Music · born 1929Berry Gordyrecord executive, producer, songwriter, film producerDetroit-born founder of Motown, who turned a house on West Grand Boulevard into Hitsville U.S.A. and built the most successful Black-owned business of its era.DETROIT / A living lexicon / ¼
Famous Detroiters
People who were born here, moved here or built their careers in Detroit: musicians, carmakers, athletes, writers, inventors, civil-rights leaders and a few notorious names. With their dates, their Detroit story and the places where they lived, worked and played, closed ones included.
- 1,940 famous people
- 270 Detroit places
- 21 fields
Hungarian ties 22 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Field
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Born in
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11 people
Clear filtersMusic · born 1929Berry Gordyrecord executive, producer, songwriter, film producerDetroit-born founder of Motown, who turned a house on West Grand Boulevard into Hitsville U.S.A. and built the most successful Black-owned business of its era.
Business & brands · born 1962Dan Gilbertbusinessman, founder of Rocket Mortgage and BedrockDetroit-born mortgage billionaire who moved Quicken Loans downtown in 2010 and bought and rebuilt dozens of city landmarks through Bedrock.
Music · 1893–1962Jean Goldkettebandleader, pianist, booking agent, ballroom operatorDetroit-based bandleader and impresario whose 1920s Victor orchestra, with Bix Beiderbecke, played his Graystone Ballroom and who launched McKinney's Cotton Pickers.
Business & brands · 1834–1894Stephen Benedict Grummondshipowner, marine industrialist, mayor of DetroitSt. Clair River sailor who built a Great Lakes shipping empire from Detroit, including the largest tug and wrecking business on the lakes, and was mayor in 1884–1885.
MusicDJ GodfatherDJ, producer, label owner, nightclub ownerOne of the founding DJs of Detroit ghettotech, head of the Databass label and a fixture of the city's club scene for more than three decades.The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own. Famous people's places among the sights ↗