At the time of her death Ballard was actually on the verge of a very
successful comeback. After winning a settlement from a slip-and-fall
incident in which she had broken her leg, Ballard took the money and
used it to put herself through a successful rehab and got herself back
into shape. On June 25, 1975, she performed in Detroit as a part of
the Joan Little Defense League at the Henry and Edsel Ford Auditorium,
backed by the female rock group 'The Deadly Nightshade', to a highly
receptive crowd. She sang
Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman", and when the
audience wanted an encore - a
The Supremes encore - Ballard sang "Come See
About Me". Soon after she received offers for recording contracts,
interviews and appearances. She also performed on television,
including a fairly candid conversation about her past and hoped future
during an appearance on the local Detroit TV talk show, "The David
Diles Show".