10 Surprisg Facts About Marv Gaye | Essence

Contents:

• MARV GAYE
• 50 YEARS AFTER MARV GAYE ASKED, ‘WHAT’S GOG ON?’ AMERI STILL SEARCHG FOR AN ANSWER
• MARV GAYE’S 30 TOP SONGS ON THE BILLBOARD HOT 100
• 10 SURPRISG FACTS ABOUT MARV GAYE
• MARV GAYE IS SHOT AND KILLED BY HIS OWN FATHER
• THE LIFE AND TRAGIC ATH OF MARV GAYE, THE SON OF A PREACHER WHO BEME MOTOWN'S VOICE OF POLIL CHANGE AND DIED AT THE HANDS OF HIS OWN FATHER
• THE UNTOLD TTH OF MARV GAYE
• MARV GAYE(1939-1984)
• THE TRAGIC STORY OF MARV GAYE AND THE UNTIMELY ATH OF A SOUL LEGEND
• WHAT WAS MARV GAYE’S E OF ATH?
• ANNA GORDY GAYE, EX-WIFE OF MARV GAYE, DEAD AT 92
• THE DARK SI OF MARV GAYE’S 1ST MARRIAGE INVOLVED HIS WIFE’S 15-YEAR-OLD NIECE
• MARV GAYE’S DEATH

MARV GAYE

Gaye's later rerds veloped his productn style and yield several hs, cludg "Let's Get It On," "Sexual Healg" and "I Heard Through the Grapeve." Gaye was killed 1984 durg a domtic dispute wh his father.Early LifeSger Marv Pentz Gaye, Jr., also known as the "Prce of Soul," was born Washgton, D.C., on April 2, 1939. And were signed to Gordy's legendary Motown Rerds.Motown RerdsGaye's first certified h unr his own name wouldn't e until 1962, but his early years at Motown were full of behd-the-scen succs. Showg his strip as Motown's renaissance man, Gaye went on to break to the Top 40 for the first time on his own 1962 wh his solo sgle "Hch Hike." Throughout the 1960s, Gaye would show his immense range, churng out solo dance hs and romantic duets wh h-makers like Diana Ross and Mary Wells.

"Can I Get a Wns" and "I Heard Through the Grapeve" were some of Gaye's biggt hs of the perd, the latter achievg s place as Motown's bt-sellg sgle of the 1960s. For three high-flyg years, Gaye and Tammi Terrell wowed the untry wh their soarg duet performanc of songs like "A't No Mounta High Enough" and "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You." Unfortunately, their reign as the Royal Couple of R&B end when Terrell succumbed to a bra tumor 1970. His beloved partner's ath hered a dark perd for the sger, who swore never to partner wh another female volist and threatened to abandon the stage for good.Polil MsageIn 1970, spired by latg vlence and polil unrt over the Vietnam War, Gaye wrote the landmark song "What's Gog On." Dpe clash wh Motown over the song's creative directn, the sgle was released 1971 and beme an stant smash.

50 YEARS AFTER MARV GAYE ASKED, ‘WHAT’S GOG ON?’ AMERI STILL SEARCHG FOR AN ANSWER

Departg om the tried and te Motown formula, Gaye went out on his own artistilly, pavg the way for other Motown artists like Wonr and Michael Jackson to branch out later years.

MARV GAYE’S 30 TOP SONGS ON THE BILLBOARD HOT 100

Beyond fluencg his peers, the album garnered wispread cril acclaim, wng the Rollg Stone Album of the Year award.Crossover SuccsIn 1972, Gaye moved to Los Angel and soon met Janis Hunter, who would later bee his send wife. In 2013, Gaye's tate asserted that producer/songwrer Pharrell Williams and sger/songwrer Rob Thicke had mted pyright gement by takg major mil elements om the dis track for the mega-h "Blurred L." After a se which Thicke ttified that he'd had ltle to do wh the wrg of the song, the jury led favor of Gaye's fay, who were award $7.3 ln damag and prof shar. The jury also led that neher Williams or Thicke had purposely mted gement.) After two s at Motown, Gaye signed wh CBS's Columbia Rerds 1982 and began to work on his last album, Midnight Love.

The lead sgle om that album, "Sexual Healg," beme a huge eback h for the R&B star and earned him his first two Grammy Awards and an Amerin Mic Award for Favore Soul Sgle.Personal LifeIn 1975, Gaye's wife Anna Gordy—Berry Gordy's sister—filed for divorce, and two years later Gaye married Hunter, who had by then given birth to their dghter, Nona (born September 4, 1974) and their son Frankie (born November 16, 1975). The sger's marriage to Hunter proved short lived and tumultuo, endg divorce 1981.Death and LegacyDpe his succsful eback the early 1980s, Gaye stggled badly wh the substance abe and bouts of prsn that had plagued him for most of his life.

10 SURPRISG FACTS ABOUT MARV GAYE

Hopefully, I rerd so that I n help someone overe a bad time."QUICK FACTSName: Marv GayeBirth Year: 1939Birth date: April 2, 1939Birth Cy: Washgton, D.

C.Birth Country: Uned StatGenr: MaleBt Known For: Marv Gaye was a soul sger-songwrer wh Motown the 1960s and 1970s. He produced his own rerds and often addrsed ntroversial them.IndtriPopAstrologil Sign: AriIntertg FactsBefore makg as a solo artist, Marv Gaye played dms for artists such as Stevie Wonr and The Suprem.Death Year: 1984Death date: April 1, 1984Death State: CaliforniaDeath Cy: Los AngelDeath Country: Uned StatFact CheckWe strive for accuracy and fairns.If you see somethg that don't look right,ntact !CITATION INFORMATIONArticle Tle: Marv Gaye BgraphyAuthor: EdorsWebse Name: The webseUrl: /micians/marv-gayeAccs Date: Publisher: A&E; Televisn NetworksLast Updated: April 19, 2021Origal Published Date: April 2, 2014QUOTESWar is not the answer, bee only love n nquer hate.If you nnot fd peace wh yourself, you will never fd anywhere else.I rerd so that I n feed people what they need, what they feel.

MARV GAYE IS SHOT AND KILLED BY HIS OWN FATHER

Blsed wh an exceptnally wi range that enpassed three distct vol styl—a piercg falsetto, a smooth mid-range tenor, and a ep gospel growl—Gaye bed great technil prows wh rare mil dividualy. Gaye also displayed dazzlg virtuosy by overdubbg (buildg sound track by track onto a sgle tape) his own voice three or four tim to provi his own rich harmony, a technique he would employ for the rt of his reer. Here, My Dear (1979) brilliantly alt wh Gaye’s divorce om Gordy’s sister Anna (the first of the sger’s two tumultuo divorc)’s growg addictn to e exacerbated his psychologil stggl.

Gaye, who ced his chief fluenc as Ray Charl, Cly McPhatter, Rudy Wt (lead sger for the doo-wop group the Five Keys), and Ltle Willie John, was ducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 1987. He received a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement an artist who employed urban soul mic to exprs social and personal ncerns, as well as a sger of exquise sensivy and romantic grace, Gaye left a legacy that has wined sce his mise, and his mic has bee a permanent fixture Amerin pop.

In a recent terview for a new CNN documentary about Gaye’s work, tled “What’s Gog On: Marv Gaye’s Anthem for the Ag, ” the Grammy-nomated artist and activist relled redisverg the album jt before headg to a prott Nashville last summer.

THE LIFE AND TRAGIC ATH OF MARV GAYE, THE SON OF A PREACHER WHO BEME MOTOWN'S VOICE OF POLIL CHANGE AND DIED AT THE HANDS OF HIS OWN FATHER

Gaye was one of Motown’s most soulful and socially aware artists, standg tall amongst peers and label mat like Stevie Wonr by igng spirs wh polilly charged cuts like “What’s Gog On” and equally providg heat for timate tim wh songs like “Let’s Get It On. Unlike some of his Motown label mat, Marv Gaye was not only a nuanced, soulful volist, but an expert songwrer, pable of craftg betiful, medative ballads as well as thumpg dance floor numbers. Marv Gaye add the “e” to the end of his name to dispel mors of his homosexualy and to distguish himself om his father, Marv Gay Sr., wh whom he did not get along.

You may or may not know that Marv Gaye’s first wife, Anna, is the elst sister of mic in and Motown founr Berry Gordy, makg Marv an official member of the Motown fay. At the peak of his reer, Marv Gaye was the Prce of Motown—the soulful voice behd hs as wi-rangg as “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” and “Mercy Mercy Me (The Elogy).

That life me to a tragic end on April 1, 1984, when Marv Gaye was shot and killed by his own father one day short of his 45th the physil e of Marv Gaye’s ath was straightforward—”Gunshot wound to cht perforatg heart, lung and liver, ” acrdg to the Los Angel County Coroner—the events that led to were much more tangled. Marv Gay, Sr., (the “e” was add by his son for his stage name) was a preacher the Hebrew Pentestal Church and a proponent of a strict moral he enforced btally wh his four children. Only one year removed om his first Grammy w and om a triumphant return to the pop charts wh “Sexual Healg, ” Marv Gaye was horrible physil, psychologil and fancial an argument between father and son lated to a physil fight on the morng of April 1, 1984, Alberta Gay was tryg to lm her son his bedroom when Marv Sr.

THE UNTOLD TTH OF MARV GAYE

Marv Gaye’s brother, Frankie, who lived next door, and who held the legendary sger durg his fal mut, later wrote his memoir that Marv Gaye’s fal, disturbg statement was, “I got what I wanted…. Whether was his h duets wh Tammi Terrell, the polilly-charged album "What's Gog On, " or the oozg sexualy of his only Grammy-wng song "Sexual Healg, " Gaye beme a hoehold name wh the Amerin mil landspe.

MARV GAYE(1939-1984)

David Rz his 1991 revised edn of his Marv Gaye bgraphy, "Divid Soul, " noted the importance of Gaye's mic more potedly: "Marv's name has been mentned — reverential ton — on no ls than seven top-ten h rerds. Yet those nearly 45 years of life, Gaye went om sirg to sg standards to shapg the sound of Motown to beg an in and creative geni mandg full creative ntrol of his mic — which led the way for others like Stevie Wonr.

The general perspective on the neighborhood at the time by surroundg (wealthier) rints was one of disgt and fear — "They radiate out sanary fluenc" (via a 2018 Public Health Report) — which explas why Gaye, his iends, and the rt of the Southwt muny probably felt like they were om another untry. Was a vlent man, and his wife and children, cludg Marv Gaye, lived fear of his punishments and the evable relig reasong behd his domtic abe (via The Vtage News). His first partner 1964 was Mary Wells — at the time, the "queen of Motown" — but their duet rerd, "Together, " tamed her sound while gave Gaye a platform to she.

THE TRAGIC STORY OF MARV GAYE AND THE UNTIMELY ATH OF A SOUL LEGEND

Wells and Wton had both left Motown after their duet albums wh Gaye, and neher had much of a reer after leavg; and Terrell's ath still weighed heavily on Gaye. ESPN ntextualiz this moment Gaye's life by potg out that Tammi Terrell's ath happened jt a uple of years after the assassatns of Mallm X, Mart Luther Kg, Jr., and Robert Kennedy.

WHAT WAS MARV GAYE’S E OF ATH?

