Music / Business & brands
Berry Gordy
born 1929 · record executive, producer, songwriter, film producer
Detroit-born founder of Motown, who turned a house on West Grand Boulevard into Hitsville U.S.A. and built the most successful Black-owned business of its era.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 96- Birth name
- Berry Gordy III
- Also known as
- Berry Gordy Jr.
- Detroit years
- 1929–1972
- Field
- Music, Business & brands
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Gordy's parents came to Detroit from Georgia in 1922 during the Great Migration. He left Northeastern High School to box as a featherweight and then served in the Army during the Korean War. Back home in 1953 he opened the 3-D Record Mart, a jazz record shop that failed within two years, and took a job on the Lincoln-Mercury assembly line. Through the Flame Show Bar he met Jackie Wilson and co-wrote hits such as "Lonely Teardrops." In January 1959, with an $800 family loan, he started Tamla Records and bought the house at 2648 West Grand Boulevard, hanging a "Hitsville U.S.A." sign over the door. There he signed the Miracles, the Supremes, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, backed by staff writers, the Funk Brothers house band and an in-house artist-development program. Motown moved its offices to the Donovan Building on Woodward in 1968 and left for Los Angeles in 1972. Detroit gave him the key to the city in 2014.
Highlights
- Founded Tamla/Motown in Detroit in 1959 with an $800 family loan
- Co-wrote "Money (That's What I Want)" and "Lonely Teardrops"
- Sold Motown to MCA and Boston Ventures in 1988 for $61 million
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1988); National Medal of Arts (2016); Kennedy Center Honors (2021)
- Received the key to the city of Detroit in 2014
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 5
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Founded · 1959–1972
Motown Museum
The house he bought in 1959 and turned into Motown's headquarters and Studio A; opened as the Motown Museum in 1985.
Worked here · 1968–1972
Donovan Building
Demolished · 1923–2006
Ten-story Albert Kahn office block that served as Motown's headquarters from 1968 to 1972; demolished in January 2006 to clear parking space before Super Bowl XL.
Founded · 1953–1955
3-D Record Mart
Closed · 1953–1955
His short-lived jazz record shop, opened with his Army pay; it went bankrupt in 1955.
Favorite haunt · 1950s
Flame Show Bar
Demolished · 1949–1963
Paradise Valley nightclub where his sisters ran the photo concession; a networking base where he met Jackie Wilson. The site is now in the Detroit Medical Center area.
Studied here · 1940s
Northeastern High School
Demolished · 1982
East-side high school he left in his junior year to box professionally; it closed in 1982 and was later demolished.