The Life, Career, and Untimely Death of Motown Legend Marv Gaye

Contents:

• MARV GAYE IS SHOT AND KILLED BY HIS OWN FATHER
• MARV GAYE: THE MOTOWN LEGEND WHO WAS MURRED BY HIS FATHER
• HOW DID MARV GAYE DIE? INSI THE MOTOWN LEGEND’S MURR
• WHY WASN’T MARV GAYE’S FATHER CONVICTED OF HIS MURR?
• THE STORY BEHD THE MURR OF MARV GAYE
• WHAT WAS MARV GAYE’S E OF ATH?
• WHY MARV GAYE'S DEATH IS MORE TRAGIC THAN YOU KNOW
• MARV GAYE’S DEATH
• TRAGIC DETAILS FOUND IN MARV GAYE'S DEATH CERTIFITE
• WHEN MARV GAYE WAS SHOT AND KILLED BY HIS FATHER
• THE TRAGIC STORY OF MARV GAYE AND THE UNTIMELY ATH OF A SOUL LEGEND
• 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
• MARV GAYE, 30 YEARS ON
• “I GOT WHAT I WANTED” – WHY MARV GAYE WAS SHOT AND KILLED BY HIS OWN DAD WH A GUN MARV BOUGHT FOR HIM
• ALBERTA GAY, 74, DI; MOTHER OF SOUL SGER

MARV GAYE IS SHOT AND KILLED BY HIS OWN FATHER

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 GAYE: THE MOTOWN LEGEND WHO WAS MURRED BY HIS FATHER

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. Clearly harbored unrolved feelgs toward his abive feelgs spilled out for the fal time the Los Angel home of Marv Gay, Sr., and his wife Alberta. 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.

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…. 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.

HOW DID MARV GAYE DIE? INSI THE MOTOWN LEGEND’S MURR

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.

WHY WASN’T MARV GAYE’S FATHER CONVICTED OF HIS MURR?

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.

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. 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.

THE STORY BEHD THE MURR OF MARV GAYE

Inspired part by his newfound pennce, Gaye rerd one of the most revered love anthems of all time, "Let's Get It On." The song beme his send no. Shortly afterwards, Motown phed Gaye to tourg to palize on his most recent succs; reluctantly the sger-songwrer returned to the stage. 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. 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.

WHAT WAS MARV GAYE’S E OF ATH?

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. From the time Marv Gaye was a young boy, before he beme one of Motown’s brightt stars and was ducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he repeatedly heard om his father: “You’ll never be anythg.

” “It created nflicts when Marv…started to earn more than his daddy, and everybody ran to Marv, ” the sger’s “Let’s Get It On” -wrer Ed Townsend Gaye told Gaye bgrapher Turner.

WHY MARV GAYE'S DEATH IS MORE TRAGIC THAN YOU KNOW

On April 1, 1984, the day before Gaye’s 45th birthday, he tervened an argument between his parents at their shared Los Angel home, acrdg to Turner’s Trouble Man.

Gaye’s murr bears some other hallmarks of tradnal paternal filici: a father wh troubled fanc, a history of domtic abe and a belief that what he did was the right thg to do. Gaye’s mother Alberta Gay told his “Sexual Healg” -wrer and bgrapher David Rz Divid Soul: The Life of Marv Gaye that the first time she spoke to her hband after postg his $30, 000 bail, “He started speakg to me, but said nothg about Marv. In his memoir, Marv Gaye, My Brother, Frankie Gaye said his brother’s last words were: “I got what I wanted… I uldn’t do myself, so I ma him do .

Shot his son Marv Gaye at pot-blank range si the fay's Los Angel home on April 1, mic cric Michael Eric Dyson once said, Motown legend Marv Gaye “chased away the mons of lns… wh his heavenly sound and dive art. But not only did Marv Gaye endure this abive childhood, he eventually found worldwi fame as a soul sger for the inic Motown Rerds the 1960s and ’70s.

MARV GAYE’S DEATH

But as the Prce Of Motown’s brother, Frankie, later said his memoir Marv Gaye: My Brother, Marv Gaye’s ath seemed wrten stone om the begng. By the time he had a fay himself, Gay was a mister a strict Pentestal sect who discipled his children severely, wh Marv reportedly gettg the worst of . Whether or not that’s te, the source of the mors was largely that he cross-drsed, a behavr that was — often erroneoly — lked wh homosexualy, pecially s past.

