supremes hits and solo hits.
It became Ross' best-selling album in the United Kingdom, selling over 1,200,000 copies. It peaked at number one on the UK Albums Chart for two non-consecutive weeks, first over the Christmas week of 1993 and again in January 1994. The success of this release in the United Kingdom meant that Ross would embark on her most extensive tour of the UK in her 28 years of touring in that market since her maiden tour with The Supremes on "The Motortown Revue" in 1965.
The album, conceived by advertising agency Mitchell Patterson Aldred Mitchell, was first introduced to UK, European and international markets with a four-week sequential advertising campaign before its release, on prime time television. The first week began with a shot of Ross' legs laying down and accompanying music that included the newly-released single "Chain Reaction '93"; the second week her mid-torso was shown along with teaser quotes inviting the viewer to guess who it was, though the music gave huge cues of her next single "The Best Years of My Life". The third week, her upper torso was now visible, and the final week, days before the album's commercial release, Ross was revealed in full, lying down, in a photo shoot by Albert Watson, including a megamix of Ross' biggest hits.
According to Soundscan, One Woman: The Ultimate Collection sold over 275,000 in the United States despite never making the charts there. It also went Platinum in Belgium and Gold in France.