Maxine Powell

For nearly 50 years, Maxine Powell served as a mentor to Motown’s greatest hit music stars: The Jackson 5, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Diana Ross & the Supremes, the Four Tops and Marvin Gaye. Young artists would come to Motown and were sent to Powell at the Artists Development Department, also called the “Motown […]

DETROIT (AP) — Maxine Powell, who was responsible for developing the charm, grace and style of Motown Records’ artists during the Detroit label’s 1960s heyday, has died. She was 98. Motown Museum CEO Allen Rawls says Powell died Monday at a hospital in Southfield, Mich. She didn’t sing or write songs, but those associated with […]

DETROIT (AP) — She didn’t sing a note or write a lick of a lyric, but Smokey Robinson contends that Maxine Powell was as essential to Motown Records’ operation as the legendary label’s songwriters, producers and musicians. Powell was in charge of the artists’ personal development. And Robinson, a bard of the American romantic songbook […]