If It’s Magic? It’s 2025
MOTOWN’S SUPERSTARS NEVER STOP MOVING
But when do they have time to sleep?
Superstars of Motown – Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Lionel Richie – have helped to make 2025 a most remarkable year. They have all been travelling and touring at home and abroad to a degree arguably not seen Hitsville’s heyday in the 1960s.
Typical is Ross, who flew to Nigeria in January for an annual event she’s not attended in 18 years, and who will bid goodbye to 2025 in December with a New Year’s Eve appearance on a TV special to be broadcast from New York. In between, she found her way to Manhattan’s Met Gala – that gown! – and the Hollywood Bowl, signed up to be a “godmother” for a cruise liner, played concerts in the U.K. (including several with different British orchestras) and continental Europe (including the Montreux Jazz Festival), followed by U.S. dates on her “Beautiful Love” tour, raised money for charity in Los Angeles, and dropped by a London party to celebrate a caviar brand launched by the son of her late husband.
Celebrating his 96th with Stevie, Smokey, Otis
Diana’s onetime partner on disc seemed almost as busy. Lionel Richie played shows on both sides of the Atlantic, and undertook promotional activities in support of his newly-published autobiography. His 25 concert appearances in 2025 generated almost $18 million in revenue, and drew close to 120,000 in audience numbers. Talk about endless love.
Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder, too, jetted between the United States and the United Kingdom, while also making appearances at various awards shows and showbiz events. And all of this, in Robinson’s case, while having to contend with what seemed like perpetual media coverage of the sexual abuse lawsuit filed against him by former employees in May.
Not that these forever-Motown artists were the only ones in circulation. Otis Williams’ Temptations were highly visible this year, while Thelma Houston, Gloria Jones, the Commodores and the Jacksons were active and money-making.
The two-story house in Detroit where it all began was also regularly in the news. The Motown Museum’s multi-million-dollar expansion plan has been making structural progress, while its chairwoman hired a new CEO and introduced her on the 40th anniversary of this near-sacred institution.
And music? In a streaming world, there have obviously been fewer (if any?) physical releases drawn by Universal Music from the Motown catalogue, but several independent labels have come up with imaginative vinyl offerings under license. Meanwhile, the recorded legacy of the Snakepit continues to accumulate huge numbers via the likes of Spotify and Apple Music, with Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” reaching 1.8 billion streams on the first of those digital services.
But perhaps the most extraordinary event of 2025 was the 96th birthday of the man whose talent, vision and determination gave birth to all this magic in the first place. Many of those who owe their stardom to Berry Gordy were present for his party in Los Angeles, while millions of Motown admirers worldwide were there in spirit. The Sound of Young America may be ageless, after all.
So now, the detail. Below is a chronology of the year, with (hopefully) all the significant – or, at least, engaging – milestones. Feel free to use the Comments to add anything which ought to be included. And with luck, many of those Hitsvillians who have been on the road in 2025 will get some sleep over the holidays.
January 24: Stevie Wonder is at the annual NAMM show in Anaheim, California to inspect the latest music technology, including the Genesys G3D recording console produced by British firm AMS Neve. He also gives an impromptu performance of “Don’t You Worry ’Bout A Thing” with one of his proteges, Sheléa.
At NAMM ‘25, Stevie and Sheléa
January 26: Diana Ross arrives in Nigeria to take part in the annual ThisDay Awards tomorrow in the country’s capital, Lagos. She last appeared at the ceremony in 2007.
February 20: Jerry Butler dies at age 85 in Chicago. He recorded three albums for Motown in 1976-77, including a duet set with Thelma Houston. Butler began his career in the Windy City as an original member of the Impressions, then prospered as a solo hitmaker, most evidently with Philadelphia creatives Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.
March 10: A memorial service for Roberta Flack includes Stevie Wonder performing the song he originally wrote for her, “I Can See The Sun In Late December.” The event takes place at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York.
March 21: Spain’s Elemental Music sends the last of its Motown vinyl reissues to market in the form of the Temptations’ 1970 album, Psychedelic Shack. The label has reissued 28 LPs since the launch of its “Motown Sound” collection in May 2024.
March 28: Marvin Gaye Live! is re-released by Motown/Universal Music Enterprises on digital streaming services, featuring (for the first time) the singer’s full show in Oakland, California on January 4, 1974. The album is available in its original form and as a deluxe edition with the addition of four rare cuts from the concert.
March 29: Joan Belgrave, widow of jazz trumpeter and Motown session player Marcus Belgrave, does a meet-and-greet at the Motown Museum and signs copies of her book, The Music of Marcus Belgrave.
