Music
Georgeanna Tillman
1944–1980 · singer
Inkster-born original member of the Marvelettes, heard on "Please Mr. Postman", who left the group because of illness and died at 35.
- Born
Inkster, Michigan- Died
Inkster, Michigan
aged 35- Birth name
- Georgeanna Marie Tillman
- Also known as
- Georgeanna Tillman Gordon
- Detroit years
- 1944–1980
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Tillman was born and raised in Inkster and in 1960 joined her Inkster High School glee-club friends Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson and Juanita Cowart in the girl group that became the Marvelettes. She sang on "Please Mr. Postman", Motown's first number-one pop single in 1961, and on the group's early hits, including "Playboy" and "Beechwood 4-5789". In 1963 she married Billy Gordon, lead singer of the Contours. Ill health ended her time in the group in the mid-1960s. Back in Inkster she studied at Wayne County Community College and worked as a secretary at Plymouth State Hospital. She died at her Inkster home in January 1980 from complications of lupus or sickle-cell disease and is buried at Metropolitan Memorial Park in Belleville.
Highlights
- Original member of the Marvelettes (1960)
- Sang on "Please Mr. Postman" (1961)
- Married Contours lead singer Billy Gordon in 1963
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 3
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 1959–1961
Inkster High School
Demolished · 2015
The Marvelettes formed here in 1960 among glee-club classmates. The school closed in 2013 and was demolished in 2015.
Recorded here · 1961–mid-1960s
Motown Museum
The Marvelettes recorded here in Studio A.
Buried here · 1980
Metropolitan Memorial Park
Status being checked
Her grave, in Belleville, Wayne County.