May 30, 2025
Cosby, who died in 2002, co-wrote and co-produced three No. 1 hits for Motown’s finest
Songwriter Hank Cosby, known for his work with Motown, and for supplying Stevie Wonder and many other artists with many songs throughout his career, has an exhibit honoring him and his work at the Motown Museum in Detroit.
According to the Detroit Free Press, the exhibit, “Henry ‘Hank’ Cosby: Tribute to an Original Funk Brother,” opened May 22. The two-wall exhibit showcases Cosby’s life starting from his childhood days in Detroit’s Black Bottom and during his time at Northern High School, where he started to enhance his skills on the tenor saxophone. He played with jazz legend Cannonball Adderley while both were enlisted in the United States Army during the Korean War in the early 1950s.
During his career, Cosby, who died in 2002, co-wrote and/or co-produced three No. 1 records: Fingertips by Stevie Wonder in 1963, Love Child by The Supremes in 1968, and The Tears of a Clown by The Miracles in 1968.
His wife, Pat Cosby, was ecstatic to see the exhibit as she thought about the time she approached the museum over 20 years ago, after her husband died, in hopes of collecting any memorabilia, and they didn’t even know who he was, despite all his contributions.
“I’m thinking about when he passed away, and we came to the museum hoping to get pictures, and nobody knew who he was. They didn’t recognize his name,” Cosby said.
Now, with pride for the showing of his work, she said, “Those days are over.”
Pat has worked closely with the museum since last fall to bring this project to fruition. She worked with the museum’s associate curator, Kemuel Benyehudah, to get the items for the exhibit and to bring his story to life.
She met her husband while working at Motown Records’ tape library. In 1962, she agreed to go out with him after he pursued her.
“Hank would come by, lean over the Dutch door, and say sweet stuff,” she said. Pat stated that when planning for a date, she asked him what he’d like to do, and she said his response was, “I’d like to make you happy the rest of your life.”
“He kept his promise,” Cosby said.
Anyone interested in attending the exhibit can contact the museum for more information.
