Gwen Gordy Fuqua

She provided Berry with his first important music business contact when she introduced him to the manager of the club, a white man named Al Green.

Green managed music stars like Johnnie Ray and LaVern Baker and he had just signed a new singer from Detroit named Jackie Wilson.

She had a songwriting partnership with her brother Berry Gordy and Roquel "Billy" Davis, a childhood friend who had connections with Chess Records in Chicago.

Starting with "Reet Petite", Gwen, Berry and Davis penned five consecutive Jackie Wilson hits.

Although Berry, Gwen, and Roquel had provided five consecutive hits for Jackie Wilson, they had to split the songwriting royalties three ways.

The label helped to distribute the local Tamla Records single, Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)", which became a top 40 hit in 1960.

In 1973, Gordy had hand in adding lyrics to Marvin Gaye's composition, "Distant Lover", which became a hit single a year later after Motown released a live recording of the song.

In 1977, Gordy founded Gwen Glenn Productions and produced for Motown acts such as High Inergy before retiring from the music business in the early 1980s.