{"id":2106958,"date":"2026-08-22T18:05:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T15:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2106958"},"modified":"2026-08-22T18:05:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T15:05:19","slug":"janie-bradford-early-motown-songwriter-money-thats-what-i-want-co-writer-dies-at-87","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2106958","title":{"rendered":"Janie Bradford, Early Motown Songwriter & \u2018Money (That\u2019s What I Want)\u2019 Co-Writer, Dies at 87"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/janie-bradford-heros-legends-awards-2022-billboard-1800-.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\n\tEarly Motown songwriter Janie Bradford Hobbs, who helped pen hits including \u201cMoney (That\u2019s What I Want)\u201d and \u201cToo Busy Thinking About My Baby,\u201d has died following an extended illness at a Los Angeles hospital, her family said Saturday (Aug. 22). She was 87.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"Bonnie<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tGone But Not Forgotten: Musicians We Lost in\u00a02026\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"Fivio<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tFivio Foreign Pivots to Christian Rap, But Don\u2019t Call Him a Gospel Artist: \u2018I Don\u2019t Want to Put It in a Category\u2019\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"The<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tThe Game Responds to Allegations That He Takes Shots at Kendrick Lamar on New Album: \u2018Ain\u2019t Diss Nobody on That Song\u2019\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tBradford Hobbs was born in Charleston, Missouri, and later moved to Detroit.<\/p>\n

\n\tShe was introduced in the late 1950s to Motown founder Berry Gordy by neighbor and singer Jackie Wilson. She joined Motown as a receptionist in 1958 and like many of the company\u2019s employees took part in the creative process that helped make Motown a music industry powerhouse.<\/p>\n

\n\tShe and Gordy co-wrote \u201cMoney (That\u2019s What I Want).\u201d The song was recorded in 1959 by Barrett Strong and became an early hit. It was covered by The Beatles and also became one of that group\u2019s hits.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cToo Busy Thinking About My Baby\u201d first was recorded by The Temptations and later became a hit for Marvin Gaye. Bradford Hobbs also wrote songs for Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, Martha & The Vandellas and others.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cJanie was there with me from the very beginning, before there was even a Motown, and she will always hold a very special place in my heart and in the Motown family,\u201d Gordy said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cJanie was one of a special group I have always thought of as the original Motown family \u2014 the unsung heroes who believed in the dream before anyone knew what Motown would become,\u201d Gordy continued. \u201cShe was one of the people who helped make Motown what it became.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBradford Hobbs later became head of Writer Relations for Jobete, Motown\u2019s publishing company. After leaving Motown, she founded the annual Heroes and Legends Awards. The event spanned about 30 years, honoring music icons and awarding scholarships, according to her family.<\/p>\n

\n\tShe is survived by her husband, Wardean Hobbs; daughter, Nicole Hobbs; son, Lance Finney; and two grandsons. Funeral services have not been completed.<\/p>\n

\"Billboard<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/music-news\/janie-bradford-death-motown-songwriter-dies-1236322487\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/janie-bradford-heros-legends-awards-2022-billboard-1800-.jpg?w=1024″] Early Motown songwriter Janie Bradford Hobbs, who helped pen hits including \u201cMoney (That\u2019s What I Want)\u201d and \u201cToo Busy Thinking About My Baby,\u201d has died following an extended illness at a Los Angeles hospital, her family said Saturday (Aug. 22). She was 87. Related Gone But Not Forgotten: Musicians We Lost in\u00a02026 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2106958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2106958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2106958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2106958\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2106958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2106958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2106958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}