Family of Former Supreme's Member Cindy Birdsong Requests Conservatorship

The family of Cindy Birdsong, a former member in The Supremes, is asking a Los Angeles court to put the singer under a conservatorship, new reports reveal.

The request for a conservatorship comes amid her family's concerns that the 83-year-old Motown artist, who famously left The Supremes back in 1976, is unfit to handle her own affairs after suffering several strokes. Her relatives also believe her longtime friend, Rochelle Lander, has too much control over the performer's care and finances.

According to the report from the New York Times, Cindy's family has asked the court to assign her brother, Ronald Birdsong, and entertainment manager Brad Herman, as Cindy's co-conservators, and remove Lander as a caretaker.

The family believes Lander—who was given power of attorney by Cindy over ten years ago—has been holding too much control over her life, including "isolating" her from friends and family.

As Cindy's health has deteriorated over the years, Ronald claims Lander has kept the family "in the blind," about his sister's condition.

After suffering a second major stroke about seven years ago, the family accused Lander of becoming "increasingly secretive" about the status of Cindy's health, including "at one point refusing to tell the family the medical facility where she was receiving care."

"We didn't even know where Cindy was," said the singer's sister-in-law Melody Birdsong. Lander, however, has insisted the family knew all along about Cindy's condition.

Cindy's brother Ronald, as well as her only child, David Hewlett, claimed they also had difficulty visiting her for years, which they believe is on account of Lander's control.

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When they finally were able to see her, they found her on a feeding tube back in 2021, which came as a major shock for her family members, including her sister Terri Birdsong.

"I was so devastated this last time I went to see my sister because that’s not how she was the last time that I saw her,” Terri told the Times, adding, "I was able to feed her and cook for her and then I show up and she’s on a feeding tube?"

Once the family got the police involved in 2021, Cindy was placed in a nursing facility. Lander later challenged the family's right to intervene by taking advantage of the power of attorney form that Cindy had signed over to her.

"The family has known about this; they can’t come in without giving me due process," she reportedly said at the time of the 2021 incident, according to a video of the police response, per the Times.

At the time, Lander also defended her care for Cindy, insisting that the singer "had a complete mental break; no one would help her."

"Nobody else would do it," she added in the video footage.

According to the Times, Lander "considered but did not agree to an interview, and stopped responding to inquiries."

The conservatorship application filed by the family reportedly notes that Cindy is still on a feeding tube and that she is unable to get out of bed or communicate.

A court hearing has been scheduled for August.