Berry Gordy, Jr. is an American record producer, and songwriter. He is best known as the founder
of the Motown record label, as well as its many subsidiaries.
Early years Berry Gordy, Jr. was the seventh of eight
children, born to the middle-class family of Berry Gordy II a.k.a. Berry Gordy, Sr.
and Bertha Fuller Gordy, who had relocated to Detroit from Sandersville, Georgia, in
1922. Berry Gordy II was the son of Berry Gordy I and Lucy Hellum. Berry Gordy I was
the son of James Thomas Gordy, a white plantation owner in Georgia, and his female slave Esther
Johnson. Berry Gordy, Jr. is related to former president Jimmy Carter through Carter's mother,
Bessie Lillian Gordy. Berry Gordy, Sr. was lured to Detroit by the
many job opportunities for black people offered by booming automotive businesses.
Berry Gordy, Jr.'s older siblings were all prominent black citizens of Detroit. Berry,
however, dropped out of high school in the eleventh grade to become a professional boxer
in hopes of becoming rich quick, a career he followed until 1950 when he was drafted
by the United States Army for the Korean War. After his return from Korea in 1953, he married
Thelma Coleman. He developed his interest in music by writing songs and opening the
3-D Record Mart, a record store featuring jazz music. The store was unsuccessful and
Gordy sought work at the Lincoln-Mercury plant, but his family connections put him in touch
with Al Green, owner of the Flame Show Bar talent club, where he met singer Jackie Wilson.
In 1957 Wilson recorded "Reet Petite", a song Gordy had co-written with his sister Gwen
and writer-producer, Billy Davis. It became a modest hit, but had more success internationally,
especially in the UK where it reached the Top 10 and even later topped the chart on
re-issue in 1986. Wilson recorded six more songs co-written by Gordy over the next two
years, including "Lonely Teardrops", which topped the R & B charts and got to number
7 in the pop chart. Berry and Gwen Gordy also wrote "All I Could Do Was Cry" for Etta James
at Chess Records. Motown Record Corporation
Gordy reinvested the profits from his songwriting success into producing. In 1957, he discovered
The Miracles and began building a portfolio of successful artists. In 1959, at Miracles
leader Smokey Robinson's encouragement, Gordy borrowed $800 from his family to create R&B
label Tamla Records. On January 21, 1959, "Come To Me" by Marv Johnson was issued as
Tamla 101. United Artists Records picked up "Come To Me" for national distribution, as
well as Johnson's more successful follow-up records. Berry's next release was the only
45 ever issued on his Rayber label, and it featured Wade Jones with an unnamed female
back-up group. The record did not sell well and is now one of the rarest issues from the
Motown stable. Berry's third release was "Bad Girl" by The Miracles, and was the first-ever
release for the Motown record label. "Bad Girl" was a solid hit in 1959 after Chess
Records picked it up. Barrett Strong's "Money" initially appearing on Tamla and then charted
on Gordy's sister's label, Anna Records, in February 1960. The Miracles' hit "Shop Around"
peaked at No. 1 on the national R&B charts in late 1960 and at No. 2 on the Billboard
pop charts on January 16, 1961, which established Motown as an independent company worthy of
notice. Later in 1961, The Marvelettes' "Please Mr. Postman" made it to the top of both charts.
In 1960, Gordy signed an unknown named Mary Wells who became the fledgling label's first
star, with Smokey Robinson penning her hits "You Beat Me to the Punch", "Two Lovers",
and "My Guy". The Tamla and Motown labels were then merged into a new company Motown
Record Corporation, which was incorporated on April 14, 1959.
Gordy's gift for identifying and bringing together musical talent, along with the careful
management of his artists' public image, made Motown initially a major national and then
international success. Over the next decade, he signed such artists as The Supremes, Marvin
Gaye, The Temptations, Jimmy Ruffin, The Contours, The Four Tops, Gladys Knight & the Pips, The
Commodores, The Velvelettes, Martha and the Vandellas, Stevie Wonder and The Jackson 5.
Though he also signed various white acts on the label, he largely promoted African-American
artists but carefully controlled their public image, dress, manners and choreography for
across-the-board appeal. Relocation to Los Angeles
In 1972, Gordy relocated to Los Angeles where he produced the commercially successful Billie
Holiday biography Lady Sings the Blues, starring Diana Ross and Richard Pryor, and introducing
Billy Dee Williams. Initially the studio, over Gordy's objections, rejected Williams
after several screen tests. However, Gordy, known for his tenacity, eventually prevailed
and the film established Williams as a major movie star. Berry Gordy soon after produced
and directed Mahogany, also starring Ross and Williams. In 1985, he produced the cult
martial arts film The Last Dragon, which starred martial artist Taimak and one of Prince's
proteges, Vanity. Although Motown continued to produce major
hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s by artists including the Jacksons, Rick James, Lionel
Richie and long-term signings, Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson, the record company was
no longer the major force it had been previously. Gordy sold his interests in Motown Records
to MCA and Boston Ventures on June 28, 1988 for $61 million. He later sold most of his
interests in Jobete publishing to EMI Publishing. Gordy has written or co-written 240 songs
for Motown's Jobete music catalogue, consisting of approximately 15,000 songs. However, the
true test of the label's worth would come a few years later when Polygram paid over
$330 million for the Motown catalog.. Gordy published an autobiography, To Be Loved,
in 1994. Awards and accolades
Gordy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
Gordy was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1998.
