American music executive and record producer (born 1929)
Berry Gordy
Gordy in 1998
Background information
Birth name
Berry Gordy III
Also known as
Berry Gordy Jr.
Born
(1929-11-28) November 28, 1929 (age 94)[1] Detroit, Michigan, U.S.[2]
Genres
R&B
soul
pop
rock and roll
doo-wop
Occupation(s)
Record executive
record producer
songwriter
film producer
television producer
Years active
1953–2019[3][4]
Labels
Motown
Formerly of
The Corporation
Musical artist
Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929) known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr.,[5] is an American retired record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record label and its subsidiaries, which was the highest-earning African-American business for decades.[6]
As a songwriter, Gordy composed or co-composed a number of hits including "Lonely Teardrops" and "That's Why" (Jackie Wilson), "Shop Around" (the Miracles), and "Do You Love Me" (the Contours), all of which topped the US R&B charts, as well as the international hit "Reet Petite" (Jackie Wilson). As part of the Corporation, he wrote many hit songs for the Jackson 5, including "I Want You Back" and "ABC". As a record producer, he launched the Miracles and signed acts like the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and Stevie Wonder. He was known for carefully directing the public image, dress, manners, and choreography of his acts.
Gordy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama in 2016, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2021. In 2022, he was inducted into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame.
^"Berry Gordy | Motown Museum | Home of Hitsville U.S.A." Motown Museum.
^"Berry Gordy | Motown Museum | Home of Hitsville U.S.A." Motown Museum.
^Allard, François; Lecocq, Richard (October 4, 2018). Michael Jackson: All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. Octopus Books. ISBN 9781788401234. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
^Jem Aswad (September 24, 2019). "Motown Founder Berry Gordy to Retire". Variety. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
^Gordy, Berry Sr. (1979). Movin' Up – Pop Gordy Tells His Story. Harper Collins. ISBN 0060220538. Archived from the original on January 1, 2018.
^Smith, Jessie Carney (January 1, 2006). Encyclopedia of African American Business. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313331107.
BerryGordy III (born November 28, 1929) known professionally as BerryGordy Jr., is an American retired record executive, record producer, songwriter...
The Gordys are an African-American family of businesspeople and music industry executives. They were born to Georgia-reared parents Berry "Pops" Gordy Sr...
(née Gordy; January 28, 1922 – January 31, 2014) was an American businesswoman, composer and songwriter. An elder sister of Motown founder BerryGordy, she...
Denise Georgette Gordy is an American former film and television actress and singer. She is a niece of Motown founder BerryGordy and the mother of actress...
American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by BerryGordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, and incorporated as Motown...
Kerry Ashby Gordy (born June 25, 1959) is a career music executive, and fourth eldest child of the founder of Motown Records, BerryGordy. Kerry is the...
and vocalist perhaps best known for her association with ex-husband, BerryGordy during the early days of Motown when she was often known as Miss Ray...
family act The Jacksons, Jermaine, who had just married Motown founder BerryGordy's daughter Hazel, stayed at Motown and was replaced in The Jacksons by...
Esther Gordy Edwards (née Gordy; April 25, 1920 – August 24, 2011) was a staff member and associate of her younger brother BerryGordy's Motown label...
This is a list of songs written by BerryGordy, in most cases with other songwriters. Songs written by BerryGordy, MusicVF.com. Retrieved 21 September...
and "Alright" was not as successful. After receiving an offer from BerryGordy to sign with Motown Records, the Distants got out of their contract with...
Records founder BerryGordy and Nancy Leiviska. Sky Blu is Gordy's grandson and the son of Redfoo's half-brother, BerryGordy IV, Gordy's son with his first...
niece of BerryGordy I, who was the paternal half-brother of James Jackson Gordy and the grandfather of Motown Records founder BerryGordy. She volunteered...
divorce. Gwen Gordy was born to BerryGordy Sr. and Bertha Ida (née Fuller) Gordy in Detroit, Michigan. She was the youngest of the four Gordy sisters (Esther...
Tony Richardson, was fired during production, and BerryGordy assumed the director's chair himself. Gordy and Ross clashed during filming, with Ross leaving...
debut solo album, Party Rock Mansion in 2016. Gordy was born in Los Angeles, California, to BerryGordy, the founder of the Motown record label, and writer-producer...
wanted to stay fired. "I said I want to become a BerryGordy, I don't want to just work for a BerryGordy. And he says I can, I can dig that. So he was nice...
Serenaders, in the mid-1950s. He was discovered by BerryGordy while performing at a carnival; Gordy had already decided to form his first record label...
content. The company was founded by BerryGordy Jr., in 1968, as Motown Productions, the film and television arm of Gordy's Motown Records label. It became...
American vocal group that was the first successful recording act for BerryGordy's Motown Records, and one of the most important and most influential groups...
actress Diana Ross and the biological child of Motown Records founder BerryGordy; however, her legal father is Robert Ellis Silberstein, as her mother...
Global Information