As the sister of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr., Esther Gordy Edwards served in a variety of prominent positions within the company that had discovered and developed young local talent, including Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, The Supremes, and The Temptations, to name just a few.
However, she is most known for founding the Motown Museum 40 years ago. Located within the record label’s former headquarters and recording studio (nicknamed Hitsville USA) on West Grand Boulevard, the museum draws thousands of visitors annually from around the world.
Edwards passed away in 2011, at the age of 90. On what would have been her 105th birthday (April 25), the museum invited the media and over 150 invited guests to The Esther Gordy Edwards Centre for Excellence, a new space inspired by Berry Gordy’s legendary artist development program and honoring Edwards’ commitment to community engagement. The 38,000 square feet building located two blocks west of the Motown Museum will serve as a home for educational programming, creative exploration, research, and youth development.
The first floor contains rehearsal and workshop rooms for the Museum’s Hitsville NEXT, a community-based educational and creative hub with performance camps and competitions for emerging young artists and entrepreneurs. The second floor consists of administrative work areas for museum curators along with a dedicated space that when completed will allow scholars and students to research the Motown story.
Although the center is not open to visitors except for special events, the site includes much-needed parking for when the 40,000 square feet Motown Museum expansion — located behind the Hitsville USA building — opens; that is planned the summer of 2026.
Among the special guests at the preview of the center were Claudette Robinson of the Miracles, the ex-wife of Smokey Robinson; Carolyn Gill Street, the lead singer of the Velvelettes (“Needle in a Haystack”); Paul Riser, Motown arranger, trombonist, and co-writer of the hits “My Girl” and “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted;” several members of the Gordy family, and former U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow.
“This is an awesome venture,” Robinson told Hour Detroit, as we were waiting for the programming to begin. “It is so needed for our young people today to get some training. Years ago at Motown we did have artist development.”
Street recalled the exceptional training she received as a young performer.
“Maxine Powell taught us how to talk with people and Harvey Fuqua taught us how to sing and present ourselves. When we went out on the Dick Clark Caravan tour people would say to us, ‘You Motown artists are different. You have class.’ We had more to present. This center is just wonderful.”
After the guests and media members toured the various workshop rooms named after famous Motown mentors, we gathered in a spacious main hall that will host community programming and special events and heard celebratory remarks from Museum CEO and Chairwoman Robin Terry ( a granddaughter of Esther Gordy Edwards; Sen. Stabenow who had previously helped secure $10 million in federal funding for the museum’s expansion; and Levi Stubbs III, the son of the late Four Tops lead singer who as a Museum trustee oversaw the renovation.
In her opening remarks, Terry said in part:
“You will see as we go forward the spirit of Esther Gordy Edwards lives on in the work that we continue to do. We wanted this to really be a testament to her desire to not only live in excellence but to encourage others to pursue excellence. That will happen in this space.”
After being introduced by Tristan Fisher, the artistic director of Hitsville NEXT, the festive evening was capped off by impressive performances by Hitsville NEXT competition champions, all of whom expressed appreciation for the mentoring they received and the opportunity to perform and hone their skills.
“Spoken Word” 2024 champion Urban Legin’d Obasaki recited a Motown themed poem; Jasmine Terrell, the reigning “Amplify” winner, sang Teena Marie’s Square Biz; and Drey Skonie, the 2023 “Amplify” champ performed an amazing cover of the Miracles’ 1965 hit, Ooo Baby Baby, much to the obvious delight expressed by Claudette Robinson who sang background vocals on the record.
Among those in attendance was Kerry Gordy, 65, the third eldest son of Berry Gordy Jr., who told Hour that he spent the first four years of his life in the second-floor apartment above the famous studio at Motown’s headquarters.
“I think the center is a great thing, not only for Detroit but for the world,” said Gordy, the CEO of Kerry Gordy Enterprises and a renowned record executive who has worked at Motown, Warner Bros. Records, and Paisley Records, Prince’s label.
“At Motown we found the talent, nurtured it, and gave the talent a platform and tools they needed,” Gordy said. “It wasn’t that Detroit had better talent than other cities. But what Detroit had was Motown and Berry Gordy. There is talent in every city but nurturing that talent and developing it is the focus. This new center gives the artist a place to hone their talent to create and be seen. I think it’s an amazing legacy for us.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