However, Michael Eric Dyson revealed his book, "Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Lov & Demons of Marv Gaye" that the child was actually Gaye's blogil son, and he had, wh much parallel to the Biblil story of Abraham and Sarah, had terurse wh the 15-year-old Denise orr to have a son, sce his wife uldn't get pregnant. It ma sense that Gaye never admted to beg the father — not even to David Rz "Divid Soul" — bee, acrdg to Dyson, "Marv had ma love to a mor, apparently wh the nsent of all volved. When Marv Gaye divorced Anna Gordy 1977 and subsequently separated om send wife, Janis Hunter – who was 17 when they met and fell love – 1979, his fancial issu began to encroach to his existence to the pot that he uld no longer ignore .

Acrdg to David Rz's "Divid Soul, " Gaye thought that Motown had gotten their hands on the unfished masters om a uple of the micians who had snuck them out of London and brought them to Los Angel. From an early age, Marv Gaye was kidd by his peers for his father's looks, ambiguo sexualy, effemacy, and the poorly kept secret that he would drs women's clothg. Gaye had tervened an argument between his mother and father that night and paid the ultimate price, one almost seemgly termed by fate knowg how ever-prent the threat of his father had been throughout his life (via "Divid Soul").

Acrdg to a review of "Mercy, Mercy Me" by The Washgton Post, Dyson proposed "that [Gaye] was attemptg a form of passive-aggrsive revenge by hangg his own ath on his father's nscience.

ANNA GORDY GAYE, EX-WIFE OF MARV GAYE, DEAD AT 92

In the immediacy of the moment, this might have ma sense, but knowg the history of Gaye's relatnship wh his father hdsight, might have had a different verdict. Durg the 1970s, Gaye rerd the albums What's Gog On and Let's Get It On and beme one of the first artists Motown to break away om the res of a productn later rerdgs fluenced several ntemporary R&B sub-genr, such as quiet storm and Neo-Soul.

THE DARK SI OF MARV GAYE’S 1ST MARRIAGE INVOLVED HIS WIFE’S 15-YEAR-OLD NIECE

Gaye's last televised appearanc were at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game, where he sang "The Star-Spangled Banner"; Motown 25: Yterday, Today, Forever; and Soul April 1, 1984, the eve of his 45th birthday, Gaye was shot and mortally wound by his father, Marv Gay Sr., at their hoe Hanck Park, Los Angel, after an argument.

MARV GAYE’S DEATH

Many stutns have posthumoly btowed Gaye wh awards and other honors cludg the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and ductns to the Rhythm and Blu Mic Hall of Fame, the Songwrers Hall of Fame, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. “He uld have wrten What’s Gog On yterday,” poet Nikki Gvanni noted an terview last tumn, explag that the ver portra of her 2020 llectn, Make Me Ra, pays homage to Gaye’s album ver, picturg Gvanni a raat, her llar upturned. The rerd’s endurance – most movgly displayed by Nelson Manla, who, shortly after his release om prison 1990, reced l om the album at Tiger Stadium Detro – has practilly bee a cliche.No one is wrong, of urse, to say that Gaye’s album cuts as eply today as did 1971.

A dively spired work driven by social rage – one that braid doo-wop harmoni, jazz and the hymns Gaye had loved as a child – What’s Gog On was also Gaye’s claratn of creative pennce om Berry Gordy’s Motown mache.

After a of polished pop hs, Gaye, now his early 30s, revealed there was a lot on his md: the outrage of the war Vietnam (What’s Happeng Brother?); the strangulatn of the natural world (Mercy Mercy Me (The Elogy)); the strategic enforcement of urban poverty and police vlence (Inner Cy Blu (Make Me Wanna Holler)). I was pissed at Ameri.”What’s Gog On remas val, above all, for how turns away om that “Ameri” and stead addrs the tle qutn to a closer-kn group – those people gathered at the hoe party Gaye stag the album’s openg moments; the “mother, mother” and “father father” he lls out to (and that the party settg might emboln him to ndidly addrs). “Are thgs gettg better like the newspapers say?” the speaker asks What’s Happeng Brother?, checkg the claims of those power agast the thory of everyday Black people.It is one thg to celebrate Gaye’s endurg and prcient mo of creatn; another to appld the ntued ronance of his album’s ncerns.