Biography
Sylvia Moy earned lasting recognition within Motown’s legacy through her primary contributions as a behind-the-scenes songwriter and producer. Raised alongside eight siblings on Detroit’s northeast side, she and her brothers and sisters first explored rhythm by drumming on household pots and pans. School years introduced formal study of jazz and classical repertoire, yet her defining professional foothold emerged at Motown Records. There she joined the songwriting collective responsible for enduring compositions such as “My Cherie Amour,” recorded by Stevie Wonder, and “It Takes Two,” recorded by Marvin Gaye. Moy became the label’s first woman credited with the title of record producer while simultaneously ranking among its most active and prominent songwriters. Extending her reach into broadcast media, she composed theme music for the series Blossom, The Wonder Years, and Growing Pains, and she contributed to the soundtracks of the films It Takes Two, Mr. Holland’s Opus, and Dead Presidents. Over the course of her career she accumulated six Grammy nominations, twenty BMI Awards, and induction into the National Songwriters Hall of Fame. Demonstrating a lasting commitment to arts education, Moy co-established the Center for Creative Communications—commonly called “Masterworks”—an organization dedicated to training young adults in telecommunications and media arts. She passed away in Dearborn, Michigan, in April 2017 at age seventy-eight, following complications from pneumonia.