Gordy delivered the commencement address at Michigan State University on May 5, 2006 and
at Occidental College on May 20, 2007. He received an honorary degree from each school.
Gordy received the Songwriters Hall of Fame's Pioneer Award on June 13, 2013. He is the
first living individual to receive the honor. Statements about Motown artists
Following the funeral of Marvin Gaye on April 5, 1984, Gordy declared Gaye "the greatest
of his time" and stated the singer "had no musical equals", comparing his talents to
that of Billie Holiday's. On March 20, 2009, Gordy was in Hollywood
to pay tribute to his first group and first million-selling act, The Miracles, when the
members received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. Speaking in tribute to the group,
Gordy said: "Without The Miracles, Motown would not be the Motown it is today."
At the age of 80, Berry gave a speech during the Michael Jackson memorial service in Los
Angeles on July 7, 2009. Gordy suggested that "The King of Pop" was perhaps not the best
description for Jackson in light of his achievements, and chose instead "the greatest entertainer
that ever lived." Motown: The Musical
On May 15, 2011, it was announced that Gordy was developing a Broadway musical about the
Motown music label. The show is said to be an account of events of the 1960s and how
they shaped the creation of the label. Gordy hopes to use the musical to clear the sullied
name of Motown Records and clear up any misconceptions regarding the label's demise.
Motown: The Musical began previews at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on March 11, 2013, and
began regular performances there on April 14. The musical will close in January 2015,
with the possibility of returning in the summer of 2016.
Personal life Gordy, who married and divorced three times,
has eight children: Hazel Joy, Berry Gordy IV, Terry James, Kerry Ashby, Sherry, Kennedy
William, Rhonda Suzanne, and Stefan Kendal. His publishing company, Jobete, was named
after his three eldest children, Joy, Berry and Terry.
He has three children with first wife Thelma Coleman, whom he married in 1953:
Hazel Joy Berry IV
Terry James In the spring of 1960 he married second wife
Raynoma Mayberry Liles. Together, they have one child who was born that previous year:
Kerry Ashby With Jeana Jackson, Gordy has one daughter:
Sherry With his then-mistress/girlfriend Margaret
Norton, Gordy has a son who would later become more popularly known as Motown musician Rockwell:
Kennedy William Gordy has a daughter with successful Motown
artist Diana Ross, with whom he had an intimate relationship from 1965 through the 1970s:
Rhonda Suzanne Gordy's eighth and youngest child is a son
he has with Nancy Leiviska. He is known by his stage name as Redfoo of the duo LMFAO:
Stefan Kendal After dating for eight years, Berry married
Grace Eaton on July 17, 1990; they divorced in 1993.
Gordy is a vegan. Filmography
1971: Diana! 1972: Lady Sings the Blues
1975: Mahogany 1976: The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor
Kings 1978: The Wiz
1985: The Last Dragon In popular culture
Gordy was portrayed by Billy Dee Williams in the 1992 miniseries The Jacksons: An American
Dream. He was also portrayed by Obba Babatunde in the 1998 miniseries The Temptations.
The character Gordy Berry in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is a reference to Berry Gordy.
The character of Curtis Taylor, Jr., a music executive, in the 2006 musical film Dreamgirls
has been called "a thinly veiled portrayal" of Gordy. The film was based on the 1981 musical
Dreamgirls, but the film made the connection to Gordy and Motown much more explicit than
the musical did, by, among other things, moving the setting of the story from Chicago to Detroit.
Taylor appears in the film as unethical and insensitive to his artists, which caused Gordy
and others to criticize the film after its release. Gordy called the portrayal "100%
wrong," while Smokey Robinson said it "blatantly painted a negative picture of Motown and Berry
Gordy and of the Supremes." In 2007, the producers of the film, DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures,
issued a public apology to Gordy, saying they were sorry "for any confusion that has resulted
from our fictional work." Gordy accepted the apology.
See also List of songs written by Berry Gordy
References
External links
Berry Gordy at the Internet Movie Database Berry Gordy at the Internet Broadway Database
Professional boxing record for Berry Gordy from BoxRec
Bio at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Motown Story information on Berry Gordy
Berry Gordy Jr.'s website at the Wayback Machine