Founder of Motown Records, Berry Gordy Jr. has announced his retirement.
The record producer, who will turn 90 this November, received the Motown Legacy Award at the Hitsville Honors Event held on Sunday, September 22 in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan.
“As I stand here I’m back where I started. I have come full circle, so it is only appropriate that…I should announce my retirement,” Gordy revealed at the tail end of his 35-minute-long acceptance speech.
The news was met with laughter and sustained applause from the audience members.
“It is time for me to spend my next 60 years reflection on how fortunate I am, how much I appreciate and love all of you and how wonderful my life has been, and will continue to be,” he added.
Gordy founded the record label in 1959 using $800 of borrowed money from his family trust.
Initially launched as Tamla Records, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in 1960 and later sold to MCA Records in 1989.
The label has housed such amazing artists as Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, the Miracles and the Marvelettes.
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