The Motown 25th Anniversary Special

E643159

concert film music television program television special

The Motown 25th Anniversary Special is a landmark 1983 television concert celebrating Motown Records’ legacy, best known for iconic performances including Michael Jackson’s debut of the moonwalk.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (2)

Label	Occurrences
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever	2
The Motown 25th Anniversary Special canonical	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T7141665 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: The Motown 25th Anniversary Special
Context triple: [David Permut, notableWork, The Motown 25th Anniversary Special]

A. In Performance at the White House: The Motown Sound
"In Performance at the White House: The Motown Sound" is a televised concert event held at the White House celebrating the legacy and music of Motown artists.
B. Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA
Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA is a cover album by Boyz II Men that pays tribute to classic Motown hits.
C. A Salute to the 1960s and Motown
"A Salute to the 1960s and Motown" was the Motown-themed musical halftime show presented during Super Bowl XVI, celebrating the music and cultural impact of the 1960s.
D. Motown: The Musical
Motown: The Musical is a jukebox musical that dramatizes the history of Motown Records and its legendary artists through their iconic songs.
E. Prince of Motown
Prince of Motown is a nickname for Marvin Gaye, the influential American soul and R&B singer-songwriter whose work helped define the Motown sound and shape modern popular music.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: The Motown 25th Anniversary Special
Target entity description: The Motown 25th Anniversary Special is a landmark 1983 television concert celebrating Motown Records’ legacy, best known for iconic performances including Michael Jackson’s debut of the moonwalk.

A. In Performance at the White House: The Motown Sound
"In Performance at the White House: The Motown Sound" is a televised concert event held at the White House celebrating the legacy and music of Motown artists.
B. Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA
Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA is a cover album by Boyz II Men that pays tribute to classic Motown hits.
C. A Salute to the 1960s and Motown
"A Salute to the 1960s and Motown" was the Motown-themed musical halftime show presented during Super Bowl XVI, celebrating the music and cultural impact of the 1960s.
D. Motown: The Musical
Motown: The Musical is a jukebox musical that dramatizes the history of Motown Records and its legendary artists through their iconic songs.
E. Prince of Motown
Prince of Motown is a nickname for Marvin Gaye, the influential American soul and R&B singer-songwriter whose work helped define the Motown sound and shape modern popular music.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (58)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	concert film ⓘ music television program ⓘ television special ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Motown 25 NERFINISHED ⓘ
awardReceived	Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Variety, Music or Comedy Program NERFINISHED ⓘ Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Program NERFINISHED ⓘ
broadcastOn	NBC NERFINISHED ⓘ
celebrates	Motown Records NERFINISHED ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
director	Don Mischer NERFINISHED ⓘ
executiveProducer	Suzanne de Passe NERFINISHED ⓘ
featuresPerformer	Adam Ant NERFINISHED ⓘ DeBarge NERFINISHED ⓘ Diana Ross NERFINISHED ⓘ Jose Feliciano NERFINISHED ⓘ Junior Walker NERFINISHED ⓘ Linda Ronstadt NERFINISHED ⓘ Lionel Richie NERFINISHED ⓘ Martha Reeves and the Vandellas NERFINISHED ⓘ Marvin Gaye NERFINISHED ⓘ Mary Wells NERFINISHED ⓘ Michael Jackson NERFINISHED ⓘ Richard Pryor NERFINISHED ⓘ Smokey Robinson NERFINISHED ⓘ Stevie Wonder NERFINISHED ⓘ The Four Tops NERFINISHED ⓘ The Jacksons NERFINISHED ⓘ The Supremes NERFINISHED ⓘ The Temptations NERFINISHED ⓘ
filmingDate	1983-03-25 ⓘ
genre	music ⓘ variety ⓘ
hasTheme	history of Motown music ⓘ
homeVideoRelease	DVD ⓘ VHS ⓘ
host	Richard Pryor NERFINISHED ⓘ
includesSegment	Jackson 5 reunion performance ⓘ The Temptations vs. The Four Tops battle medley ⓘ
includesSongPerformance	"Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson NERFINISHED ⓘ "My Girl" by The Temptations NERFINISHED ⓘ "Reach Out I’ll Be There" by The Four Tops NERFINISHED ⓘ "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours" by Stevie Wonder NERFINISHED ⓘ "What’s Going On" by Marvin Gaye NERFINISHED ⓘ
influenced	subsequent music award shows and tribute specials ⓘ
location	Pasadena Civic Auditorium NERFINISHED ⓘ Pasadena, California NERFINISHED ⓘ
notableFor	Michael Jackson’s first televised moonwalk ⓘ Michael Jackson’s performance of "Billie Jean" ⓘ
originalAirDate	1983-05-16 ⓘ
originalLanguage	English ⓘ
originalNetwork	NBC ⓘ
partOf	Motown anniversary celebrations ⓘ
producer	Suzanne de Passe NERFINISHED ⓘ
productionCompany	Motown Productions NERFINISHED ⓘ
runtime	approximately 120 minutes ⓘ
subject	25th anniversary of Motown Records ⓘ
title	Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever NERFINISHED ⓘ
writer	Buz Kohan NERFINISHED ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

David Permut → notableWork → The Motown 25th Anniversary Special ⓘ

Billie Jean → notablePerformance → The Motown 25th Anniversary Special ⓘ

this entity surface form: Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever

Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever performance of Billie Jean in 1983 → partOfShow → The Motown 25th Anniversary Special ⓘ