Why Marv Gaye's Death Is More Tragic Than You Know

Contents:

• MARV GAYE IS SHOT AND KILLED BY HIS OWN FATHER
• WHAT WAS MARV GAYE’S E OF ATH?
• HOW DID MARV GAYE DIE? INSI THE MOTOWN LEGEND’S MURR
• MARV GAYE: THE MOTOWN LEGEND WHO WAS MURRED BY HIS FATHER
• THE STORY BEHD THE MURR OF MARV GAYE
• 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
• ALBERTA GAY, 74, DI; MOTHER OF SOUL SGER
• MARV GAYE’S DEATH
• MARV GAYE, 30 YEARS ON
• MARV GAYE
• THE TRAGIC STORY OF MARV GAYE AND THE UNTIMELY ATH OF A SOUL LEGEND
• WHY MARV GAYE'S DEATH IS MORE TRAGIC THAN YOU KNOW

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 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.

WHAT WAS MARV GAYE’S E OF ATH?

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…. But Marv Gaye died a btal ath at the hands of his own father - shot at pot blank range the bedroom of their Los Angel home. 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.

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

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.

That pa largely centered on Gaye’s relatnship wh his father, Marv Gay Sr., an abive man who never wanted his son and ma no secret of . 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. But by the 1980s, Gaye moved back wh his parents Los Angel followg a losg battle wh e addictn as well as fancial difficulti.

MARV GAYE: THE MOTOWN LEGEND WHO WAS MURRED BY HIS FATHER

It was there, the fay’s Los Angel home, that the tensn between Gaye and his father reached s tragic climax when Marv Gay Sr.

THE STORY BEHD THE MURR OF MARV GAYE

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 .

And as Gaye himself later said, “By the time I was twelve, there wasn’t an ch on my body that hadn’t been bised and beaten by him. 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.

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

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. 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.

Furthermore, even as a grown man, Gaye harbored troubled emotns related to his father’s cross-drsg and mored homosexualy. 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.

ALBERTA GAY, 74, DI; MOTHER OF SOUL SGER

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. Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collectn via Getty ImagSome 10, 000 mourners attend the funeral followg the ath of Marv Gaye. 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.

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. Later reports claimed that the fight had broken out over an surance policy letter that Alberta had misplaced, drawg Gay’s wrath.

MARV GAYE’S DEATH

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. After learng about how Marv Gaye died at the hands of his own father, Marv Gay Sr., read about the ath of Jimi Hendrix. 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.

MARV GAYE, 30 YEARS ON

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. When was released the sprg of 1971, the What's Gog On album served to open Gaye up to new dienc while matag his Motown followg. 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

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

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.

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

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.