Wearer of Many Hats
Owning a music label wasn’t always Berry’s dream. He wanted to become a professional boxer. In eleventh grade, he dropped out of high school to box. Although he was good, the Korean War meant that Berry was going to have to put boxing on the back burner. After serving in Korea, the former professional boxer used his discharge money to open a jazz record shop.
Berry Gordy. Source: Imgur
But after two years, Berry closed its doors and took a job as an assembly line worker at the Lincoln-Mercury car plant in Detroit, while writing songs on the side. One of his first projects was for a local soul singer, Jackie Wilson. Six of Jackie’s first singles, including “Reet Petite” and “Lonely Teardrops,” all of them were a success and some of them made it all the way to the number one spot on the R&B charts. Berry finally felt like he found his calling.