1959Reputable sourceWell documented
Motown: The Sound of Young America
On the timeline · around 1959 · The Rock & Pop Era
What happened
In 1959 Berry Gordy Jr. founded Motown Records in Detroit, borrowing $800 from his family and building it from a two-story house he called Hitsville U.S.A. into the most successful Black-owned business in America. Its polished 'Motown sound' produced a stream of crossover hits by artists like the Supremes, the Temptations, and Stevie Wonder.
Why it matters
Motown brought Black music into the pop mainstream on an unprecedented scale, playing a major role in the racial integration of popular music, and its soul sound became the template for decades of pop.
Sources
Related timelines
- The Civil Rights Movement → — Music and racial integration