Background

Marvin was born in Washington, District of Columbia, United States, on April 2, 1939. He was the son of Reverend Marvin Gay Sr. and Alberta Williams Cooper Gay. Gaye was raised under the strict control of his father - Marvin Gaye Jr. added the "e" on the end of his name later in life - the minister at a local church, against a bleak backdrop of widespread violence in his neighborhood.

He grew up in a troubled home and was frequently subjected to physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his father. Interested in music from a young age, he found solace in singing and playing musical instruments.

Education

Gaye attended Syphax Elementary School and then Randall Junior High School. Until high school, his singing experience was limited to church revivals, but soon he developed a love for R&B and doo-wop that would set the foundation for his career. Gaye briefly attended Spingarn High School before transferring to Cardozo High School.

Career

Marvin Gaye began his musical profession in his father's church choir and began playing the organ and drums. After several years in the church, in 1957 Gaye left his father's church and joined a group known as the Marquees. After a year, the group was guided by the producer and singer Harvey Fuqua who inspired Marvin’s musical career. When Fuqua moved to Detroit to further pursue his music, Gaye went with him. In Detroit, Harvey was able to join forces with another music talent, Berry Gordy, where Gaye became a session drummer and soloist for the Motown Records label.

During 1961, Gaye was also offered a solo recording record with Motown Records. In the first year of his solo contract, Marvin was a jazz singer but was soon persuaded to sing Rhythm and Blues (R&B). His first hit single was "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" which became a top 10 selling hit on the R&B charts. By 1965, Gaye became known as Motown's best selling male vocalist and had added to the charts the famous song "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" followed by two more number one selling R&B hits, "I'll Be Doggone" and "Ain't That Peculiar."

Over the years, Marvin Gaye, Jr. began to sing several duets with the leading ladies of Motown. One of these ladies, Tammi Terrell became one of Gaye's close friends but died in 1970 due to illness. Gaye returned to solo work, which eventually produced his most successful "concept" album in 1971 which pursued environmental and anti-war protest themes among others. Some of the songs in his hit album included the number one hit "What’s Going On," and "Mercy Mercy Me" and "Inner City Blues." Gaye’s new style soon influenced black performers all across the nation.

In the early 1970s, Gaye sang more sexually explicit songs such as the 1973 hit "Let’s Get It On," and nine years later in 1982, "Sexual Healing." Gaye's music masked personal problems that increasingly plagued the singer. He went through a bitter divorce from Anna Gaye in 1975 and moved to Europe to establish a new life in 1980. When he returned to the United States in 1983, he moved in with his parents who were living in Los Angeles and suffered an intense addiction to cocaine which left him unable to record any more albums.

His last public appearance was his eccentric, controversial performance of the national anthem at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game.

Achievements

• 

  Marvin Gaye is best known for the single 'Sexual healing' which was released in 1982. The song spent a staggering ten weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Black Singles and is considered the biggest R&B hit of the 1980s. The single also found success internationally.
  
  He won two Grammy Awards for 'Sexual Healing' - Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Instrumental Performance - in 1983. The song also won Gaye an American Music Award in the R&B-soul category.
  
  He was posthumously inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. In 1996 Marvin Gaye was posthumously given The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for his creative and artistic contributions to the world of music.
  
  In 2008, the American music magazine Rolling Stone ranked Gaye #6 on its list of The Greatest Singers of All Time and ranked #18 on 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. He was ranked #31 on VH1's 100 Sexiest Artists.

Works

More photos

• movie

  • Ballad Of Andy Crocker

    (A returning Vietnam veteran finds out that his girlfriend...)

    1969
  • Chrome and Hot Leather

    (A Green Beret sergeant seeks revenge on the motorcycle ga...)

    1972

• music

  • Soulful Moods Of Marvin Gaye 1961
  • That Stubborn Kinda' Fellow 1963
  • When I'm Alone I Cry 1964
  • Hello Broadway 1964
  • How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You 1965
  • A Tribute To The Great Nat King Cole 1965
  • Moods Of Marvin Gaye 1966
  • I Heard It Through The Grapevine 1968
  • M.P.G. 1969
  • That's The Way Love Is 1970
  • What's Going On 1971
  • Trouble Man 1972
  • Let's Get It On 1973
  • I Want You 1976
  • Here, My Dear 1978
  • In Our Lifetime 1981
  • Midnight Love 1982
  • Together 1964
  • United 1967
  • You're All I Need 1968
  • Easy 1969
  • Diana & Marvin 1973

Religion

Gaye was raised by a minister of the Washington D.C. House of God, a church expressing aspects of both Orthodox Judaism and fundamentalist Christianity. Gaye's upbringing was strictly religious and violent. He was regularly beaten for his "sins" and transgressions against his father and faith. Most likely, as a result, Gaye turned away from Christianity.

Gaye didn’t consider himself a Christian: "I don’t think I’m a Christian. A Christian is a man who follows Christ, and that takes a hell - I should say heaven - of a man to do. My church is within me."

Conversely, when asked about the religious content of his music (of which there is quite a bit), Gaye responded by saying: "I'm the son of an apostolic minister and I know a great deal about God and I've been with God all my life and... it sounds a bit hypocritical, but I’m a pretty religious guy."

He was always religiously conflicted but seemed to maintain adherence to Christianity in his own, unique way.

