Janie Bradford, the songwriter who co-wrote Motown’s breakthrough hit “Money (That’s What I Want)” with Berry Gordy and worked at Motown for more than 25 years in songwriting, publishing, quality control and production, died Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She was 87. Her death followed an extended illness, but no specific medical diagnosis was disclosed; her family announced it publicly the next day, Saturday, Aug. 22.
Gordy, who founded Motown Records, said in a statement that he was “deeply saddened” by her passing. “Janie 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,” he said, calling her “smart, clever, witty and fun.” Gordy said Bradford became Motown’s first receptionist, but that “her talents quickly took her far beyond that desk.”
Bradford was introduced to Gordy in the late 1950s by her neighbor, singer Jackie Wilson, and joined his operation as a receptionist before Motown was officially founded as a company. It didn’t take long for her to move well beyond answering phones.
Her best-known credit came early: “Money (That’s What I Want),” co-written with Gordy. The song was first recorded by Barrett Strong and released in 1959, becoming Tamla-Motown’s first major hit and an early breakthrough for Gordy’s fledgling label; it was later covered by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. The song’s official writing credit has a complicated history. Barrett Strong’s name was added to it and removed again multiple times over the decades — a change Gordy has called a clerical error — and today’s credit lists only Gordy and Bradford as writers.
Bradford wrote or co-wrote material recorded by many of Motown’s biggest names, including Stevie Wonder, Mary Wells, Diana Ross, The Marvelettes, Kim Weston, The Supremes, The Temptations and Marvin Gaye. Her catalog included “Too Busy Thinking About My Baby,” first recorded by The Temptations and later a hit for Gaye.
She didn’t stop at songwriting. Over more than 25 years at Motown, Bradford also worked in publishing, quality control and production, eventually becoming head of Writer Relations at Jobete, the company’s publishing arm.
After leaving Motown, Bradford founded the Heroes and Legends Awards, an annual event she ran for roughly three decades that honored entertainment-industry veterans and raised scholarship money for young people pursuing careers in the performing arts.
Her career was still being recognized in her final months. In June 2026, Bradford was inducted into the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame’s sixth-anniversary class at the organization’s June 12-13 awards show and songwriting mixer in Washington, D.C., alongside Traci Hale Martin, Meli’sa Morgan and Ilsey Juber — about two months before her death. She had also previously been inducted into the R&B Music Hall of Fame in 2015.
Bradford is survived by her husband, Wardean Hobbs, her daughter, Nicole Hobbs, her son, Lance Finney, and grandchildren. Funeral and memorial arrangements had not been publicly announced as of this report.