Martha in the News

Rapper Doug E. Fresh, Toni Basil, and industry veteran Sujata Murthy of Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) were among the list of this year’s HAL Award Honorees. Published on September 27, 2022 by Briana Blandford on udiscovermusic.com. (L-R) Gloria Hendry, Freda...

By Amy Lange, Published September 15 on fox2detroit.com 'Boblo Boats: A Detroit Ferry Tale' hits theatres A film seven years in the making, "Boblo Boats: A Detroit Ferry Tale" is now in theatres, showing a history of Boblo Island, as well the restoration of...

We’re seeing more of what the future of Hitsville U.S.A. will look like. The Motown Museum has unveiled new renderings showing a 40,000 square foot space which will house interactive exhibits, a theater and more. It’s all part of the museum’s $55 million expansion.

The area will be built behind the iconic Hitsville U.S.A. building and nearby Motown-era homes. This is phase three of the expansion of the new museum campus. The expansion is not only expected to make the museum a bigger tourist attraction, but it will provide jobs and investments in the community.

In 1959, after she had been acting as his chauffeur and general assistant for three years, Mable John became the first female singer signed by Berry Gordy Jr, the founder of Motown Records. “Berry didn’t know how to drive and he didn’t have a car,” she said. Although Gordy acted as her mentor, pianist and songwriter, they were never able to come up with the sort of hits with which Mary Wells, Martha Reeves and Diana Ross, his other female signings, would soon be turning the Detroit-based label into a colossus of the music industry.

Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts will present the world premiere of Motown: Celebrating the Music, the Magic, the Love on Saturday, October 1, 2022, 7:00 pm, at The Wallis’ Bram Goldsmith Theater.

Immerse yourself in the magic of early Motown with a unique opportunity to experience an evening with music trailblazers and icons who will share their rare insights into the phenomenal music, and the stories behind it, that positively impacted people and music around the globe. Motown: Where legends were born and dreams were made!

The historic section of Detroit where Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr. built his music empire six decades ago is now looking better than ever.

Motown legend — and Gordy’s best friend — Smokey Robinson was among those who visited the newly improved Motown Museum site on Monday night for an event celebrating the completion of the first two phases of the museum’s expansion.

The Motown songwriter was one third of the storied Holland-Dozier-Holland team.

Next to the Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas and the Four Tops were the primary recipients of Holland-Dozier-Holland’s hitmaking prowess at Motown.

So it’s no surprise that the principals of those groups had only warm memories about Lamont Dozier as news spread on Tuesday (Aug. 9) of his death at the age of 81.

A collection of photos from this joyous event with Martha Reeves and many other Motown Legends.

When Michael Barg decided to knock on the door of a residence selling a Ford Crown Victoria on Craigslist at around 11:30 p.m. one fateful evening in 2018, he wasn’t expecting Motown legend Martha Reeves to be the one answering the door.

For the first time in perhaps a long time, Martha Reeves was at a loss for words.

“There’s no way to describe the happiness I’m feeling today,” the Motown star said Sunday evening, several hours into a lavish, rollicking 80th birthday party with about 150 friends and family members. “It shows you how much I’m really loved, and I don’t think I’ll ever be the same.”