Suzanne de Passe is headed to an elite wing in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The longtime Motown executive and producer will receive this year’s Ahmet Ertegun Award for Lifetime Achievement, one of the most prestigious honors on the business side of the music industry.
De Passe was part of the 2024 RRHOF class of inductees announced live Sunday night on “American Idol,” led by eight artists in the performers category: Cher, Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner, Kool & the Gang, Mary J. Blige, Ozzy Osbourne, Peter Frampton and A Tribe Called Quest.
Detroit rock band MC5 and late Motown songwriter-producer Norman Whitfield will receive the rock hall’s Award for Musical Excellence, a separate honor for figures “whose originality and influence creating music have had a dramatic impact.”
The MC5 has been nominated six times for induction into the main performers wing — first in 2003 and most recently in 2022 — but still with no success.
De Passe, who spearheaded the Jackson 5’s early years and went on to a decorated career in film and television alongside Motown founder Berry Gordy, will become just the fifth woman to receive the rock hall’s industry award since its inception in 1986. And she’s only the second to get it solo.
She follows pioneering hip-hop mogul Sylvia Robinson (2022) and the husband-wife teams Gerry Goffin-Carole King (1990), Barry Mann-Cynthia Weil (2010) and Jeff Barry-Ellie Greenwich (2010).
De Passe told the Detroit Free Press she got an advance heads-up about her RRHOF accolade in a phone call from industry heavyweights Jon Platt and Rob Light.
“They said, ‘It sounds like you’re standing up. You may want to sit down,’” de Passe recounted. “I didn’t know what was coming. They shared the news and I burst into tears. I mean, I was so blown away.”
Gordy, who received the same award from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, congratulated his “protégé and longtime friend” de Passe in a statement provided to the Free Press.
“Every task I ever threw at her, she not only accomplished but exceeded my expectations. Suzanne went from being my creative assistant, helping to launch the careers of Michael Jackson, the Jackson 5, Lionel Richie, the Commodores and more, to co-writing a screenplay for ‘Lady Sings the Blues,’ for which she received an Oscar nomination,” Gordy wrote.
“Suzanne has great instincts, a sharp wit and a creative sense that has made her a formidable player in the entertainment world,” he added. “I continue to be extremely proud of her.”
De Passe, a New York native hired by Gordy in 1967, eventually became president of Motown Productions and built a prominent television career, leading acclaimed projects such as “Lonesome Dove,” “Motown 25” and “The Temptations” miniseries as executive producer.
She recalled her early years at Motown as a time when “I got to do things punching way above my weight.”
“Berry Gordy gave me the opportunity of a lifetime,” de Passe said. “He saw something in me I didn’t see in myself. And along with that opportunity came a lot of hard work and hard lessons. But it was also almost like a north star to really do things that mattered and that would serve the audience. I consider myself a storyteller. If I have a talent, I think it’s recognizing the talent of others and knowing how to join them together.”
She lauded Motown as a place where women were confidently granted leadership. In the 1960s and early 1970s, a show-business era dominated by men, that was a trailblazing approach by the Detroit company — and de Passe ultimately forged her own path with ambition, creativity and foresight.
“I’ve always believed that because Berry Gordy had a very strong mother and four sisters, he really innately appreciated what women could do,” said de Passe. “When I got to Motown, there were several women in important positions — Billie Jean Brown, Fran Heard, Betty O’Shea. These women were already very important in the company. So it wasn’t as exotic a situation at Motown, because the person in charge put women in charge of many divisions.”
In his Sunday statement, Gordy also heaped praise on Whitfield, “whom I consider a true musical genius and one of Motown’s most important creative forces.”
Whitfield, hailed for developing the sound that came to be known as psychedelic soul, landed early successes with tracks such as “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” a hit for Gladys Knight & the Pips and Marvin Gaye.
“Then, with his ear to the streets, he took the Temptations and Motown in a whole new direction,” Gordy wrote. “Norman’s music reflected the social consciousness of the times with songs like ‘Ball of Confusion,’ ‘War,’ ‘Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone.’ His incredible body of work makes him one of the most important creative forces of his time.”
Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.
2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame honorees
Performer inductees:
- Cher
- Dave Matthews Band
- Foreigner
- Kool & the Gang
- Mary J. Blige
- Ozzy Osbourne
- Peter Frampton
- A Tribe Called Quest
Award for Musical Excellence recipients:
- Dionne Warwick
- Jimmy Buffett
- MC5
- Norman Whitfield
Musical Influence Award recipients:
- Alexis Korner
- Big Mama Thornton
- John Mayall