Ross was born in Greenwich, Connecticut , the son of singer Diana Ross and the late Norwegian mountaineer and businessman Arne Næss Jr. Ross is the youngest of Diana Ross's five children, and also has one brother,Ross Næss, and three half-sisters, Rhonda Ross Kendrick, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Chudney Silberstein, from his mother's previous relationships, as well as two half sisters and a brother, including acclaimed singer Leona Naess, from his father's side. He has lived in Norway, New York City and Los Angeles. Ross lives in Los Angeles as of March 2007.

Ross made his acting debut in 2006, playing the little brother of rapper T.I.'s character in the film ATL. He subsequently appeared in Life Support, a made-for-television film co-starring Queen Latifah. He plays a gay African-American teenage boy that is infected with HIV. His most recent role is in Pride, playing one of several members of the first African-American competitive swimming team. Ross spent a month training to swim, as well as researched the 1970s period that the film takes place in, in preparing for the role.

Ross will next star in Gardens of the Night, about street children; Life Is Hot in Cracktown, an independent film about a neighborhood ravaged by cocaine, co-starring Kerry Washington; Brooklyn to Manhattan, a thriller about four people stalked by killers after a failed drug deal; and another film, Burning Sands, the true story of five friends forced to ban together as they embark on the treacherous task of pledging a historically black fraternity. Ross is also working on his first musical album, which he has described as a "little R&B mix".