MJ and the Jackson 5

Michael reunited with his brothers Jackie, Marlon, Jermaine, & Tito on stage for the first time in eight years for a medley of their greatest hits, "I Want You Back," "The Love You Save," "Never Can Say Goodbye," and "I'll Be There." Brother Randy, who was not a part of the original Jackson 5, but was a part of the later group The Jacksons (minus Jermaine), also joined the group for the medley.

As the other members of the Jackson 5 left the stage, Michael transitioned dramatically into his own solo spot. Widely hailed as Michael's breakthrough performance as a solo artist, he performed "Billie Jean", which at the time was in the middle of a seven-week run atop the Billboard Hot 100 music charts.

Motown 25 was a showcase for the highly anticipated reunion of the Supremes: Diana Ross, Mary Wilson (original member Florence Ballard had died in 1976), and Supremes replacement Cindy Birdsong. Four of their greatest hits were to be sung that night, including Someday We'll Be Together, Baby Love and Stop! In the Name of Love, however this reunion was cut short. Richard Pryor opened the segment with a fairy-tale story of 'three maidens from the Projects of Brewster' which was then followed with a montage of various Supremes' video clips. Diana then started down the center aisle of the auditorium with her hit Ain't No Mountain High Enough.

When Ross finished, she made a brief speech about 'the night that everyone came back' (although, as stated above, some artists were not invited, and some had died). After the beginning chords of "Someday We'll Be Together", Ross became frustrated by the fact that Wilson and Birdsong moved with her, as she walked closer to the edge of the stage, which resulted in Wilson taking over lead vocals of the song. This prompted Ross to push Wilson. A few moments later, Motown labelmates such as Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, and others quickly filled the stage for an impromptu finale. Although producer Suzanne de Passe had instructed Diana to introduce Berry Gordy after leading the finale, (a fact unknown to Mary) Wilson decided to do the honors, by calling Berry down herself. This led to Diana yelling at Mary "it's been taken care of". Wilson also made a brief tribute to Ballard, who Gordy had removed from the group years before. By the time the reunion aired on May 16, the Ross altercations had been excised from the special, but they were widely reported (including an article and pictures in US Weekly), and the performance resulted in bad publicity for Ross.


[edit] The Temptations/The Four Tops
The Temptations and The Four Tops competed in a "Battle of the Bands" style event. The only original Temptations performing were Melvin Franklin and Otis Williams, as Eddie Kendricks (who quit the group in 1971) and David Ruffin (who quit the group in 1968, and was replaced by Dennis Edwards) had a falling out with the group. Paul Williams had died in 1973, and Al Bryant (who quit the group in 1964) had died in 1975.

Joining Williams and Franklin were then-Temptations Dennis Edwards, Richard Street, and Ron Tyson. All of the original members of the Four Tops performed: Renaldo "Obie" Benson, Duke Fakir, and Lawrence Payton, with Levi Stubbs providing the lead vocals. The two groups performed "Reach Out I'll Be There", "Get Ready", "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)", "My Girl" "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" and "I Can't Get Next to You", among other numbers. The joint performance was a success, and the Temptations and Four Tops toured together for two years following the special.

This "battle" later returned in a special at the Apollo theater and created a long running tour for the two groups to compete in.
While Motown 25 was billed as "Yesterday, Today, Forever", artists from the golden era of Motown, such as The Marvelettes, The Vandellas, The Contours, Marv Johnson, Jimmy Ruffin, Edwin Starr, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and The Velvelettes were not included in the special, while newer artists such as Debarge and José Feliciano were. Non-Motown artists, such as Adam Ant (who paid homage to the Supremes singing "Where Did Our Love Go"" with Diana Ross bumping and grinding) and Linda Ronstadt were featured as well.