March 29: Ace Records releases Hit & Run! More Motown Guys, a 25-track CD of rare and previously-unissued tracks from Hitsville U.S.A. It is the last project for the label by the late Keith Hughes, respected in the Motown community for earlier such packages and his Don’t Forget The Motor City online database.
Otis Williams is a gentleman at the HBAs
April 6: The Temptations’ Otis Williams is the recipient of the Gentleman’s Award at the annual Hollywood Beauty Awards. The accolade is presented to him by Smokey Robinson.
April 12: The Commodores, including original members William King and Walter Orange, perform at SeaWorld Orlando’s Seven Seas Food Festival in Florida. “Lionel’s doing his thing, and we love him for it,” says King, “but the Commodores are still here, still strong, and still funky.”
April 25: Nashville’s Gaither Music Group releases Smokey Robinson’s latest album, What The World Needs Now, produced by Warryn Campbell. “My publishing partners in New York sent me a list of inspirational songs,” Robinson says of its contents, which include versions of “Lean On Me,” “I’ll Take You There” and “What A Wonderful World,” among others.
April 25: The Motown Museum unveils its Esther Gordy Edwards Centre for Excellence at 2550 West Grand Boulevard, including a 20,000 square-foot extension of Hitsville Next, the museum’s creative and educational hub.
April 26: Smokey Robinson is among those recognised at the third annual American Music Honors, staged by the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey.
April 28: Photographer Jim Hendin dies at age 84. Best-known for the images used on the album cover of What’s Going On, he worked as an independent contractor for Motown in Detroit from 1968-74. Hendin’s talent was showcased in a Motown Museum exhibit in 2020.
May 5: Berry Gordy drops his defamation lawsuit against Timothy Bogart and others over the creation of “a false narrative” about him in the movie Spinning Gold about Casablanca Records, founded by Bogart’s father. The suit was originally filed in June 2023.
May 5: Diana Ross and Stevie Wonder attend the annual Met Gala in New York. Wonder’s wife, Tomeeka Robyn Bracy, and son Kailand join him, while Ross is accompanied by her son, Evan. Her gown extends to an 18-foot train embroidered with the names of her children and grandchildren. Wonder also performs at the gala’s post-dinner concert.
Pat Cosby at the Motown Museum
May 6: Smokey Robinson is sued in Los Angeles by four former housekeepers, who claim sexual abuse by him over a period of years while in his employ. His wife, Francis, is also accused. Robinson countersues later this month.
May 22: The Motown Museum opens an exhibit dedicated to the late musician/songwriter/producer Hank Cosby, one of the record company’s most consistent creatives. He worked for Motown from 1959-1972, co-writing and/or co-producing such classics as “Fingertips,” “Uptight (Everything’s Alright),” “Love Child” and “The Tears Of A Clown.”
May 27: The Elite Agent website reports that the Calabasas estate once home to Stevie Wonder and his former wife, Kai Milla-Morris, is listed for sale at $15 million. “Stevie, even the incredible musician as he is, he practiced [there] every single day,” says Milla-Morris.
June 6: An exhibit devoted to the career of Thelma Houston opens at the African American Cultural Center of Long Beach, California. The showcase includes her role as “the Clock” during television’s The Masked Singer in 2024, and the April ’25 induction of her album with Pressure Cooker, I’ve Got The Music In Me, into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.
June 7: Dennis Johnstone’s original Motown poem, “Dance in the Light,” is the winner of the motorcitysixty poetry competition, held in Clevedon, Somerset, during the English town’s annual literature festival. A collection of the winning and commended Motown entries is available here.
June 9: Stevie Wonder presents Jamie Foxx with an “Ultimate Icon” award at the 2025 BET awards, held at the Peacock Theatre, Los Angeles.
June 12: Former Motown singer/songwriter Gloria Jones gives a keynote speech about women and finance at a Evolution of Finance conference in south London.
Diana hears a symphony
June 13: West Grand Records releases A Cellarful Of Motown! A Northern Soul Love Affair. It’s the new U.K. label’s debut LP, with 16 tracks by Kim Weston, Brenda Holloway, the Originals, the Monitors, Tammi Terrell and more. The following month, West Grand releases as a vinyl 45 Edwin Starr’s rare recording of “Real Humdinger,” coupled with “Scott’s On Swingers (S.O.S.),” a tribute to celebrated Detroit DJ Scott Regen.
June 17: Buzz Me In, an account of the renowned Record Plant studios in New York and Los Angeles, is published by Thames & Hudson. The facilities were frequently used by Stevie Wonder to record his ’70s album masterpieces.
June 17: Smokey Robinson talks with Eddie Holland about Motown hits on his Smokey’s Place show broadcast on the SiriusXM satellite radio network.
June 25: Diana Ross appears at Glasgow’s Ovo Hydro venue for the only Scottish date on her seven-city “A Symphonic Celebration” U.K. tour. She is paired with different orchestras at various venues.
June 30: Universal Music announces the launch of the Berry Gordy Music Industry Scholarship at the UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music, which last year inaugurated the Berry Gordy Music Industry Center at the university. It’s a hub dedicated to research, teaching, community engagement and career support.
July 3: Lionel Richie brings his “Say Hello to the Hits” tour of the U.K. (and continental Europe) to the Utilita Arena in Sheffield, Yorkshire. “At 76,” writes Scott Antcliffe in the Yorkshire Post, “Richie still possesses an undeniable charm and a voice that remains remarkably smooth and powerful.”
July 3: Diana Ross and son Evan attend a private cocktail party at London’s Dorchester Hotel, held to mark the launch of Arne’s Reserve Caviar. The brand is the work of Arne Naess Jr., son of Ross’ late husband.
July 3: Time Studios announce plans to produce a documentary about the years-long campaign to make the birthday of Rev. Martin Luther King a U.S. federal holiday. Stevie Wonder is involved with the film project via his Eyes ’n’ Sound company.
July 5: Smokey Robinson headlines the Love Supreme Jazz Festival in the south of England, marking his first British concert date since 2010. “This is a man adept at defying age with limber moves and a voice that shows only some of the wear of his 85 years,” writes Kate French-Morris in the Daily Telegraph.
An abundant Cellarful from West Grand
July 6: Diana Ross returns to perform in Paris after almost two decades. “The Accor Arena is overcome with happiness,” reports European news agency BGNES about the show before an audience estimated at 15,000.
July 12: Stevie Wonder closes his five-date “Love, Light & Song” tour of the U.K. at London’s Hyde Park, before an audience of some 65,000. He wears a white tunic embroidered with the faces of John Lennon and Marvin Gaye; his set includes a version of Lennon’s “Imagine.”
July 19: The Jacksons perform in Britain at Audley End House & Gardens in Saffron Walden, Essex – a 17th century country house. Weeks earlier, Jackie Jackson tells the Daily Star that a new album is due from the group “soon.”
July 21: Netflix premieres Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan, a documentary executive-produced by Kerry Gordy. “When I was a kid,” says Gordy, “the only place I could see someone who looked like me on television was The Ed Sullivan Show.”
July 21: The British Broadcasting Corp. airs a rare interview with Stevie Wonder by Annie Macmanus on its BBC Sounds channel. He confirms ongoing progress for his Through The Eyes Of Wonder album. “There is so much more that I want to do and that God wants me to do,” says the musician.
July 25: Diana Ross performs at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles for the first of two weekend concerts. A medley of Supremes hits is “a thrill of its own,” notes Mikael Wood in the Los Angeles Times – “a reminder of the blend of efficiency and ingenuity attained on a daily basis at Hitsville, U.S.A.”
August 2: Smokey Robinson plays the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. Berry Gordy, Mickey Stevenson and Eddie Holland are among the audience in the 5,900-seat venue. “I wrote songs that you made popular,” he tells the crowd. “Thank you. I love you for that.”
August 12: People magazine reports that Diana Ross has cancelled her scheduled appearance this month on the Royal Caribbean’s Star of the Seas cruise liner. In June, she was named “godmother” of the ship.
Stevie, back in London’s Hyde Park
August 16: Martha Reeves marks the 60th anniversary of her hit with the Vandellas, “Nowhere To Run,” by appearing at the annual Woodward Dream Cruise in Detroit. This celebrates the city’s classic car culture.
August 20: In its “Crimes of the Times” series, the Los Angeles Times publishes an in-depth retrospective about Marvin Gaye’s fatal “last fight with his father,” written by Christopher Goffard.
September 2: Spiration Films officially ends its 30-day crowd-funding campaign for a film documentary, The Spirit Moves Through Motown, about the life and career of Hitsville musician/percussionist Jack Ashford. The effort reaches 80 percent of its goal, and continues to seek financing.
September 11: From New Haven Publishing comes the second book by former Motown press officer Al Abrams, entitled High On Soul! Tell Me It’s Just A Rumor, Berry.
September 24: Stevie Wonder joins various artists in paying tribute to the late Minnie Riperton with a show at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl. “She was an extraordinary vibrant person with an extra-special voice,” he says.
September 28: “This is not a book about who I met and who I knew,” Lionel Richie explains to the Los Angeles Times’ Elisabeth Egan about his autobiography, Truly, published two days later. “It was about fear. Can you overcome your worst fears and move forward?”
October 8: Terry “Buzzy” Johnson dies in Las Vegas at age 86. This former member of the Flamingos joined Motown in the mid-1960s as a songwriter; among his credits are Smokey Robinson & the Miracles’ “Baby, Baby Don’t Cry” and Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers’ “Malinda.”
October 11: Diana Ross performs at the 2025 Promises of Hope gala in Irvine, California, an annual fundraiser in support of cancer research and treatment. The event raises more than $20 million.
October 12: The 14th annual Friends of Fuller B. Gordy Strikefest! takes place at the Lucky Strike bowling alley in downtown Los Angeles. Among the music acts are the Mary Jane Girls. The late Fuller, once a Motown VP, was Berry Gordy’s elder brother and the first black member of the Professional Bowlers Association.
Robin Terry (r) welcomes the new Motown Museum CEO
October 16: The Temptations and the Four Tops perform at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. The two groups have U.K. bookings to appear together next summer in London, Liverpool and Bournemouth.
October 18: “Your Precious Love: A Tribute To Johnny Bristol” is held with various artists at the Municipal Auditorium of Morganton, North Carolina, his birthplace. The singer/songwriter/producer died in 2004.
October 19: In Los Angeles, Berry Gordy and Suzanne de Passe attend the seventh annual Ambassadors of Peace gala, which promotes “dialogue and unity” through the arts. Among the honourees is Bruce Resnikoff of Universal Music Enterprises, which oversees the Motown catalogue.
October 19: In Detroit, the newly-appointed CEO of the Motown Museum, Kenya LeNoir Messer, is introduced to guests at a reception marking the institution’s 40th anniversary. She will work closely with the museum’s chairwoman, Robin Terry.
October 25: The Detroit News reports Martha Reeves’ participation in Detroit Faith City, a podcast featuring local athletes, entertainers and public figures talking about their faith. Among other topics, the granddaughter of Rev. Elijah Joshua Reeves discusses becoming a born-again Christian in 1977.
November 1: In Henrica, Virginia, Stevie Wonder and Lauryn Hill are among those attending the funeral for D’Angelo, who died on October 14. Wonder performs “If It’s Magic” and The Lord’s Prayer.
November 13: The Motown Museum marks an important step in its expansion plans whereby the steel structure of its new, two-story annex – to be known as The Motown Experience, with exhibit space, interactive attractions and a theatre – is completed.
November 28: Reggie Dozier, studio engineer and record producer, dies at age 83. The brother of Lamont, he worked with many acts, including Stevie Wonder, the Four Tops, Marvin Gaye and more at Motown, as well as numerous others in rock, pop and rhythm & blues.
The Temptations bless the Lions
November 29: At the Hillcrest Country Club in Los Angeles, Berry Gordy celebrates his 96th birthday with friends, family members and onetime Motown artists, including Stevie Wonder, Smokey and Claudette Robinson, Martha Reeves, Valerie Simpson and Otis Williams. Also present: Eddie and Brian Holland, Mickey Stevenson and Suzanne de Passe.
December 3: Jermaine Jackson reveals that plans for a museum dedicated to the brothers are proceeding. It will be called the Treasures Collection, located in Monaco, where Jackson lives. He will act as curator.
December 4: At Detroit’s Ford Field, the Temptations deliver a halftime performance at the match between the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys. The Lions triumph 44-30.
December 6: The Temptations depart from Los Angeles on Princess Cruises’ Royal Princess cruise liner to mark the 60th anniversary of the firm’s first-ever outing. They perform on board during the ship’s 14-day “Mexican Riviera” voyage.
December 9: Spain’s Soul4Real label issues two new vinyl EPs in its From Detroit With Love series, featuring vintage Motown tracks previously only available on CD. Artists on the discs include David Ruffin, the Velvelettes, Marv Johnson and the Spinners.
December 17: Stevie Wonder cancels his latest House Full of Toys benefit concert, one day before it’s due to start at the Fonda Theatre, Los Angeles. The four-night event (it’s previously been just one) was planned too late, he tells listeners to his KJLH radio station: “Big idea. Little time.” Wonder will make a substantial donation to the fundraiser for local children and more; it will return in 2026.
December 31: Diana Ross headlines ABC-TV’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest. Other acts on the live broadcast from New York include Chappell Roan, Leon Thomas, Mariah Carey and Post Malone.