biography
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1929– )
|
| biography:
| Record producer, born in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He began writing songs as a teenager and earned a living as a professional boxer and automobile worker. In the 1950s he went to New York and sold some songs that became rhythm-and-blues hits for Jackie Wilson. Forming Motown Records in 1959, he created the ‘Motown sound’ with such artists as Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, and the Jackson Five. In 1970 he began producing films such as Lady Sings the Blues (1972). His success helped to make African-American music part of the popular music industry, and he sold Motown Records in 1988. |
|
|
