Verzuz Begins on Instagram Live
Timbaland and Swizz Beatz turn a remote producer battle into a participatory music-history format.
Beyoncé Headlines Coachella
The festival’s first Black woman headliner stages a performance rooted in HBCU musical traditions.
Live Aid Links Two Stadiums and a Global Audience
Simultaneous concerts in London and Philadelphia turn satellite television into a worldwide music event.
Michael Jackson Releases Thriller
A cross-genre album expands the commercial and visual possibilities of global pop.
Michael Jackson Performs the Moonwalk on Motown 25
A televised “Billie Jean” performance turns a dance movement into a worldwide pop image.
Soul Train Enters National Syndication
Don Cornelius brings Black music, dance, fashion, and style to a national weekly television audience.
Berry Gordy Founds Motown
A Detroit record company begins building one of popular music’s most influential creative systems.
The Motown Sound
A songwriting, production, performance, and artist-development approach that moved Detroit soul into worldwide popular culture.
Thriller
Michael Jackson’s 1982 album produced with Quincy Jones, built across pop, R&B, funk, and rock.
Hitsville U.S.A.
The Detroit house and studio complex that became Motown’s first headquarters and creative center.