Berry Gordy Biography, Age, Wife, Children, Motown, Net Worth & Wiki

Berry Gordy is a record producer, film producer, songwriter, and television producer from the United States. He is most recognized for founding the Motown record company and its branches, which for generations was the top-earning African American company. As a songwriter, he wrote or co-wrote a number of singles, several of which peaked at the number of the R&B charts in the United States. President Barack Obama awarded him the National Medal of Arts in 2016.

In 1959, Berry Gordy started Motown Records. Popular performers established by Gordy, includes the Jackson 5, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Wonder, dominated the music landscape in the 1960s and 1970s. Motown’s downfall was attributed to changing preferences and a lack of concentration, and Gordy liquidated the firm in 1988. That year, Gordy was welcomed into the Rock Hall or the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Berry Gordy Bio/Wiki

Birth Name	Berry Gordy III
Nick Name	Berry Gordy Jr.
Age	94 years (as in 2023)
Religion	Christian
Sun Sign/Zodiac Sign	Sagittarius
Birth Place	Detroit, Michigan, United States
Date of Birth	28 November 1929
Nationality	African American
Residence	Boston Boulevard
Home Town	Detroit, Michigan
Hobbies	Signing Writing Songs
Family
Mother’s Name	Bertha Ida Gordy
Father’s Name	Berry Gordy II
Brother	George Gordy Robert Gordy Fuller Gordy
Sister	Anna Gordy Gaye Gwen Gordy Esther Gordy Edwards Loucye Gordy Wakefield
Girlfriends/Affairs
Affairs/Girlfriends	Grace Easton Nancy Leiviska Diana Ross Margaret Norton (I) Jeana Jackson Raynoma Singleton Thelma Louise Coleman Barbara McNair
Marital Status, Wife and Children
Wife/Spouse	Grace Eaton (1990-1993) Thelma Coleman (1953-1959) Ray Singleton (1960-1964)
Marriage Date	17 July 1990 (Grace Eaton) 1953 (Thelma Coleman) 1960 (Ray Singleton)
Children	Rhonda Ross Kendrick Redfoo Hazel Gordy Rockwell Berry Gordy IV Kerry Gordy Sherry Gordy Terry James Gordy
Grand Children	Sky Blu Mahogany Lox Raif-Henok Emmanuel Kendrick Autumn Jackson Jaimy Jackson Jermaine Jackson Jr.
Education
School	Northeastern High School in Detroit, Michigan
College/University	None
Educational Qualification	Bachelor’s degree in General Educational Development
Profession	Songwriter Entrepreneur Record Producer Film Producer Film director Businessperson Television producer Theatre Producer
Brands Endorsed	None
Career Manager	Not known
Height, Weight, and Figure Measurements
Height (Approx.)	in centimeters – 175 cm in meters – 1.75 m in Feet and Inches – 5′8″
Weight (Approx.)	in Kilograms – 80 Kg in Pounds – 176 lbs
Figure Measurements
Chest Size	Not known
Biceps Size	Not known
Waist Size	Not known
Extra Ordinary Features
Race / Ethnicity	African American
Hair Color	None (Bald)
Eye Color	Dark Brown
S*xual Orientation	Straight
Dress Size	Not known
Shoe Size	9 (US)
Favourite Things
Favourite Food	Sweet Potato Pie
Favourite Book	Motown: I’ll Be There – Book #4
Favourite Colors	Dark Navy
Favourite Sport	Boxing
Favourite Song	Shop Around
Favourite Artist	The Supremes

Life Journey

Berry Gordy III was born in Detroit, Michigan, on 28th November 1929 to Bertha Ida Gordy and Berry Gordy II. In a connected, hardworking family, Berry was the seventh of eight children in the family.

Gordy suffered in school, unlike his brothers. He liked music and was interested in songwriting as early as age 7, but he left high school in his eleventh standard to pursue a career as a professional boxer with the expectation of swiftly getting wealthy.

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He was a professional boxer till 1950.  Then the United States Army conscripted him for duty in the Korean War in 1951. Gordy was allocated to the 58th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, on Panmunjom, when he arrived in Korea in May 1952.

Later, he worked as a chaplain’s aide, driving a jeep and playing the organ during front-row religious services. His service in the Korean War ended in April 1953. He earned a bachelor’s degree in General Educational Development.

