An eventful Sunday downtown capped a yearlong 40th anniversary celebration for the Motown Museum — and offered some key updates to supporters of the Detroit institution.
Smokey Robinson, the Temptations’ Otis Williams and songwriting brothers Brian and Eddie Holland were among the guests at an invitation-only dinner reception Oct. 19 in the Colony Club ahead of a Tempts-Four Tops concert across the street at the Fox Theatre.
Along with a crowd of donors and partners, those stars were formally introduced to the Motown Museum’s new CEO, Kenya Messer, who was hired after a 15-month national search, as the Free Press reported earlier Sunday.
Messer was welcomed to the Motown family by Robin Terry, who will continue to lead in the chairwoman role she has held since 2014.
Terry delivered some big news about the Motown Museum’s ongoing $75 million expansion, a project announced nine years ago to the day:
Smokey Robinson (left) greets songwriter-producer Eddie Holland at the Motown Museum’s 40th Anniversary Reception at the Colony Club in Detroit on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025. Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press.
The 40,000-square-foot annex now rising on the museum campus will be named The Motown Experience, Terry revealed. Sunday’s guests got a first look at an animated fly-through video of the complex, which will include exhibit space, a theater, immersive listening experiences and more.
The two-story structure’s steel beams have begun to rise behind the iconic Hitsville, U.S.A., house, with construction set to finish in October 2026 and a grand opening scheduled for spring 2027.
Public museum tours will run through Jan. 19, 2026 — Martin Luther King Jr. Day — before pausing to accommodate the final stretch of work.
Terry also announced that the museum’s expansion fundraising has hit the $72 million mark, with $3 million left to reach the goal.
Robinson was a surprise guest for most folks on hand Sunday, including Tempts founder Williams, who greeted the “My Girl” songwriter with a big grin and long hug after rounding a corner in the Colony Club.
Donning archivist gloves, the two later joined Terry and the Holland brothers for the opening of a time capsule they’d all helped prepare in November 2005. It included a vintage 45-r.p.m. copy of the Temptations’ “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” which prompted Williams to turn to Eddie Holland: “You know it,” Williams told him. “You wrote it!”
The contents also featured tributes to late museum founder Esther Gordy Edwards — who sealed the time capsule 20 years ago — including a poem written to her by Robinson and sheet music by the Hollands.
That was just a taste of the love Sunday for Edwards, who meticulously saved Motown artifacts through the years before opening the museum in 1985 as she recognized public demand. “Maybe we made history and didn’t realize it,” she recounted telling her brother Berry Gordy, as seen in a video segment shown Sunday night.
Terry, a granddaughter of Edwards, told the audience: “It was Berry Gordy’s vision that built Motown. It was Esther Gordy’s heart that preserved it.”
Motown Museum CEO Kenya Messer, left, and chairwoman Robin Terry address guests at the Motown Museum’s 40th anniversary reception at Detroit’s Colony Club on Oct. 19, 2025. Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press.
Messer, the new CEO, was introduced to the crowd by Terry, who noted that the hiring comes as “we build our bench.”
“When I stepped into this role, I instantly felt the weight and wonder of what the Motown Museum represents,” Messer said.
Over at the Fox Theatre, another 40th celebration would happen, as the Four Tops and Temptations marked the anniversary of their dual T’N’T Tour in a polished, feel-good evening of nostalgic music.
For the Tops, it was the first Detroit performance since the 2024 death of Duke Fakir, the group’s last original member. Lawrence (Roquel) Payton Jr., son of the quartet’s late tenor, was an affable master of ceremonies as he and the group ran through a repertoire of ‘60s and ‘70s classics.
With the Tempts, 83-year-old Williams was an ageless figure onstage as he and fellow members served up slickly choreographed moves and crisply arranged vocals in a rapid volley of hits. Songs included “Get Ready” and “The Way You Do the Things You Do” as their songwriter Robinson watched from the seats.
And then came the closing number, “My Girl,” where Robinson delighted fans by joining the Temptations onstage and taking over lead vocal duties to revisit the 1965 masterwork — and rolling back the decades to the Motortown Revues on that very Fox stage.