Acrdg to Marv Gaye, his father often wore women’s cloth, and “there have been perds when [my father’s] hair was very long and curled unr, and when he seemed que adamant showg the world the girlish si of himself. As he started to make a name for himself profsnally, Gaye wanted to distance himself om his toxic relatnship wh his father so he changed his name om “Gay” to “Gaye. Gaye eventually moved wh a mil lleague of his to Detro and was able to secure a performance for the biggt name on that cy’s mic scene, Motown Rerds founr Berry Gordy.

Though Gaye soon beme the Prce of Motown and enjoyed monumental succs for the next 15 years, his relatnship wh his father never tly healed.

TRAGIC DETAILS FOUND IN MARV GAYE'S DEATH CERTIFITE

By the time Marv Gaye fished what would be his last tour 1983, he had veloped a e addictn to pe wh the prsur of the road as well as his failed marriage to Anna due to his fily and which rulted a ntent legal battle. While Gaye was talkg wh his mother his bedroom and tryg to lm down, his father reached for a gift that his son had once given him: a.

That one shot was enough to kill Gaye, but after he fell to the ground, his father approached him and shot him a send and third time at pot-blank range.

Alberta fled horror and her younger son Frankie, who lived a gut hoe on the property wh his wife, was the first one to enter the scene jt after Marv Gaye’s ath. Kypros/Getty ImagAfter the funeral, which clud a performance om Stevie Wonr, Marv Gaye was cremated and his ash were sttered near the Pacific Ocean. In a jail cell terview before his trial, Gay admted that “I pulled the trigger, ” but claimed that he thought the gun was load wh BB pellets.

WHEN MARV GAYE WAS SHOT AND KILLED BY HIS FATHER

Furthermore, his fense, Gay claimed that his son had bee “somethg like a beastlike person” on e and that the sger beat him terribly before the shootg occurred.

As for the nature of the argument that preced Marv Gaye’s ath, distrght neighbors claimed at the time that the fight was over plans for the sger’s 45th birthday, which was the next day.

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

Whatever the e and whatever the tth of Gay’s BB claims, he add that he was remorseful and that he didn’t even know his son had died until a tective told him hours later.

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

However, police officers quickly disputed the claims that Gaye was vlently beaten after they found no ditn of bis on his head or any physil ditn that he had been kicked or punched multiple tim. After reviewg the documents associated wh the murr, cludg the amount of dgs Gaye had his system, the judge pridg over the se agreed to grant Marv Gaye Sr.

MARV GAYE, 30 YEARS ON

Elsewhere, Steve Turner (the thor of Gaye’s bgraphy Trouble Man) tailed the emotnal and physil abe Gaye and his siblgs suffered at the hands of their father. In the years sce his ath, everyone om Charlie Puth and Elton John to Thomas Rhett has ma mentn of Gaye their songs, makg clear jt how fluential Gaye was to mic as a whole. Born Marv Pentz Gay Jr., the legendary mician add an E to the end of his name and topped charts wh hs such as "Got to Give It Up, " "I Want You, " and "Sexual Healg.

" The New York Tim scribed Gaye as someone who "blend the soul mic of the urban scene wh the beat of the old-time gospel sger and beme an fluential force pop mic.

“I GOT WHAT I WANTED” – WHY MARV GAYE WAS SHOT AND KILLED BY HIS OWN DAD WH A GUN MARV BOUGHT FOR HIM

It also marked the high pot of 25-year Marv Gaye’s reer - which went hand hand wh womanisg, dg addictn and creasg paranoia, and end wh tragedy a day before his 45th birthday.

At the same time he add an ‘e’ to his origal surname of Gay - to shut down any speculatn about his sexualy and to distance himself om his abive dad.

As Marv began his mil reer, he was teased for his surname “Gay”, so he add an ‘E’ to the end of , which created distance between him and his father, who had a rocky relatnship. Subgenr wh R&B such as neo-soul and quiet storm look at Gaye's mic as an fluence, while his songs have bee some of the most celebrated mic of the send half of the 20th century.

ALBERTA GAY, 74, DI; MOTHER OF SOUL SGER

Songs like "Let's Get On, " "I Heard Through the Grapev, " and "A't No Mounta High Enough" have bee classic pop tun and jt a few highlights Gaye's mil library.

By Marv Gaye's own words his bgraphy (via The Sun), he said "livg wh Father was like livg wh a kg — an all-cel, changeable and all-powerful kg. Acrdg to Audacy, after his summer tour 1983 end, Marv Gaye moved back to his parent's home to re for his mother after she had kidney surgery. It is documented that Gaye had ma at least three different attempts on his own life, cludg the day before he died when he threw himself out of a high-speed r, though he suffered only bis.