Motown Museum Expansion

MOTOWN MUSEUM ANNOUNCES MUSEUM EXPANSION 50,000 square foot world class expansion to include interactive and immersive educational and entertainment experiences, theatre and state-of-the-art exhibits DONATE TO THE MOTOWN MUSEUM EXPANSION Motown Museum announced it will undergo a $50-million-dollar expansion growing the Museum to a 50,000 square foot world-class tourist destination featuring dynamic, interactive exhibits, acontinue reading…

Motown The Musical to Hold Open Call Auditions at Motown Museum

MOTOWN THE MUSICAL RETURNS HOME TO HITSVILLE U.S.A. TO HOLD OPEN CALL AUDITIONS IN DETROIT TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2017 AT THE MOTOWN MUSEUM Producers Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Motown Founder Berry Gordy are pleased to announce an open call casting search for African-American singers for the national touring production of MOTOWN THE MUSICAL, withcontinue reading…

Motown Women Behind the Scenes: The Gordy Women

The first women to contribute to the work of Motown Records were those closest to Berry Gordy.  Berry’s mother, Bertha Gordy, was a passionate entrepreneur along with Mr. Gordy’s father.  The Gordy parents inspired Berry and his siblings to develop entrepreneurial skills of their own.  As a result, Berry Gordy’s four sisters all played pivotalcontinue reading…

Ford Motor Company and UAW-Ford Invest $6 Million in Motown Museum Expansion

In 1959 Berry Gordy started Motown Records in Detroit. He modeled his business, which became a global hit-making factory, after the Ford Motor Company assembly line. Today, Ford and UAW-Ford are part of the Motown story again, announcing a $6 million investment as lead donor in a $50 million expansion of Motown Museum. The museumcontinue reading…

Music Lessons for Life: Motown EDU Students Reflect on Experience

Earlier this year, we caught up with Zuri, Elijah Hunt and Ricky T, three participants of the Motown EDU 2015 summer camp, during a recording session sponsored by UAW-Ford. The Museum’s annual camp exposes metro-Detroit youth to music entrepreneurial skills as well as lessons on stage presence, songwriting, music production and more. These talented young peoplecontinue reading…

5 Things that Happened at Motown Museum During Black Music Month

June officially became Black Music Month in 1979, just two decades after the Motown Sound emerged and changed the way we looked at music forever.  The Motown story inspires many people because of the impact these talented Black musicians had on musical history. Though we celebrate Black music history at Hitsville U.S.A. every day, wecontinue reading…

The Mothers of Motown: How Motherly Love Helped Build an Empire

As many people know, mothers are no stranger to sacrifice. In fact, they are the greatest symbol of unconditional love. This is especially true of the mothers of Motown legends. Today, we remember three “Motown Mothers” whose contributions helped build the empire of Motown Records and added to the world renowned Motown sound. The Mothercontinue reading…

One Single Rose: Bringing Out the Soul in Detroit Spoken Word

Soul-infused words bouncing off of the walls of Hitsville U.S.A is what Motown Mic encompasses. It’s no surprise that the first-ever winner of the series, Rosemarie “One Single Rose” Wilson, is an artist who personifies soul through her artistry, presence but most of all her words. One Single Rose’s spoken word career was launched aftercontinue reading…

A Life Changing Experience: Tamyra Rene Opens Up about Winning Motown Mic 2015

  For the past three years, spoken word artists have a mic with their name on it at Hitsville U.S.A. This month, our Motown Mic series will continue to attract dozens of poets and guests from all over metro-Detroit. The Series honors Motown’s historic Black Forum Label by allowing spoken word artists of today tocontinue reading…

Black Forum Fridays: Honoring Motown’s Hidden Gem

Imagine yourself listening to the voices of greats like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Langston Hughes in the vibrant Motown Museum gallery. Our Black Forum Fridays event series made that a reality. Every Friday during Black History Month, the Museum paid homage to Motown’s historic Black Forum Label, which was active from 1970 to 1973.continue reading…