Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson get a grand celebration as MusiCares Persons of the Year

LOS ANGELES − On a ritzy evening ahead of the Grammy Awards, the record industry celebrated an enduring friendship and potent creative partnership forged decades ago in Detroit.

Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson were honored Friday as the 2023 MusiCares Persons of the Year, toasted at a powerhouse gala that included A-list admirers, moving tributes and some stellar performances of music the pair made famous.

Luminaries such as Elton John and Tom Hanks were among those looking on at the Los Angeles Convention Center as Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, the Temptations, Four Tops, John Legend, Dionne Warwick, Brandi Carlile, Sheryl Crow and others performed classics from the Motown catalog — saluting a cultural phenomenon spearheaded by the two guests of honor.

Gordy and Robinson, close friends since 1957, took it all in from a spotlit table up front — beaming, clapping along and generally having a blast as their 65-year bond received its most prominent industry recognition to date. The mood was formal but loose: At one point during the show in the slightly chilly hall, the tuxedoed Gordy, 93, donned a black beanie.

Friday’s festive red-carpet event was the latest testament to the legacy carved together by Gordy, Robinson and their myriad Motown colleagues at West Grand Boulevard and beyond. Like most Motown concert celebrations, the 2½-hour gala rolled back the years while accentuating the music’s timelessness.

Guests at the dinner gala sipped selections from Robinson’s new line of California wines, with names such as My Girl Chardonnay and Being With You Pinot Noir.

The MusiCares Person of the Year gala, a longtime Grammy week staple, is the main annual fundraiser for the Recording Academy’s charitable arm. This was the first time in the event’s 32-year history that two individuals were dually honored.

The 65th Grammy Awards will take place Sunday at L.A.’s Crypto.com arena, airing live on CBS at 8 p.m.

In an emotional segment late in Friday’s MusiCares program, Robinson noted he had been blessed through the years to receive many honors for his work. But the shared Person of the Year with Gordy, he said, was the most special of them all "because I’m getting awards with my best friend in the world.”

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Robinson recalled the “God date” he experienced in late 1957, when he met Gordy after an audition by his group the Matadors, soon to become the Miracles, at a Detroit talent agency.

“That day, the seed was planted for the best friendship in history,” Robinson said, drawing awwws from the crowd as he went on to wax affectionately about his love for Gordy.

Gordy was a songwriter and producer with a toehold in the business, Robinson a teenage aspiring artist and fast learner. Something clicked, and the two became inseparable confidantes and mutual cheerleaders as Gordy went on to launch the enterprise that became Motown Records.

Robinson, 82 and still in fine form onstage, had some audience members wiping their eyes as he performed the simple, lovely “Did You Know,” a dedication to Gordy he premiered at the Motown founder’s Kennedy Center Honors induction in 2021.

Gordy was happy to mostly just take in the proceedings. Onstage to accept his Person of the Year award, he was asked by Recording Academy chief Harvey Mason Jr. whether he’d like to say anything. “Not particularly!” Gordy cracked.

“I’m happy to be here with my best friend,” he added. “Damn!”

On the red carpet, Motown’s significance — musically, culturally, socially, racially — was hailed by artists young, old and in between.

Sheryl Crow said she plays Motown music “ad nauseam” for her sons.

“I feel like I’m doing the right thing,” she said. “I grew up with it. My 15-year-old is a great bass player and he’s learning James Jamerson just like I did.”

In a business where jealousies often boil over and money matters can fracture friendships, the long bond of Gordy and Robinson is unique. Veteran record exec Phil Quartararo paid tribute.

“They were both songwriters. They were both executives,” he said on the red carpet. “But importantly, they were just two guys who became genuine friends. They did family stuff together. They came from the street together. They moved to California together. It’s really the most symbiotic relationship you can imagine.”

The MusiCares fundraising gala was a swanky affair — some of Friday’s tables went for $70,000 — and the audience of about 2,500 was packed with industry big guns and glitterati.

But Friday also had a touch of family affair — the kind of night when Gordy and Robinson could glance up and spot any number of old Detroit comrades, from Otis Williams and his Temptations to Duke Fakir and his Four Tops. Robinson was joined by his wife, Frances Glandney, and Gordy’s entourage included six of his children. Other Detroit guests included Robin Terry, Gordy’s great-niece and head of the Motown Museum.

Stevie Wonder, who helped close out the night onstage, lavished affection on Gordy and Robinson.

“All of my appreciation, respect, love goes to you, Berry — who thought I couldn’t sing,” Wonder said, drawing laughs as he launched into his time-tested imitation of the Motown founder. He went on to thank Robinson and late Miracles member Ronnie White for getting him in the door at Hitsville.

Wonder fixated the crowd with a spare rendition of the Miracles “I'll Try Something New” at his harpejji. He then moved to a keyboard for a reggae-fied workout on “The Tears of a Clown,” noting that while Robinson didn’t like that arrangement, “a great song never dies.”

Wonder was a reliable musical highlight in a night with many.

Lionel Richie hailed Gordy and Robinson as “two of my amazing mentors” and dear friends before launching into a supple rendition of the Commodores’ “Easy.”

The Temptations kicked off the night with a four-song medley of hits, capped with the Robinson-penned “My Girl” and drawing a standing ovation. The group’s friendly Motown rival, the Four Tops, later served up its own quartet of tunes, including a lively “It’s the Same Old Song” that had U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi bopping along at a table with Elton John.

A few artists played it straight (Sheryl Crow doing her best young Michael Jackson on “I Want You Back,” Chloe x Halle sweetly harmonizing on the Supremes’ “Baby Love”). Others shook things up, like Mumford & Sons drilling “Money (That’s What I Want)” down into its bare bluesy essence and Samara Joy, a best new artist Grammy nominee, reworking Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t That Peculiar.”

Strong showings also came from Trombone Shorty (Junior Walker’s “Shotgun”), Michael McDonald (Jackie Wilson’s “Lonely Teardrops”) and bulletproof song interpreter Brandi Carlile, who wowed with her take on the Miracles’ “The Tracks of My Tears.”

The program was taped, though a broadcast plan isn’t yet set.

Gordy and Robinson were certainly the stars of the night, but the real significance Friday was MusiCares, the Recording Academy’s philanthropic arm, which provides health funding and social services to musicians and industry professionals in need. During the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization gave out $37 million to 47,000 of them.

Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson feted at MusiCares gala on eve of Grammys