Kennedy William Gordy (born March 15, 1964), better known by his stage name Rockwell, is an American singer. He is most well known for his hit 1984 single " Somebody's Watching Me" which features

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

on the chorus vocals. He is the son of Motown 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 ...

. Other relatives include singers Redfoo,

Rhonda Ross Kendrick Rhonda Ross Kendrick (born Rhonda Suzanne Silberstein; August 14, 1971) is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of singer and actress Diana Ross. She was born in Los Angeles and raised by Ross and her first husband, Robert Ellis S ...

, and

Sky Blu Sky Blu is a forward operating station for the British Antarctic Survey located in southern Palmer Land, Antarctica. It is in an area of blue ice, an extremely hard and dense ice which has lost the air bubbles that normally cloud the ice. It ...

; they are his half-siblings and half-nephew, respectively.

Early life

Kennedy William Gordy is the son of Motown founder and CEO

and Margaret Norton. His father named him Kennedy William after John F. Kennedy and William "Smokey" Robinson.

Career

To avoid the appearance of

nepotism Nepotism is an advantage, privilege, or position that is granted to relatives and friends in an occupation or field. These fields may include but are not limited to, business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, fitness, religion, an ...

, he secured his record deal without his father's knowledge. Motown actually came up with the name Rockwell and the young Gordy agreed to the change because he believed he "rocked well." In 1984, Rockwell had his biggest single, " Somebody's Watching Me", with childhood friend

singing the chorus lyrics and

Jermaine Jackson Jermaine La Jaune Jackson (born December 11, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and bassist. He is best known for being a member of the Jackson family. From 1964 to 1975, Jermaine was second vocalist after his brother Michael of The Jackso ...

singing backup. "Somebody's Watching Me" became a Gold-certified #2 song in the US, which also peaked at #6 in the UK. It held #1 on Billboard's R&B chart for five weeks. Follow-up singles underperformed, with "Obscene Phone Caller" being Rockwell's only other Top 40 single. It reached #35 on the Billboard Hot 100. Rockwell released two more albums before ending his musical career with Motown. Rockwell was not the first member of the Gordy family to hit ''Billboard''s Hot 100 as a recording artist. His uncle, Robert Gordy, reached the longer reaches of the chart in 1958 with "Everyone Was There", recording under the name of Bob Kayli. In late 2021, "Somebody's Watching Me" re-entered the UK Charts, peaking at #47.

Personal life

Rockwell is the son of

. Rockwell's paternal half-sister is actress

, the eldest child of

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 ...

, the latter of whom is of no relation to Rockwell. Rockwell is also closely related to the group

LMFAO LMFAO (an initialism for Laughing My Freaking Ass Off or Laughing My Fucking Ass Off) are an American electronic dance music duo consisting of Redfoo and Sky Blu. Redfoo is the youngest son of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy and Nancy Le ...

through his half-brother Redfoo ( Stephen Kendal Gordy, son of Berry Gordy and Nancy Leiviska) and his half-nephew

( Skyler Austen Gordy, son of his half-brother Berry Gordy IV and his wife Valerie Robeson). In July 2010, Rockwell married Nicole Moore. In 2013, he filed for divorce. The couple have no children together. On November 29, 2018, Rockwell was arrested in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

for allegedly beating a female associate with a chair at the Magic Castle Hotel after she approached him and demanded payment. Rockwell was released from jail on December 1, 2018, on a $30,000 bail. On January 7, 2019, the woman, who suffered multiple injuries from the attack and had undergone surgery to repair a broken arm, filed a lawsuit against Rockwell in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

for personal injury, claiming damages exceeding $25,000.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rockwell 1964 births Living people 20th-century African-American male singers American male pop singers African-American male singer-songwriters American dance musicians Motown artists Gordy family Singers from Detroit Singer-songwriters from Michigan 21st-century African-American male singers