On Feb. 3, artists from an array of genres and decades gathered to honor Smokey Robinson and Berry Gordy, MusiCares' 2023 Persons Of The Year honorees. Before the celebration kicked off, some of the event performers and attendees revealed their favorite songs by the Motown legends — and showed just how prolific they are.
"There's so many songs! You can't choose!" exclaimed Halle Bailey — one half of sibling duo Chloe x Halle, who performed a rendition of The Supremes' "Baby Love" — on the red carpet. As Chloe added, their song choice was a sentimental one: "We've sang it since we were little girls."
Sebastián Yatra and Rita Wilson, who also took the stage for a rendition of Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston's duet "It Takes Two," both expressed their love of Motown. While Wilson highlighted Robinson classics "Tracks Of My Tears," "Tears Of A Clown" and "Cruisin'," Yatra pointed out Motown's influence on music as a whole.
"I think every single thing they've done and every artist that they've worked with, they've managed to really make it sound like a completely different artist," Yatra said. "They've managed to be like chameleons."
Motown veteran Eric Holland, 2023 Best New Artist GRAMMY winner Samara Joy, R&B multihyphenate Rico Love, and Four Tops founding member Abdul Fakir also shared their favorite Motown songs. And while Robinson had plenty of hits of his own, his answer hinted that he's a fan of everything Motown has produced.
"If I could tell you what my favorite song was," he said, "it's probably a song I had absolutely nothing to do with!"
Press play on the video above to hear all of the answers, and check out the official 2023 Persons Of The Year playlist here.