Marvin Gaye

Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (né Gay; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo artist with a string of successes, which earned him the nicknames "Prince of Motown" and "Prince of Soul". Gaye is often considered one of the greatest singers of all time.

Gaye's Motown hits include "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" (1964), "Ain't That Peculiar" (1965), and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (1968). He also recorded duets with Mary Wells, Kim Weston, Tammi Terrell, and Diana Ross. During the 1970s, Gaye became one of the first Motown artists to break away from the reins of a production company and recorded the landmark albums What's Going On (1971) and Let's Get It On (1973).

His later recordings influenced several R&B subgenres, such as quiet storm and neo soul. "Sexual Healing", released in 1982 on the album Midnight Love, won him his first two Grammy Awards. Gaye's last televised appearances were at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game, where he sang "The Star-Spangled Banner", Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever in 1983, and on Soul Train.

On April 1, 1984, Gaye intervened during a fight between his parents at their home in Western Heights, Los Angeles. Gaye's father, Marvin Gay Sr., subsequently shot and killed Gaye; it was the eve of his 45th birthday. Gay Sr. later pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter, receiving a six-year suspended sentence and five years of probation. Institutions have posthumously bestowed Gaye with such awards and honors as the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award; a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; and inductions into the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame, Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. was born on April 2, 1939, at Freedman's Hospital in Washington, D.C., to church minister Marvin Gay Sr. and domestic worker Alberta Gay (née Cooper). His first home was in a public housing project, the Fairfax Apartments (now demolished) at 1617 1st Street SW in the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood. Although it was one of the city's oldest neighborhoods, with many elegant Federal-style homes, most buildings were small, in disrepair, and lacking electricity and running water. The alleys were full of one- and two-story shacks, and nearly every dwelling was overcrowded. Gaye and his friends nicknamed the area "Simple City", calling it "half-city, half country".

Gaye was the second of the couple's four children. He had two sisters, Jeanne and Zeola, and one brother, Frankie Gaye. He also had two half-brothers: Michael Cooper, his mother's son from a previous relationship, and Antwaun Carey Gay, born as a result of one of his father's extramarital affairs.

Gaye started singing in church when he was four years old; his father often accompanied him on piano. Gaye and his family were part of a conservative church known as the House of God that took its teachings from Pentecostalism, with a strict code of conduct. Gaye developed a love of singing at an early age and was encouraged to pursue a professional music career after a performance at a school play at 11 singing Mario Lanza's "Be My Love". His home life consisted of "brutal whippings" by his father, who struck him for any shortcoming. The young Gaye described living in his father's house as similar to "living with a king, a very peculiar, changeable, cruel, and all powerful king". He felt that had his mother not consoled him and encouraged his singing, he would have committed suicide. His sister later explained that Gaye was beaten often, from age seven well into his teenage years.

Gaye attended Syphax Elementary School and then Randall Junior High School. Gaye began to take singing much more seriously in junior high, and he joined and became a singing star with the Randall Junior High Glee Club.

In 1953 or 1954, the Gays moved into the East Capitol Dwellings public housing project in D.C.'s Capitol View neighborhood. Their townhouse apartment (Unit 12, 60th Street NE; now demolished) was Marvin's home until 1962.

Gaye briefly attended Spingarn High School before transferring to Cardozo High School. At Cardozo, Gaye joined several doo-wop vocal groups, including the Dippers and the D.C. Tones. During his teenage years, his father often kicked him out of the house. In 1956, 17-year-old Gaye dropped out of high school and enlisted in the United States Air Force. He, like many of his peers, quickly became disenchanted with the service, which set them to menial labor instead of working on jet airplanes. Gaye later said he lost his virginity to a local prostitute while in the Air Force. He feigned mental illness and was given a general discharge; in his outgoing performance review, his sergeant wrote, "Airman Gay cannot adjust to regimentation nor authority".

After Gaye left the Air Force, he formed a vocal quartet, the Marquees, with his good friend Reese Palmer. The group performed in the D.C. area and soon began working with Bo Diddley, who tried to persuade his own label, Chess, to sign them to a record deal. Failing that, he sent them to Columbia subsidiary OKeh Records. Diddley co-wrote the group's sole single, "Wyatt Earp"; it failed to chart and the group was soon dropped from the label. Gaye began composing music.

Moonglows co-founder Harvey Fuqua later hired the Marquees as employees. Under Fuqua's direction, the group changed its name to Harvey and the New Moonglows, and moved to Chicago. The group recorded several sides for Chess in 1959, including the song "Mama Loocie", which was Gaye's first lead vocal recording. The group found work as session singers for established acts such as Chuck Berry, singing on the songs "Back in the U.S.A." and "Almost Grown". In 1960, the group disbanded. Gaye moved to Detroit with Fuqua, where he signed with Tri-Phi Records as a session musician, playing drums on several Tri-Phi releases. Soon, Fuqua got in touch with Motown president Berry Gordy and offered Gaye to Gordy to sign with the label's Tamla subsidiary selling half of his interest in Gaye. Marvin reportedly signed on September 19, 1960.

Gaye initially pursued a career in jazz standards, rather than in R&B or rock and roll. In May 1961, Tamla issued Marvin's first single, a rendition of "The Masquerade Is Over" under his original surname of "Gay". The single was a limited release and shortly afterwards, Marvin added an "e" to his last name. His first official single under his new name was the Gordy-penned blues ballad, "Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide", in May 1961, with the album The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye, following a month later. Gaye's initial recordings failed commercially and he spent most of 1961 performing session work as a drummer for artists such as the Miracles, the Marvelettes and blues artist Jimmy Reed for $5 (US$53 in 2024) a week. While Gaye took some advice on performing with his eyes open (having been accused of appearing as though he were sleeping) and also got pointers on how to move more gracefully onstage, he refused to attend grooming school courses at the John Robert Powers School for Social Grace in Detroit because of his unwillingness to comply with its orders, something he later regretted.

In 1962, Gaye found success as co-songwriter of the Marvelettes track "Beechwood 4-5789", on which he also played drums. His first solo hit, "Stubborn Kind of Fellow", was later released that September, reaching No. 8 on the R&B chart and No. 46 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November and December 1962 respectively. Around the time of the song's release, Gaye joined the first Motortown Revue; he was filmed along other Motown acts later that December at the Apollo Theater. In March 1963, Gaye first hit the Billboard pop top 40 with the dance song, "Hitch Hike". "Pride and Joy" was Gaye's first top ten single on the Billboard Hot 100 on July 20, 1963. Gaye's first chart album was with Mary Wells on their 1964 collaborative album, Together, reaching No. 42 on the Billboard 200 and featured the double-A sided single "Once Upon a Time" / "What's the Matter with You Baby". Both sides reached the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 and increased Gaye's popularity.

Most of Gaye's hit recordings during this period were of interpretations of songs given to him by the label's staff writers, the first of which were the team of Holland-Dozier-Holland, with whom he scored the hits "Can I Get a Witness" and "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)", which reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1965. Later in the year, Gaye released the hit singles "I'll Be Doggone" and "Ain't That Peculiar", written for him by Smokey Robinson; both songs reached the Billboard Hot 100 top ten and became his first two number one singles on Hot R&B Singles chart, each selling a million copies. In 1966, during a chart lull where he failed to score a follow-up solo top ten single, Gaye returned to duet work with Kim Weston, scoring a top 20 hit with "It Takes Two". Gaye's aspirations of being a pop crooner continued with the release of albums such as When I'm Alone I Cry, Hello Broadway and A Tribute to the Great Nat King Cole — all of whom were released to little fanfare. A live album, recorded at the Copacabana, set for a 1967 release, was shelved due to Gaye and Gordy fighting over control of the project.

In 1967, Gaye began collaborating with Tammi Terrell on a series of hit singles such as "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", "Your Precious Love", "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" and "You're All I Need to Get By", the latter three reaching the top ten of the pop charts. Gaye won his first Grammy Award nomination in the Best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance, Vocal or Instrumental category for "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". On October 14, 1967, Terrell collapsed in Gaye's arms during a performance at Hampden–Sydney College in Farmville, Virginia. Terrell was rushed to Farmville's Southside Community Hospital, where doctors discovered a malignant tumor in her brain. The diagnosis ended Terrell's career as a live performer, though she continued to record music under careful supervision; Terrell's tumor would be operated on seven times. Gaye was reportedly devastated by Tammi's sickness and became disillusioned with the record business. On October 6, 1968, Gaye sang the U.S. national anthem live for the first time during Game 4 of the 1968 World Series, held at Tiger Stadium, in Detroit, Michigan, between the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals.