Motown is a word that has always been attributed to a form of music. This musical phenomenon began in the latter part of the 1950's era. Originally it was a mix of an upbeat blues and Jazz type of soul music that eventually evolved into various other music genres, such as Hip Hop. It was a birth of an era that would change the face of music forever and it took place in Detroit Michigan.



Though most people do not realize it, the word Motown originated from the fact that Detroit was, and is, known as the motor city due to the large automobile industry that marked this lovely city. Thus, the Motown Museum was born. The Motown Museum has, over the decades, quickly risen to the status of one of the most visited museums in Detroit, as well as on the larger scale of Michigan as a whole. The museum itself was born in the mid 1980's and was the concept of a lady named Esther Edwards. Edwards had a clear vision of how the music born here in the past had impacted the various styles of music of that particular generation in the 80's. She had the foresight to see that even the music from that time that had evolved from the Motown era would evolve further into future types and styles of music. Edwards couldn't have been more correct. With that though in mind, she started gathering interested individuals who in turn began gathering relics and memorabilia surrounding that era until the day that the museum opened, and even afterwards.

Currently, the Detroit Motown Museum has the world's largest collection of memorabilia surrounding that decade in history and the individuals that birthed the new sound that would inevitably impact the musical world. There are photographs of big name stars, miscellaneous artwork revolving around the era and the individual performers, and even original records, some first copies even.

When going through your exciting trek through this historical site, you will be toured through the apartment that the famed Motown celebrity Berry Gordy Jr lived before achieving that very same fame. You will also be led through the studios where some of the greatest recording artists of all time created the hits that would someday become legendary. Those greats of the past that shaped the sound of music that we know so well and love so much today included such renowned names as Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five, Martha and the Vandellas, The temptations, The four Tops, and even the famed Diana Ross and the Supremes, to name a select few.

On your next vacation getaway to the busy city of Detroit, why not take a quick and exciting tour throughout the decades to a time when music was young and impressionable and the artists were truly that, artists. Step into the Motown era at the Detroit Motown Museum.