By Bridgette Bartlett Royall ·Updated March 9, 2026 Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…

It is no secret that the music industry is cut-throat and not for the weak. Add to that it being incredibly sexist and racist. Another sobering fact: Those behind the scenes in the music business, from engineers to producers to songwriters, are rarely ever as celebrated as those in the spotlight if they get recognized at all. And for a Black woman in the 1960s and 1970s? Well, the light was sadly even more dim.

Enter Sylvia Moy. Born on September 15, 1938, Moy certainly faced the before mentioned obstacles. Moy became the first certified in-house songwriter and producer at Motown. Moy was one of nine children growing up on the northeast side of Detroit and grew up to become one of the world’s most prolific songwriters. Her most notable hits include Stevie Wonder’s My Cherie Amourand Uptight (Everything’s Alright) and several other timeless soul and R&B classics. In fact, Motown Records founder Berry Gordy has credited Moy for saving the career of musical icon Stevie Wonder. According to his autobiography, it was Moy’s plea to write for the young Wonder that persuaded Gordy not to drop him from the label. 

Moy also went on to write theme songs for television shows and movies. She earned six Grammy nominations and 20 BMI Awards. In an effort to continue her legacy, Moy co-founded the Center for Creative Communications which trains young adults in telecommunications and media arts. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006, an esteemed accomplishment that only five women have reached to date.  

Unfortunately, Moy was still virtually unknown until now. In February 2026, veteran journalist Margena A. Christian, EdD released a riveting book to change that travesty. Her recent biography, It’s No Wonder: The Life and Times of Motown’s Legendary Songwriter Sylvia Moy, is a meticulously researched work that bravely puts Sylvia Moy in her rightful place at the forefront of music history. A senior lecturer at the University of Illinois Chicago, Christian opened up to ESSENCE about her catalyst to write this book, how Moy opened doors for household names like Missy Elliott and why telling the incredible stories of women trailblazers is not just inspiring but necessary. ESSENCE.com: How did you learn of Sylvia Moy and her unsung contributions to the music industry? MARGENA A. CHRISTIAN: I first found out about her in 2021 during the pandemic. I consumed lots of social media like most folks with nothing else to do during this down time. I saw a post on Instagram from @blackstory1619 and Sheila E. reposted it on her Facebook page. It was an old Motown picture of Moy, standing at a piano with a young Stevie Wonder playing harmonica beside her with three members of the legendary Funk Brothers session band in the background. 

She stood out as the only female in the picture. The post mentioned how she was Motown’s first female to both write and produce songs. I was perplexed because I never heard any of this before. Why weren’t Moy’s musical accomplishments documented in a definitive way not only by Motown but music history at large? ESSENCE.com: Describe the moment when you said, “I want to write a book about her.”CHRISTIAN: The Instagram post had more than 10k likes, and the hundreds of comments were engaging. Most people responded how they were incredibly proud of Moy’s accomplishments, but there was this singular sentiment of bewilderment. Almost overwhelmingly everyone expressed a burning desire to learn more about this woman. After I did some digging around to see if there was any validity to the claims of her being the first female to both write and produce at Motown along with having supposedly saved Stevie Wonder from being let go at the label, I had enough solid evidence. Then, I’m big on astrology. I saw that she was a Virgo like me. That’s when I knew I wanted to write a book about Sylvia Moy.

ESSENCE.com: We know sexism and racism are widespread in the music industry. Still, were you surprised to learn how much Moy was unfairly treated?CHRISTIAN: Unfortunately, I wasn’t the least bit surprised to learn how much Moy was unfairly treated. There was racism from the rest of the world she dealt with, but then there were intra-racial concerns with her own who denied her credit. It was a double-edged sword. This was especially true behind the scenes in the music industry as a songwriter, so being a music producer for a female was out of the question. 

When she finally left Motown after seven years, Moy made noise, because she no longer had to play the game or worry about having her value denied and validated by others. She didn’t wait for anyone to give her production credit and demonstrated agency. During the 1970s, Moy built her own top-notch recording studio, Masterpiece Sound, in her Detroit-based home. There she continued writing songs while producing music for others. She did not wait for a seat at the table; Moy built the table and owned the house! 

ESSENCE.com: How has Moy paved the way for people like Missy?CHRISTIAN: This incredible change agent paved the way for Missy as a multi hyphenate, because Moy could sing, play instruments (piano, guitar, drums), write songs and produce music. Did I mention she was also a gifted artist and painter? 

While Moy pioneered the way, unfortunately, we must understand that pioneers also pay the price when opening doors for others. But here’s the one good thing about history. It might be hidden but it is never erased! What’s in the washer will always come out in the rinse. There was a time when women were not considered to be producers, especially in the 60s. In fact, nothing Moy produced at Motown had been credited though she mentioned how she was actually paid for the work. My head spinned all the way around after learning this. That was painful. Fortunately, the time has come for herstory to be told. 

ESSENCE: What do you think Moy would say about Eve getting her long overdue flowers last month at the Grammys?CHRISTIAN: I believe that Moy would say, it doesn’t matter how long it takes, if your voice is heard. Eve was faithful. She let go and let God, because it took 26 years before she finally received the recognition and golden gramophone statuette she deserved for the verse she performed on The Roots’ 1999 song You Got Me.  Eve’s contribution as an artist on the track was excluded and not documented. The Recording Academy and The Black Music Collective corrected this oversight by having this “technicality” reversed at the 2026 Recording Academy Honors, signaling a major breakthrough in music history that offers hope that there’s now a willingness to perhaps right other wrongs for those who’ve been unfairly denied music credit. These women have a voice and the world is ready to listen. Faith moves mountains.

TOPICS:  motown

The post The Story Of Sylvia Moy: The Unsung Motown Hitmaker Behind Stevie Wonder’s Classic Songs appeared first on Essence.

Author: Okla Jones

Read the original article on Essence.