Music company founder Berry Gordy was born on November 28, 1929 in Detroit, Michigan. He served in the U.S. Army and worked as a boxer and record-store manager. He also started his career as a song writer for singers like Jackie Wilson and other local groups. In 1957, he met a group called the Miracles that included Smokey Robinson. In 1959, Gordy borrowed $800 from his family and started Tamela Records on January 21, 1959. Motown Records would follow which launched the careers of many legendary Motown artists that included the Supremes, Jr. Walker & the All-Stars, the Temptations, the Four Tops, the Miracles, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, the Jackson 5, and Martha and the Vandellas. Gordy moved Motown Records to Los Angeles in 1972 where he produced the movies Lady Sings the Blues and Mahagony starring Diana Ross. Barry sold his interests in Motown Records to MCA in 1988. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, Gordy received the National Medal of Arts from President Obama in 2016 after the successful launch of the Broadway musical Motown: The Musical in 2013.
Alternative title
History Makers video oral history with Berry Gordy