Politics

In 1970, inspired by escalating violence and political unrest over the Vietnam War, Gaye wrote the landmark song "What's Going On." Despite clashes with Motown over the song's creative direction, the single was released in 1971 and became an instant smash. Its success prompted Gaye to take even more risks, both musically and politically. When it was released in the spring of 1971, the What's Going On album served to open Gaye up to new audiences while maintaining his Motown following.

Views

Quotations: "War is not the answer, because only love can conquer hate."

"If you cannot find peace within yourself, you will never find it anywhere else."

"Marriage is miserable unless you find the right person that is your soulmate and that takes a lot of looking."

"Most fear stems from sin; to limit one's sins, one must assuredly limit one's fear, thereby bringing more peace to one's spirit. Great artists suffer for the people."

Personality

Marvin dreamt of being a pilot and when he was 17 years old, Marvin ran away from home to join the United States Air Force. Gaye had trouble following orders from his strict sergeant and was honorably discharged in 1956.

Gaye's name in contrast to his birth name. This was done by Gaye himself during his early adult life. One reason he did this was because of the endless homophobic jokes made at his expense, while another reason stated by Gaye's relatives was that he wanted to distance himself from his father.

He was gifted with a four-octave vocal range, singing in church choirs when he was as young as four years old. Aside from that, he was also an accomplished drummer. Gaye actually spent part of his early career working as a session drummer for other musical acts before he himself became established in his own right.

Gaye had a habit of closing his eyes whenever he sang live. Some pointed to this habit as a reason for why he wasn’t working out as a solo artist since it apparently looked like he was falling asleep on the stage. Gaye eventually gave it up to try and improve his performances.

Marvin Gaye performed most of his legendary duets ("Ain't No Mountain High Enough," "You're All I Need To Get By") with singer Tammi Terrell. Terrell died from brain cancer in 1970 and Gaye vowed never to sing with another person or on stage ever again.

Marvin Gaye secretly suffered from depression and substance abuse. In 1969, he attempted to shoot himself with a handgun but was stopped by Berry Gordy. In 1979, he ingested a full ounce of cocaine thinking it would be a "slow but pleasant death, less messy than a gun." The week of his death, Gaye jumped out of a moving car but only got minor injuries.

Following his death in 1984, Mayor of the District of Columbia, Marion Barry declared April 2 (the singer's birthday) Marvin Gaye Day, celebrating the life and legacy of the iconic soul singer.

Physical Characteristics: For most of his adult life, Gaye was a recreational drug user. He often smoked marijuana throughout his life, but trouble began when he was introduced to cocaine. His dependence on cocaine grew exponentially as he got older, and this sadly fed into his paranoia. Convinced that someone was plotting to kill him, Gaye eventually spent his Sexual Healing tour wearing bullet-proof vests and employing armed bodyguards to follow him wherever he went.

Interests

• Playing football

• Sport & Clubs

  Football, Detroit Lions

• Music & Bands

  Sam Cooke, The Moonglows, The Capris, Frank Sinatra, Clyde McPhatter, Ray Charles, Little Willie John

Connections

Marvin's first marriage was to Anna Gordy who was 17 years his senior. They met in 1960 and tied the knot in 1963. Together they adopted one baby boy. The marriage crumbled and the couple later divorced, leaving Gaye devastated.

He married Janis Hunter in 1977 and had two children with her. The marriage was troubled due to his drug addiction and mental health problems and ended in 1981.

Father:

Marvin Pentz Gay

Marvin was the father of American recording artist Marvin Gaye and became infamous after shooting and killing him on April 1, 1984, following an argument at their Los Angeles home.

Mother:

Alberta Williams Cooper Gay

Alberta Cooper Gay was an American domestic worker, schoolteacher and the mother of American recording artists Marvin Gaye and Frankie Gaye.

Brother:

Frankie Gaye

Frances "Frankie" Gaye was an American recording artist and brother of American recording artist Marvin Gaye.

Sister:

Jeanne Gaye

Brother:

Antwaun Gay

Brother:

Michael Cooper Alberta Gay

Sister:

Zeola Gaye

ex-wife:

Anna Gordy Gaye

Anna Ruby Gaye was an American businesswoman, composer, and songwriter.

ex-wife:

Janis Hunter

Daughter:

Nona Gaye

Nona not only followed her father into the music industry but also became an accomplished actor. Four of her most successful films were The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, The Polar Express, and Crash.

Son:

Marvin Gaye III

Son:

Frankie Gaye

Friend:

Tammi Terrell

Marvin was so devastated by the 1970 death of singer Tammi Terrell, that he did not record any new material or appear on stage for three years.

colleague:

Harvey Fuqua

colleague:

Mary Wells

colleague:

Kim Weston

Friend:

Diana Ross

References

• Marvin Gaye - Live at Montreux
  2003
• Divided Soul: The Life Of Marvin Gaye
  2003
• Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves and Demons of Marvin Gaye
  2005
• After the Dance: My Life with Marvin Gaye
  2015
• Trouble Man: The Life and Death of Marvin Gaye
  2000
• What Was Going On: The Life and Times of Marvin Gaye
  2013
• The Life of Marvin Gaye: Divided Soul
  2005
• Marvin Gaye, My Brother
  2003