Berry Gordy

Berry Gordy is an American record executive, songwriter, producer and entrepreneur best known as the founder of Motown Records, the label that transformed popular music and helped bring Black artists into the mainstream.

Establishing Motown in Detroit in 1959, Gordy developed a distinctive production system that launched the careers of artists including the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, the Jackson 5, Smokey Robinson and the Temptations. As both a songwriter and producer, he co-wrote numerous hit records while overseeing one of the most successful independent record companies in history. Gordy’s vision reshaped soul, rhythm and blues and pop music, making Motown one of the defining cultural institutions of the 20th century.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and has received numerous lifetime achievement honours.