Also American

Person · 1929–

Berry Gordy

The songwriter and entrepreneur who founded Motown, the most successful Black-owned business of its era and the sound of young America.

A titan of [[black-business]] and [[black-music]].

With an $800 loan, Berry Gordy built Motown Records into a hit factory — the Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, the Jackson 5 — that crossed over to white audiences without losing its Black roots, and became a model of Black enterprise.

On the timeline

  1. January 12, 1959
    Motown Records is founded

    Berry Gordy launches the label that will define the "Sound of Young America."

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