Iris Gordy is an American songwriter, producer, and music executive. She is a former vice president at

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

, where she helped launch the careers of

DeBarge DeBarge was an American musical recording group composed of several members of the DeBarge family. In addition to various solo projects completed by members of the family, DeBarge was active between 1979 and 1989. The group originally consisted ...

Teena Marie Mary Christine Brockert (March 5, 1956 – December 26, 2010), known professionally as Teena Marie, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, composer, arranger, and producer. She was known by her childhood nickname Tina before taking the sta ...

, and

Rick James James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in ...

, Mandre, Bobby Nunn and Tata Vega. Her credits include albums by

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

, Rick James,

Four Tops The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet from Detroit who helped to define the city's Motown sound of the 1960s. The group's repertoire has included soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes. Founded as the ...

, DeBarge,

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups ...

, and Tata Vega.

Background

Gordy is the daughter of Mildred (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Hart) and Fuller Gordy, the brother of

founder

Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record l ...

Career

In 1970, " The Bells", a song she co-wrote with

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

Anna Gordy Gaye Anna Ruby Gaye (née Gordy; January 28, 1922 – January 31, 2014) was an American businesswoman, composer and songwriter. An elder sister of Motown founder Berry Gordy, she became a record executive in the mid-to-late 1950s distributing records ...

, and

Elgie Stover Elgie Rousseau Stover (September 12, 1938 – July 11, 2011) was an American songwriter, composer, producer and background singer, most famous for his associations with cousin Harvey Fuqua and Marvin Gaye, co-writing two of Gaye's songs from t ...

, became a huge hit for The Originals. It has been subsequently recorded by a variety of artists including

Laura Nyro Laura Nyro ( ; born Laura Nigro; October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession'' (1968 ...

Color Me Badd ''Color'' Me Badd is an American contemporary R&B group that was formed in 1985 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma by lead singer Bryan Abrams (born November 16, 1969), tenor Mark Calderon (born September 27, 1970), second tenor Sam Watters (born July 23 ...

, Sam Harris,

Aaron Neville Aaron Joseph Neville (born January 24, 1941) is a retired American R&B and soul singer. He has had four platinum albums and four Top 10 hits in the United States, including three that reached number one on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. ...

, and

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman. LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul". She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...

. Later, while serving as an executive at Motown, she discovered a demo featuring Táta Vega on vocals. Vega, who was originally signed to the company as a member of the group Earthquire, had been languishing at the company for years. Gordy went on to serve as executive producer on her first two critically acclaimed solo albums. On '' Full Speed Ahead'', Gordy also co-wrote the song, "Just as Long as There is You" with another new artist to Motown,

. Gordy was also a producer on '' All This Love'', a Top 10 R&B album for

. Additionally, Gordy has worked as a producer with

G. C. Cameron George Curtis Cameron is an American soul and R&B singer who is currently married to singer Linda Dixon Cameron a.k.a. “Lady L.”. Perhaps best known as the lead singer of The Spinners on their 1970 hit " It's a Shame" and for his 1975 hi ...

, Mandré and

High Inergy High Inergy was an American R&B and soul girl group who found fame on Motown Records in the late 1970s. They are best known for the hit song, " You Can't Turn Me Off (In the Middle of Turning Me On)". History High Inergy started in 1976 when the ...

Personal life

Gordy was previously married to producer and recording artist,

Johnny Bristol John William Bristol (February 3, 1939 – March 21, 2004) was an American musician, most famous as a songwriter and record producer for the Motown label in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was a native of Morganton, North Carolina, about whi ...

. They had one child, Karla Gordy Bristol, a television host at Beverly Hills Television, an Event Producer and former Motown employee.

Current activities

Presently, Gordy serves on the board of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. and the board of

Motown Museum "Hitsville U.S.A." is the nickname given to Motown's first headquarters and recording studio. The house (formerly a photographers' studio) is located at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan, near the New Center area. The house was pu ...

References

External links

Rhythm & Blues Foundation
and Motown Museu

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordy, Iris 1943 births African-American record producers Record producers from Michigan Gordy family Living people Motown artists Musicians from Detroit