History

Rock and Roll (and folk and pop) in Rochester Hills

Rochester Hills is certainly not the center of the music industry, and yet, some very influential musicians hail from our community.  While Bob Seger uses his songs to mention Ann Arbor (Mainstreet), Woodward (Horizontal Bop), and Mackinac City (Roll Me Away), his life in Rochester Hills is seldom spoken about.  Seger lived on a 120 acre spread on Tienken Road between Livernois and Brewster Roads – Brookwood Subdivision and golf course today.  It was once a working cattle farm complete with a house, a barn, and a lake.  Seger and his band were able to crank it up there from 1970-1974.  It was not just a place to rehearse, but was also a communal style hangout.  He launched his career out of there in the mid 1970s.  On property directly to the south was the home of Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone, known simply as "Madonna," she is perhaps the most innovative, influential, controversial, and enigmatic artist of our time.  Madonna was born in Bay City, Michigan, but lived in Rochester Hills until graduating from high school in 1976.

Since bursting onto the dance club scene in 1982, Madonna's extraordinary ability to grow and develop as an artist has brought forth an amazingly diverse body of work.  She came into the public's collective awareness as a singer; she is also a composer, producer, actor, business executive, humanitarian, and mother.

As a singer, she has had more number one hits than any other female performer making her one of the most commercially successful artists in popular music.  During the late 1980s, she racked up six straight Top 5 singles, neatly trouncing the Beatles' old record for back-to-back chart-toppers.  Her numerous Grammy, People's Choice, American Music, and MTV Video Music Awards during the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s bear witness to her enduring mass appeal.

As an actress, Madonna made her Broadway debut in David Mamet's critically acclaimed Speed-the-Plow.  In 1996, she earned a Golden Globe Best Actress award for her portrayal of Eva Peron in the Tim Rice/Andrew Lloyd Webber movie musical, Evita.

Madonna attended Rochester Adams High School, where she was a cheerleader and straight-A student.  After graduation, she attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor to study dance on a scholarship but went to New York City after one year.

At King's Cove, off Tienken at the Paint Creek Trail crossing was once the home of the Dr. Max Mallon family- located on the site of the Rochester Sand and Brick Company.  The Mallons's rented one of the homes on the property to the Mitchell family – whose home was where the tennis courts are located now.  In 1965, The Mitchell's son, Chuck, a well know southeast Michigan folk singer, married his Canadian girlfriend in the family's backyard.  After the 18 month marriage ended, Joni Mitchell went on to gain international fame as a folksinger and songwriter, most notably for her song Both Sides Now.