The Velvelettes: Acclaimed 1960 s Motown group got their start at Western Michigan University fox17online.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from fox17online.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
KALAMAZOO, Mich. It all started with the keys. Music is my life. It still is and it was when I was a kid, says
Bertha Barbee-McNeal, co-founder of legendary Motown group The Velvelettes. At 9 years old, she remembers, I would sit on my curb (in Flint, Michigan), and I would listen to this gal play the piano. My parents let me take lessons, and I would walk four of five blocks every day … I don t think I missed a lesson until I was 22.
That passion for piano is what led Barbee-McNeal to Kalamazoo in the early 1960s. She was already an accomplished classical pianist when an organist from her father s church recommended she pursue a music degree at his alma mater Western Michigan University.
Motown Museum encouraging next generation of talent
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DETROIT – As we celebrate Black History Month, we stopped by a little house on West Grand Boulevard.
It’s the home of Berry Gordy’s Motown Records, now the Motown Museum started and preserved by Esther Gordy Edwards. Motown broke racial barriers like no other record label and today the museum is paving a way for the next generation of artists.
“In 2021, Motown to me is all about inspiration,” said museum CEO Robin Terry.
It’s the music that not only inspires but has transcended time, created right inside of Studio A. The Motown Museum keeps the stories of what happened there alive, spearheaded by Robin Terry, the great niece of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy.