Motown Museum guide: touring Hitsville U.S.A. in Detroit

The Motown Museum is the white two-storey house at 2648 West Grand Boulevard with HITSVILLE U.S.A. painted across the front. Berry Gordy bought it in 1959, lived upstairs with his family and recorded in the back. Nearly every Motown hit of the 1960s was cut in one small room here. You can stand in it.

Book a timed ticket before you fly

Visits are by guided tour only, each with a fixed start time, and the weekend slots go first. Book on the museum's own website as soon as your dates are set. In summer, Saturdays are often gone two or three weeks ahead. Prices and opening days change with the season, so check there and not in an old blog post.

What the Hitsville tour covers

A guide walks the group through the house in about an hour. You see the control room with its tape machines, the upstairs flat kept the way the Gordys had it, and the attic that served as the studio's echo chamber. The museum itself was opened in 1985 by Esther Gordy Edwards, Berry's sister, who had kept the place as it was after the label moved to Los Angeles in 1972.

The tour ends in Studio A, the room the house band called the Snakepit. It is smaller than you expect, with a worn floor and the Steinway that played on the records. The guide usually gets everyone singing a Temptations chorus. Nobody stays embarrassed for long.

The galleries next door

The museum has grown into the houses beside Hitsville, with exhibition rooms, a shop and an open plaza out front. Give the whole visit two hours. The tour runs to a fixed schedule, but you can take the galleries at your own pace, before or after.

Getting there

West Grand Boulevard is about three miles northwest of downtown, ten minutes by car. A rideshare from a downtown hotel is the easy way. The QLine streetcar runs up Woodward to Grand Boulevard, a little over a mile from the museum, which is a pleasant walk in good weather and a long one in February.

Where to hear Detroit music after

Motown was only half of Detroit's music. Baker's Keyboard Lounge on Livernois Avenue opened in 1934 and still has jazz most nights, with soul food from the kitchen. Downtown, Cliff Bell's is a restored 1930s jazz room a short walk from the big hotels. If you are in town on Labor Day weekend, read our Detroit Jazz Festival guide first: the whole city turns into a free jazz stage.

Motown Museum questions

How long does the Motown Museum tour take?

The guided tour of Hitsville takes about an hour. With the galleries next door, plan on two hours.

Do I need tickets in advance?

Yes. Entry is by timed guided tour, and weekend slots sell out weeks ahead in summer.

Is Studio A the real studio?

Yes. Studio A at Hitsville is the original room where the Motown hits were recorded, not a reconstruction.

Can I visit the Motown Museum on one of your tours?

Yes. Hitsville is the first morning of our Motown and Rock Hall tour, and we book the timed tickets for you.