He married Thelma Louise Coleman, a nineteen-year-old girl, after returning from Korea in 1953 in Ohio. Gordy pursued his passion for music by creating songs and founding the 3-D Record Mart, a contemporary record store with 3-D spectacles.

Gordy pursued work at the Lincoln-Mercury plant when the store failed, but his family ties connected him with Al Green, proprietor of the Flame Show Bar Talent Club, wherein he met vocalist Jackie Wilson.

In 1957,  Gordy co-wrote Reet Petite for Wilson, with his sister Gwen and Billy Davis, a writer-producer. It was a minor hit in the United States, but it was a bigger smash elsewhere, particularly in the United Kingdom, where it entered the Top 10 and even topped the charts on re-issue in 1986.

Over the next two years, Wilson recorded six additional songs co-written with Gordy, notably Lonely Teardrops, that topped the R&B charts and reached number 7 on the mainstream list. At Chess Records, the Gordy siblings and Davis penned All I Could Do Was Cry for singer Etta James.

Soon he launched the Motown label, which became the high grossing African American record label in history.

Berry Gordy Net Worth

Berry Gordy has a net worth of $420 million.

Berry Gordy started the Motown record in January 1959. Motown had 450 workers and revenue of $20 million by 1966. Motown became one of the leading and successful independent record labels in history throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Gordy sold his Motown share to MCA Records for $61 million in 1988. He also sold his Motown song library rights to Polygram for $330 million.

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In 1976, he purchased his first piece of Bel-Air real estate. He grew his real estate over time, and now he owns three contiguous lots that make up a four-acre compound.

The main home on the site is 10,000 square feet and has 13 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms. He also owns a 5,000-square-foot home on an adjacent property. The Bel Air homes are estimated to be worth between $50 and 70 million dollars.

Career

• Gordy co-wrote Reet Petite in 1957. It was a small hit in the United States, but it was a larger hit overseas, especially in the United Kingdom, where it reached the Top 10 and even topped the charts when it was re-released in 1986.
• Over the next two years, Gordy co-wrote six additional songs c, including Lonely Teardrops, which dominated the R&B charts and reached number seven on the mainstream list.
• By the period Gordy started Motown, he already had found Smokey Robinson and was at the pinnacle of Detroit’s Black music industry.
• By the period Gordy started Motown, he already had found Smokey Robinson and was at the pinnacle of the Black music industry in Detroit. Motown had a run of songs in the early 1960s, including Martha and the Vandellas’s Dancing in the Street as well as the Temptations’ My Girl.
• Gordy also created the Supremes, Motown’s first superstar act, during this period. The team moved on becoming one of the most popular female vocal trios of all time, thanks to Diana Ross’s beautiful voice and calm elegance.
• Gordy moved the firm to Hollywood in the early 1970s following which he began producing movies, notably Lady Sings the Blues in 1972, which starred Ross in her cinematic debut as Billie Holiday.
• Through the mid-1980s, the business had surpassed hundreds of millions of dollars in yearly sales, and Motown performers had amassed more than a whopping fifty No. 1 singles on the Billboard pop singles list.
• However, in 1988, Berry sold the music company due to increased competition from major media corporations.
• Berry went on to write the book named Motown: The Musical that opened on Broadway in 2013 and even in the West End of London in 2016.
• Gordy was acknowledged at the American Music Awards in 1975 for his career achievements, was admitted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, and earned the Recording Academy’s President’s Merit Award in 2008.

Facts

• Gordy wrote and co-wrote about 200 songs for Motown’s Jobete music collection, which includes over 15,000 tracks.
• Before being drafted into the US Army for the Korean War, Berry Gordy, Jr. was a professional boxer.
• Gordy labored in the automotive industry before establishing Motown as a cornerstone of success in the Detroit scene.
• Gordy not only has a good ear for music, but he also has a good eye for movies. Gordy started Motown Productions in 1968, and the business produced seven feature pictures between 1975 and 1985.
• Berry 240 tracks for Motown’s Jobete music collection were eventually sold for $330 million.
• In 1988, Berry was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
• Berry’s record company, Motown, was responsible for a string of successes that transformed American modern music in the 1960s.

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