Suzanne de Passe, whose hefty list of accomplishments include working with The Jackson 5 and producing award-winning events and films, is the latest Jamaican or person of Jamaican heritage to be inducted in the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.
A former vice-president of Motown Records, she and 14 others were named in the ‘Rock Hall’s Class of 2024 on April 21.
The 77 year-old de Passe and music producer Norman Whitfield, another Motown stalwart, are being recognised as non-performers.
De Passe will receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award, named for the founder of Atlantic Records. Born in New York City to a Jamaican father and American mother whose parents were from Jamaica, she joins reggae legends Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff, and hip hop pioneer DJ Kool Herc who were born in Jamaica.
Last week, she told Billboard Magazine that Motown groomed her for bigger things.
“I really learned a lot and was able to go out on a limb in some cases and either rise or fall, but never not be in a position of learning and growing,” she said. “I’m very, very grateful for the career I’ve had and the opportunities that have come my way because of that launching pad.”
A 1967 graduate of Syracuse University, De Passe went to Motown Records during a period when the Detroit label was developing new music acts like The Jackson 5, and moving into producing movies such as Lady Sings The Blues, starring Diana Ross.
She toured with the Jacksons, helping to craft an image that made the siblings major stars during the early 1970s.
In 1973, de Passe was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Lady Sings The Blues. Two years later, she produced the hit coming-of-age movie Cooley High, which starred Glynn Turman and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs.
De Passe was head of production for Motown Soul By The Sea, which took place in Montego Bay in December 1990. That two-day event featured Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, The Pointer Sisters, Boyz II Men, Johnny Gill and Gerald Alston.
Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Dave Matthews Band, Ozzy Osbourne, Cher, Dionne Warwick, Jimmy Buffett, Big Mama Thornton, John Mayall, Alexis Korner, Kool & The Gang and A Tribe Called Quest are the artistes to be inducted in the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame this year.
The 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will air live on Disney Plus on October 19 from the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.