Question: Who Is Berry Gordy & Why Is He Important?
Who is Berry Gordy and why is he considered such an important figure in R&B music history?
Answer: Berry Gordy Jr. created Motown Records on December 14, 1959. His gift for identifying musical talent, along with the careful management of his artists' public image, made Motown a national success. Over the next decade he signed such artists as Mary Wells, The Supremes led by Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Gladys Knight and The Pips, The Commodores, The Velvelettes, The Marvelettes, Martha & the Vandellas, Stevie Wonder, and The Jackson Five.
In 1968 Gordy moved to Los Angeles and expanded Motown's offices there, following the riots in Detroit. In June 1972 he relocated the entire Motown Records company to LA, and the following year he reorganized the company into Motown Industries, an entertainment conglomerate that would include record, movie, television and publishing divisions.
Gordy sold his interests in Motown records to MCA and Boston Ventures in June 1988 for $61 million. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. Gordy is the father of Rhonda Ross Kendrick, the product of a relationship between him and singer Diana Ross, and Kennedy Gordy, better known as the Motown musician Rockwell, by ex-girlfriend Margaret Norton.
