Motown hit songwriter, record executive, poet and education advocate Janie Bradford has died, just months after she was inducted into the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Bradford died Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, at a Los Angeles hospital after an extended illness, according to Rolling Stone. She was 87.
Bradford wrote or co-wrote some of the label’s hits, including “Money (That’s What I Want),” and songs recorded by Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Temptations, The Marvelettes and others. She penned “Too Busy Thinking About My Baby,” which was first was recorded by The Temptations and later became a hit for Gaye, ABC News said.
She was an early employee at Motown and Tamla record companies, joining as a receptionist in 1959, according to the Motown Museum in Detroit.
Bradford was born in Missouri, the museum said. She moved to Detroit to live with her sister Clea Ethel, a Detroit-area singer. She met Berry Gordy through Ethel and their friend Jackie Wilson, also a singer. Bradford shared some of her poetry with Gordy, the museum said in its obituary of Bradford.
Bradford then helped Gordy write “Money (That’s What I Want)” by joining Gordy on the piano and adding her own verse to the song, the museum said.
In a video accepting her induction into the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame in June, she said it was a privilege to be part of Motown and the music that was the canvas upon which she “painted her dreams.”
“Every melody crafted, I sought to capture not just notes and words but the spirit of generations yearning for love, hope and change,” she said in a video uploaded to social media. “I owe this honor to the artists who gave voice to the words, brightened, bringing them to life and passion, and so to the musicians whose rhythms became the backdrop of our lives.”
Martha Reeves said she is heartbroken over Bradford’s death. In a social media post, Reeves said Bradford was integral to Motown, working in publishing, quality control and production as well as songwriting.
“Janie was a champion of picking the right teams of people,” Reeves wrote. “And as years went by, she kept the Motown family together and in-touch by creating the (Heroes and Legends) Awards. She will be forever missed and always a part of the Motown Family. REST IN PEACE & REST IN POWER.”
In a 2024 interview with M1 Academy uploaded to YouTube, Bradford described some of her early experience working at Motown. The label had a familial atmosphere, she said. She didn’t know at the time that she and her colleagues were making history, she said.
“I remember early on once Berry Gordy fired me, and I sat there and he left and I thought ‘But where am I going to go? What am I going to do?’ I didn’t have nothing to do and I couldn’t go out to Belle Isle, I didn’t have a car. So I just kept working,” Bradford said, laughing. “He came back and said ‘I thought I fired you,’ and I said ‘You did, but I didn’t have nowhere to go.
“But that was the kind of relationship we had with each other,” she continued. “Mickey (Stevenson) and all of us had that family kind of relationship. Basically, we all grew up together.”
Bradford founded the Heroes and Legends Awards, an annual event that honors musicians and music industry icons and raises money for scholarships. Bradford also was an enthusiastic supporter of the Motown Museum, the museum said in its post. She often attended exhibit openings, celebrations, galas and served as a mentor.
“Motown Museum continues to celebrate and honor Janie Bradford, and her immense contributions to the Motown legacy,” the museum wrote.
ckthompson@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Motown hit songwriter and ‘champion’ Janie Bradford dies at 87
Reporting by Carol Thompson, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Carol Thompson, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
