Music · born 1977King Gordyrapper, singerDetroit battle rapper and singer of the Fat Killahz, who played “Big O” in 8 Mile and made his debut album with production by Eminem.DETROIT / A living lexicon / ¼
Famous Detroiters
Detroit's famous people in one place: when they were born, what they did, how they are tied to the city, and the Detroit places that were theirs.
- 1,743 famous people
- 96 Detroit places
- 21 fields
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
89 people · 2/2 page
Clear filtersMusic · born 1977King Gordyrapper, singerDetroit battle rapper and singer of the Fat Killahz, who played “Big O” in 8 Mile and made his debut album with production by Eminem.
Sports · 1900–1971Goose Goslinbaseball player, left fielderHall of Fame left fielder whose ninth-inning single won the 1935 World Series, Detroit's first championship.
Music · born 1994Tee GrizzleyrapperWest-side Detroit rapper whose 2017 prison-release anthem “First Day Out” went viral and opened the national door for a new wave of Detroit street rap.
Politics · born 1982Garlin Gilchristsoftware engineer, lieutenant governor of MichiganDetroit-born Microsoft engineer and civic-tech organizer who built the Improve Detroit app for the city and in 2019 became Michigan's first African American lieutenant governor.
Music · born 1980Josh Gracincountry singerWestland-raised country singer who finished fourth on American Idol in 2003 and reached No. 1 on the country chart with “Nothin' to Lose.”
Visual art · 1899–1973Maija Grotellceramic artist, teacherFinnish-born potter who led Cranbrook's ceramics department for 28 years and is often called the mother of American studio ceramics.
Architecture & design · 1907–1993Alexander Girardarchitect, interior and textile designerModernist designer who worked from Detroit and Grosse Pointe for sixteen years before becoming Herman Miller's famed textile director.
Literature · 1881–1959Edgar Guestpoet, newspaper columnist, radio and TV hostDetroit Free Press's 'People's Poet', who wrote some 11,000 homespun verses over six decades, syndicated nationally, and was Michigan's poet laureate.
Music · 1886–1964Franco Ghioneconductor, violinistItalian opera conductor, a former assistant to Toscanini at La Scala, who led the Detroit Symphony Orchestra through the late Depression years, 1936 to 1940.
Religion · 1866–1937Michael GallagherCatholic Bishop of Detroit (1918–1937)Bishop of Detroit during the boom years, who founded Sacred Heart Seminary and was the protector of radio priest Charles Coughlin.
Music · born 1966Troy Gregorysinger, bassist, multi-instrumentalist, filmmakerDetroit-born bassist and songwriter who went from the thrash band Flotsam and Jetsam and Prong to leading the Witches and anchoring the Dirtbombs.
Politics · 1925–2016Roman Gribbslawyer, sheriff, mayor of Detroit, appeals judgePolish American prosecutor and Wayne County sheriff who was mayor in 1970–1974, created the notorious STRESS police unit, and was Detroit's last white mayor until 2014.
Politics · 1873–1953Alexander J. Groesbecklawyer, attorney general, governor of MichiganMacomb County-born Detroit lawyer who as governor (1921–1927) paved Michigan's roads with concrete; Groesbeck Highway is named after him and he is buried at Woodlawn.
Notorious figures · 1919–2001Anthony GiacaloneDetroit Mafia capo and street bossEast Side-born mobster known as Tony Jack, a Detroit Partnership leader whom Jimmy Hoffa expected to meet on the day he vanished in 1975.
Press & broadcasting · 1917–1977Lou Gordontelevision interviewer, columnist, political reporterCombative Detroit TV interviewer whose Lou Gordon Program on WKBD (1966–1977) drew George Romney's 1967 'brainwashing' remark that sank his presidential hopes.
Visual art · born 1955Tyree GuytonartistDetroit artist who in 1986 turned his childhood street on the east side into the Heidelberg Project, one of the world's best-known outdoor art environments.
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.