Motown Celebrates 50 Years With Gala
By CAITLIN MILLAT
Updated 2:15 AM EDT, Sun, Nov 22, 2009
Motown Records honored its 50th anniversary in style Saturday night, as music icons from Stevie Wonder to Berry Gordy showed up to celebrate half a century of chart-topping hits from the Detroit mainstay with a gala in the label's hometown.
Gordy, Wonder and performers including Aretha Franklin and Kid Rock all showed up to the Motown 50 Golden Gala, held in Detroit, where Gordy spent $800 50 years ago to open Motown Records, the Associated Press reported.
Rock and Wonder performed together on Stevie's hit songs "Superstition" and "Living for the City," as well as the karaoke classic "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours."
Rock said it was a "career milestone" to get to perform with a music legend like Wonder.
President Obama also sent his congratulations via a videotaped message aired at the gala, which attracted about 750 guests who each paid a $350 price tag.
Motown "music made history" and "captured a truly American sound," Obama said.
Some of Motown's biggest hits include Wonder's classics as well as "My Girl" by the Temptations, Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and Smokey Robinson's "The Tears of a Clown."
First Published: Nov 22, 2009 2:01 AM EDT
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