Jazz, blues & soul / 14th Street at W. Warren Ave (west side)
The 20 Grand
Closed – archive entry · 1976
A former entertainment complex at 14th Street and West Warren Avenue (1953–1976), a showcase for Motown-era acts.
01 / The story of this place
Make time for these
The 20 Grand was opened in 1953 by Bill Kabbus and Marty Eisner at 14th Street and Warren Avenue, and after a 1958 fire it was rebuilt as an entertainment complex with a 22-lane bowling alley and the Fireside Lounge jazz room on the ground floor and the Driftwood Lounge and the 1,200-capacity Gold Room upstairs. It was the showcase for Motown-era acts: the Temptations, the Miracles, the Four Tops, Martha Reeves, Marvin Gaye, the Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Jackie Wilson and later Parliament-Funkadelic all played there. Radio DJ Ernie Durham broadcast from a studio in the building, Mick Jagger saw B.B. King there in 1964, and the complex closed in 1976.
- 1,200-capacity Gold Room
- 22-lane bowling alley
- Showcase for Motown-era acts
Famous Detroiters
Famous people tied to this place 4
Lexicon entries for the people who lived, worked, performed or liked to spend time here.
- George Clinton born 1941 · singer, songwriter, producer, bandleader
Performed here
Parliament-Funkadelic performed at this nightclub. The site is now a grass lot.
- Tammi Terrell 1945–1970 · singer
Performed here
Berry Gordy saw her sing here with Jerry Butler in April 1965 and signed her. The club is gone; the site is a grass lot.
- Richard "Popcorn" Wylie 1939–2008 · pianist, bandleader, songwriter, producer
Performed here
He performed at the club, where he met Motown engineer Robert Bateman. The site is now a grass lot.
- Ed Wingate 1919–2006 · record label owner, entrepreneur
Related place
Wikipedia's article on the club says the adjacent Twenty Grand Motel was his; another article calls him the club's owner. The site is now a grass lot.
Sources & fact check · Checked: 2026-09-25
An independently written bilingual guide. This collection is not an attendance-based ranking.
03 / Events
Events at this place
Published events automatically linked from our event guide. Times are local to the venue.
We have no published upcoming events linked to this place yet. That does not mean the venue has no events; check its official calendar too.
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