Motown Records artists and their sad stories

Motown Records, a label known for great melodies and truly "killer" leads, has launched a string of dizzying musical careers. If Michael Jackson ever thrilled you, if The Supremes kept you in suspense with their songs, or if you love listening to Lionel Richie, you have Motown to thank. Founded in 1959 in Detroit and then merged with Universal, the legendary record company was founded on an $800 loan taken from the founder's family savings Berry Gordy. A native of Detroit, Gordy formerly worked in an automobile factory and applied the rules of the "assembly line" to create quality music.

Thanks to this label, many great artists have found fame and recorded their immortal classics! But unfortunately, many of them have had horrible lives and met a terrible end... Here are just some of the sad stories of Motown Records stars.

James Jamerson became the "foundation" of the Motown sound, but remained in obscurity

Bassist James Jamerson was involved in the recording of dozens of Motown hits! Gordy himself described him as "bass playing genius." and "incredible improviser.". Jamerson has given a great sound to a number of world hits, including "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by The Supremes and Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On"! But...

...But Jamerson's work, unfortunately, turned out to be less than thankless. His royalties were tiny, and one day there was a serious scandal between him and Motown management. Experiencing creative decline, James turned to against the bottle. Desiccated by addiction and emotional torment, he lay many times in psychiatric hospitals at the end of his days... As if it were a mockery of fate itself, shortly before his death his bass was stolen. Fender Precision. James died in 1983 at the age of 47.

Mary Wells lost her voice to cancer

Until 1962, Motown artists could not make it into the top ten. But with the advent of Mary Wells The situation has changed: Mary not only entered the top 10, but also presented the world with a loud hit "My Guy."! Alas, after only a few years Mary broke with Motown, as she felt the company was underpaying her. However, her glittering career took a turn for the worse after that...

It was not just her career that Mary was struggling with. Her personal life also went badly wrong. She was unlucky in love, she became addicted to substances, and her love of smoking drove her to laryngeal cancer, which completely destroyed her voice... She could no longer sing, and fell into depression. As her daughter recalled:

"She never complained, only cried..."

Mary passed away at the age of 49 yearsHe was only a few months shy of his anniversary.

Marvin Gaye met a terrible end

To be killed by someone else's hand is always terrible. But it's especially terrible if it's the hand of your his own father... A great singer and songwriter, Marvin Gaye He made music that made people's hearts beat faster. His sweet vocal parts were intoxicating, and his lyrics thrilled and delighted women! Many of his songs were also politically and socially directed. But the beauty he created in the studio contrasted sharply with the ugliness of his own life...

His father was a man of a difficult character. He also liked to drink and was extremely cruel to his loved ones. In an interview Marvin recalled:

"By the time I turned 12, there wasn't an inch of my body that didn't have bruises on it..."

The day before his 45th anniversary the singer got into a fight with his father, who shot and... And deprived millions of people of their idol. Rumor has it that Marvin's last words were:

"I got what I wanted ... I couldn't do it myself, so I made him do it."

Florence Ballard - Trouble and Betrayal

In 1964, America welcomed British invasion. But even when The Beatles were storming the United States, The Supremes still dominated the charts. Since 1964 they had five number one hits, proving that these girls could be as amazing as the Magnificent Four! And just as the Beatles had their problems inside, the Supremes had plenty of skeletons in their closet...

Ballard She knew tragedy firsthand from a young age. She lost her father early on, and an acquaintance who had volunteered to accompany her home had brutally attacked her. Since then, Florence had trouble trusting people... She drank a lot, and after leaving the Supremes, she wanted to start solo career. But she was hooked again: she was cheated again, this time for money. As a result, at the end of her days Ballard was living on welfare with her husband, who was always getting his hands dirty. The press constantly discussed her failures, which only added to the drama. She died of a blood clot at age 32 - so young and so unhappy...

Michael Jackson and his loneliness

"We are as close as two friends can be." - Michael Jackson sang these words not about the man, but about the music. This simple line from the song "Music in Me" Inadvertently reflects the artist's deep sadness... Despite his early fame and raging popularity, all his life Michael has felt sadness and loneliness...One day he confessed:

"I felt trapped. I sat and looked out the window at the kids who were playing outside, and tears streamed down my cheeks. I wanted to join them too, but I had to record and rehearse and so on..."

Eventually Michael began to fear the crowd. Much of the credit for that went to his fatherWhat was going on in Michael's head and soul - no one knows...