Martha in the News

This is what Hitsville U.S.A. will look like in the future, $55 million later

This is what Hitsville U.S.A. will look like in the future, $55 million later

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.

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Mable John Obituary

Mable John Obituary

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.

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The Wallis to Present MOTOWN: CELEBRATING THE MUSIC, THE MAGIC, THE LOVE World Premiere in October

The Wallis to Present MOTOWN: CELEBRATING THE MUSIC, THE MAGIC, THE LOVE World Premiere in October

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!

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Motown luminaries celebrate museum expansion

Motown luminaries celebrate museum expansion

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.

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Martha Reeves, The Four Tops’ Duke Fakir Mourn Death of Lamont Dozier

Martha Reeves, The Four Tops’ Duke Fakir Mourn Death of Lamont Dozier

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.

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