And then, the gunfire day was the day
he was to turn 45 !


Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye was a soul singer-songwriter with Motown in the 1960s and 1970s. He produced his own records and often addressed controversial themes.

Who Was Marvin Gaye?
Marvin Gaye sang in his father's church and in the Moonglows before signing with Motown. He recorded songs by Smokey Robinson before becoming his own producer on the protest Album What's Going On (1971). Gaye's later records developed his production style and yielded several hits, including "Let's Get It On," "Sexual Healing" and "I Heard it Through the Grapevine."

Early Life

Singer Marvin Pentz Gaye, Jr., also known as the "Prince of Soul," was born in Washington, D.C., on April 2, 1939. Gaye was raised under the strict control of his father, Reverend Marvin Gay Sr.
Throughout his childhood, Gaye often found peace in music, mastering the piano and drums at a young age. 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. In the late 1950s, Gaye joined a vocal group called The New Moonglows.
The talented singer had a phenomenal range that spanned three vocal styles and he soon impressed the group's founder, Harvey Fuqua. It wasn't long before Gaye and Fuqua both came to the attention of Detroit music impresario Berry Gordy Jr. and were signed to Gordy's legendary Motown Records.

Motown Records
Gaye's first certified hit under his own name wouldn't come until 1962, but his early years at Motown were full of behind-the-scenes successes. He was a session drummer for Motown legends such as Little Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, The Marvelettes and Martha and the Vandellas. Showing his stripes as Motown's renaissance man, Gaye went on to break into the Top 40 for the first time on his own in 1962 with his solo single "Hitch Hike."

Throughout the 1960s, Gaye would show his immense range, churning out solo dance hits and romantic duets with hit-makers like Diana Ross and Mary Wells. "Can I Get a Witness" and "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" were some of Gaye's biggest hits of the period, the latter achieving its place as Motown's best-selling single of the 1960s.



Political Message
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.
Departing from the tried and true Motown formula, Gaye went out on his own artistically, paving the way for other Motown artists like Wonder and Michael Jackson to branch out in later years. Beyond influencing his peers, the album garnered widespread critical acclaim, winning the Rolling Stone Album of the Year award.

Crossover Success
In 1972, Gaye moved to Los Angeles and soon met Janis Hunter, who would later become his second wife. Inspired in part by his newfound independence, Gaye recorded one of the most revered love anthems of all time, "Let's Get It On." The song became his second no. 1 Billboard hit, cementing his crossover appeal once and for all. Shortly afterwards, Motown pushed Gaye into touring to capitalize on his most recent success; reluctantly the singer-songwriter returned to the stage.

Through most of the mid-1970s, Gaye was touring, collaborating or producing. Working with Diana Ross and The Miracles, he put off releasing another solo album until 1976. He continued touring after the release of I Want You (1976) and, after scoring a No. 1 hit in 1977 with the dance single "Got to Give It Up," released his last album for Motown Records (Here, My Dear) in 1978.

(Decades later, "Got to Give It Up" would become the center of a big controversy. In 2013, Gaye's estate asserted that producer/songwriter Pharrell Williams and singer/songwriter Robin Thicke had committed copyright infringement by taking major musical elements from the disco track for the mega-hit "Blurred Lines." After a case in which Thicke testified that he'd had little to do with the writing of the song, the jury ruled in favor of Gaye's family, who were awarded $7.3 million in damages and profit shares. The jury also ruled that neither Williams or Thicke had purposely committed infringement.)

After two decades at Motown, Gaye signed with CBS's Columbia Records in 1982 and began to work on his last album, Midnight Love. The lead single from that album, "Sexual Healing," became a huge comeback hit for the R&B star and earned him his first two Grammy Awards and an American Music Award for Favorite Soul Single.

Personal Life
In 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 daughter, Nona (born September 4, 1974) and their son Frankie (born November 16, 1975). Gaye also had an adopted son (Marvin Pentz Gaye III) from his previous marriage. The singer's marriage to Hunter proved short lived and tumultuous, ending in divorce in 1981.

01
Marvin’s Last Name Didn’t Always End in “E”
Marvin Gaye added the “e” to the end of his name to dispel rumors of his homosexuality and to distinguish himself from his father, Marvin Gay Sr., with whom he did not get along.



02
Marvin Gaye was in the Air Force
When he was 17 years old, Marvin ran away from home to join the U.S. Air Force. Gaye had trouble following orders from his strict sergeant and was honorably discharged in 1956.



03
Marvin Gaye Was Part of a Boy Band
Before launching a legendary solo career, Marvin Gaye joined the vocal group, The New Moonglows, in the 1950’s. They performed with established singers like Chuck Berry.



04
Marvin Gaye Was a Motown Drummer
Before singing his own hit for Motown Records, a young Marvin Gaye spent his early years at Motown as a drummer for The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, The Marvelettes and more.



05
Tammi Terrell’s Death Almost Ended Marvin’s Career
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.



06
Marvin Gaye Tried to Join the NFL
During his hiatus from music, Marvin Gaye explored some new interests including professional football. At 31, Gaye set out to become a wide receiver for the Detroit Lions.



“You see, I had this fantasy: I was in the Super Bowl, with millions of people watching me on TV all over the world, as I made a spectacular leaping catch and sprinted for the winning touchdown,” he said in his biography.

The Lions’ coach, Joe Schimdt, didn’t want to put the singer in harm’s way and refused to let him try out.



07
Marvin Gaye Was Married into the Motown Family
You may or may not know that Marvin Gaye’s first wife, Anna, is the eldest sister of music icon and Motown founder Berry Gordy, making Marvin an official member of the Motown family. Their divorce inspired his final album, Here, My Dear.



08
Marvin Gaye Attempted Suicide Three Times
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.

Marvin Gaye described his depression during an interview a year before his death. “I was at my lowest ebb. I really didn’t feel like I was loved. Because I didn’t feel love, I felt useless.”



09
Marvin Gaye
The late icon’s legacy is well-known as is his tumultuous life. Gaye’s estate is notoriously protective of his legacy and only two stars have been lucky enough to get their blessing for a biopic. In 2016, Jamie Foxx landed the rights for a limited series, but like Jodeci and Prince, nothing has come of it. And, it was recently announced that Dr. Dre received permission to bring the singer’s story to the big screen and is currently in talks to develop a film.


10
Marvin Gaye Has His Own Holiday
Following his death in 1984, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry declared April 2 (the singer’s birthday) Marvin Gaye Day, celebrating the life and legacy of the the iconic soul singer.

ALBUMS
What's Going On [40th Anniversary Edition]
The classic 1971 LP, a landmark for Gaye and pop music at large, is reissued in a deluxe package including an early mix and demos.
Over the previous seven years, the relationship between the singer and his label was contentious yet fruitful; gritty uptempo songs like "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" and "Hitch Hike" were hits, but they undermined Gaye's dream to be a balladeer in the mold of Nat King Cole.
Gaye had always aspired to be more than just a singer within Motown's assembly-line chug, his boss, brother-in-law, and fellow hard-headed egoist Berry Gordy Jr. wasn't so crazy about the idea. So when Gordy heard that original "What's Going On" mix-- which is included in this box set for the first time-- he rejected the song, reportedly calling it "the worst thing I've ever heard in my life."
Instead of releasing "What's Going On" that fall, Motown put out the Gaye compilation Super Hits, which depicts its clean-shaven star as a cartoon superhero flying through the air and fixing a radio tower as a buxom damsel perilously hangs from his shoulder. But Gaye wanted nothing more than to blow up that gleaming image of himself-- now in his early 30s, he would accept nothing but complete control over his art. And if Motown wasn't going to release his first self-produced song, he wasn't going to make music for Motown. Gaye sat idle for months until his label, desperate to put out something-- anything-- from its biggest solo star, finally eked the single out under Gordy's nose on January 21, 1971. It was an instant success, hitting No. 2 on the pop charts and, perhaps more importantly for Gaye, giving him a win in his constant battle with Gordy, who couldn't deny a smash. Five months later, Marvin Gaye released his full-grown symphony to God, What's Going On, with little resistance.

Over Forty years of ubiquity have made the title track commonplace, so it's easy to forget that the song was the "most avant-garde hit Motown ever had," according to Ben Edmonds' thorough album history What's Going On: Marvin Gaye and the Last Days of the Motown Sound. With this album, Gaye wished to sidestep the sound that made him and others famous during Motown's untouchable 60s run, trading in that trademark big, bright beat for laid-back grooves inspired by Duke Ellington, Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, and Santana. And not only was the album a coming-out party for Gaye as a producer and songwriter, he found his signature voice-- soft, floating, airy-- on What's Going On, too. "I felt like I'd finally learned to sing," he told biographer David Ritz. "I'd been studying the microphone for a dozen years, and I suddenly saw what I'd been doing wrong. I'd been singing too loud." The record and its creative revelations led to his stunning 70s auteur period, which birthed three more classics: 1973's Let's Get It On, 1976's I Want You, and 1978's Here, My Dear. Yet What's Going On still stands tallest, making this 40th anniversary, 2CD/LP edition more of a welcome reminder than just another eulogy to baby-boomer culture.

Much has been made of What's Going On's political bent, and it's true that the music was partially inspired by Marvin's brother Frankie, who had come back from a three-year tour of Vietnam, along with troublingly violent episodes like the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Kent State shootings that saw four students killed by national guardsmen. Songs like peace-espousing title track and "What's Happening Brother", which finds Gaye expressing a war veteran's helplessness upon returning home, show Marvin's dismay toward his country and government. But this album isn't just a protest time capsule. Far from it. Gaye's disappointment isn't just societal, it's personal as well. During this period, the singer had lost his duet partner and dear friend, Tammi Terrell, and his marriage to Gordy's sister Anna was violently breaking down, and he was being tailed by the IRS for unpaid back taxes. His resulting depression is evident throughout; What's Going On isn't a fiery album filled with timely sloganeering. Part of its long-lasting appeal involves an element of true-to-life resignation. "Who's willing to try to save a world/ That's destined to die," he sings on "Save the Children", pinpointing an American melancholia-- a mix of world-saving power and funereal inevitability-- that endures today.

But the album doesn't wallow, either. It hums and glides on the effortless, multi-tracked Marvins that swoop through the stereo spectrum like ghosts. Gaye's signature vocal ad libs started here and have endured through R&B and hip-hop ever since. His marijuana-soaked delivery, along with the album's mutating, percussion-fueled rhythms, majestic strings, and jazzy horns, give the affair levity. Perhaps this smooth front also has isto do with the fact that Gaye was "hardly an activist in the traditional sense," according to Edmonds. While his Vietnam-battered brother was an emotional catalyst, Gaye had neglected to send him one letter during his army stint. And though he was certainly aware of the Detroit race riot that left 43 people dead in 1967, he viewed the sad display on TV from his cushy home on the outskirts of town. Not to say Gaye didn't wholeheartedly believe in the progressive observations found on What's Going On, but his relative distance from his subjects allows him to fly over top of them, providing a healing pulse to the disarray below.

For an album as timeless as this one, reissue bonus material can provide worthy footnotes to the main article. Probably thanks to the last decade's vinyl resurgence, this 40th anniversary edition immediately sets itself apart from 2001's 30th anniversary release by presenting its iconic cover in a glorious 12"x12" square. The package's lone LP features the more straightforward, early Detroit mix of the album, while the final, L.A. mix is relegated to a CD. For die-hards, the most alluring part of the package may be the second compact disc, which features 18 mostly instrumental demos recorded in Gaye's post-What's Going On honeymoon period, when his vast artistic ambitions and abilities were being embraced by the greater public. These somewhat experimental demos-- deep, in-the-pocket funk in the vein of Sly Stone, George Clinton, and Jimi Hendrix-- clearly laid the groundwork for much of his subsequent 70s material. Though he doesn't sing on most of these tracks, it's exciting to hear him get loose as keyboardist and band leader.

Just as What's Going On marked the emergence of Marvin Gaye as an all-in-one talent, it also signaled the decline of Motown's reign. It's tempting to simply side with Gaye in his battles with the label that raised him and play into the auteur myth. But it's more complicated than that. Without his tutelage at Motown, first as a session player then as a singer, Gaye wouldn't have been able to conceive a work like this. The help of Motown backing band the Funk Brothers-- credited in the What's Going On liner notes after years of anonymity-- was also essential.

Reception.

In 2004, the album's title track was ranked number four on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
A 1999 critics' poll conducted by British newspaper The Guardian named it the "Greatest Album of the 20th Century".
In 1997, What's Going On was named the 17th greatest album of all time in a poll conducted in the United Kingdom by HMV Group, Channel 4, The Guardian and Classic FM.
In 1997, The Guardian ranked the album number one on its list of the 100 Best Albums Ever.
In 1998 Q magazine readers placed it at number 97, while in 2001 the TV network VH1 placed it at number 4.
In 2003, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. What's Going On was ranked number 6 on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, one of three Gaye albums to be included, succeeded by 1973's Let's Get It On (number 165) and 1978's Here, My Dear (number 462).

The album is Gaye's highest-ranking entry on the list, as well as several other publications' lists. In a revised 2020 list, this time voted on by musicians instead of music critics, the album moved up to the top spot, replacing The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

2011 Super Deluxe Edition Album Tracklist
{Disc 1 original album}

Disc 1 (bonus tracks)

"What's Going On" (Original Rejected Single Mix)
"Head Title (Distant Lover)" (Demo)
"Symphony" (Demo)
"I Love the Ground You Walk On" (Instrumental)
"What's Going On" (Mono Single Version)
"God is Love" (Mono Single Version)
"Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" (Mono Single Version)
"Sad Tomorrows" (Mono Single Version)
"Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" (Mono Single Version)
"Wholy Holy" (Mono Single Version)
Disc 2 ("The Detroit Instrumental Sessions and More"

"Checking Out (Double Clutch)"
"Chained"
"Country Stud"
"Help the People"
"Running from Love" (Version 1)
"Daybreak"
"Doing My Thing"
"T Stands for Time"
"Jesus is Our Love Song"
"Funky Nation"
"Infinity"
"Mandota" (Instrumental)
"Struttin' the Blues"
"Running from Love" (Version 2 with Strings)
"I'm Going Home (Move)"
"You're the Man" (Parts I & II)
"You're the Man" (Alternate Version 1)
"You're the Man" (Alternate Version 2)
LP (Original Detroit Mix – April 5, 1971)

"What's Going On" (Detroit Mix) – 4:08
"What's Happening Brother" (Detroit Mix) – 2:43
"Flyin' High (In the Friendly Sky)" (Detroit Mix) – 3:49
"Save the Children" (Detroit Mix) – 4:02
"God Is Love" (Detroit Mix) – 1:47
"Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" (Detroit Mix) – 3:08
"Right On" (Detroit Mix) – 7:32
"Wholy Holy" (Detroit Mix) – 3:08
"Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" (Detroit Mix) – 5:46

What's Going On Lyrics

Mother, mother
There's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There's far too many of you dying
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today, yeah

Father, father
We don't need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today

Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
Talk to me
So you can see
Oh, what's going on (What's going on)
What's going on (What's going on)
What's going on (What's going on)
What's going on (What's going on)

Right on, baby
Right on, baby
Right on

Mother, mother
Everybody thinks we're wrong
Oh, but who are they to judge us
Simply 'cause our hair is long
Oh, you know we've got to find a way
To bring some understanding here today

Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
Come on talk to me
So you can see
What's going on (What's going on)
Yeah, what's going on (What's going on)
Tell me what's going on (What's going on)
I'll tell you, what's going on (What's going on)

Right on, baby, right on
Right on, baby
Right on, baby, right on

Spotify link
https://open.spotify.com/album/2v6ANhWhZBUKkg6pJJBs3B

Death and Funeral
Gaye is known to be suffering from serious depression and often abused drugs. In the days prior to his death, Gaye's parents had arguments mainly over a misplaced insurance policy letter. The day before his death, the arguments spread to Gaye's bedroom. Angered by his father confronting his mother, Gaye commanded Marvin Sr. to leave her alone; Marvin Sr. complied without much ado and there was no violence that night, but Marvin Sr. continued yelling throughout the house.

At approximately 12:30 p.m. (PST; 20:30 UTC) on April 1, 1984, an impatient Marvin Sr. shouted at his wife about the document.[16] Gaye, dressed in a maroon robe, shouted back downstairs, telling his father if he had something to say, he should do it in person.
According to Alberta, when Marvin Sr. refused his son's request, Gaye warned him not to come to his room.Marvin Sr., however, instead charged upstairs to the bedroom to verbally attack Alberta over the document, causing Gaye to jump out of his bed and once again order his father out of the room. When ordering did not work, Gaye, enraged, reportedly shoved his father out of the room into the hallway then began kicking and punching him. Alberta later told Ritz: "Marvin hit him. I shouted for him to stop, but he paid no attention to me.He gave my husband some hard kicks."

Family Death Clause.

Jeanne later recalled that it was understood in the family that if one of the children ever dared to strike their father that he would "murder him or her", saying her father "made it very clear" and "said so publicly on more than one occasion."


Gaye reportedly followed his father to the bedroom and, according to his mother, continued to kick him brutally.Eventually, Alberta separated Gaye from his father and returned him to his bedroom.
Minutes later, at 12:38 p.m. (PST; 20:38 UTC), Marvin Sr. entered his bedroom, returning with the .38 pistol his son had earlier bought him, pointed it at Gaye and shot him directly in the heart.
He then stepped closer after the first shot and shot him a second time at point-blank range.
He was pronounced dead about an hour later at a hospital.He died on April 1 ,1984 at 44 years.

Funeral
On April 5, 1984, a star-studded funeral was held for Gaye at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, attended by over 10,000 mourners, including his Motown colleagues; his two ex-wives, Anna Gaye and Janis Gaye; and his siblings, mother and three children.
Singer Stevie Wonder sang a melancholy ballad he composed for the occasion.
His brother Frankie claimed his last words were: “I got what I wanted… I couldn't do it myself, so I made him do it." They affirmed the claim that he has attempted suicide at least three times. The first occurred in 1969 when he was holed up at a Detroit apartment. Gaye, despondent from his failing marriage at the time, sought to shoot himself with a handgun. Berry Gordy's father, "Pops", eventually stopped this attempt.

His Father, Marvin Gay Sr.

Marvin with his second wife, Janis Hunter

Marvin Gaye, his wife Janis & their children, Nona & Frankie

Footnotes
Awards And Honors:

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (1987)
Grammy Award (1982)

A year after his death, then-mayor of D.C., Marion Barry declared April 2 as "Marvin Gaye Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund Day" in the city.
In 1990, after years of petitions and letters, Gaye was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with one of its most prominent letters written by longtime fan Eddie Murphy. Six years later, in 1996, Gaye posthumously received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2006, an old park that Gaye frequented as a teenager, the former Watts Branch Park, was renamed Marvin Gaye Park in his honor.
Three years later, in 2009, the 5200 block of Foote Street NE in Deanwood, Washington, D.C., was renamed Marvin Gaye Way.

On November 20, 2018, the United States Postal Service announced that Marvin Gaye would be featured on a first class postage stamp, as part of the Postal Service's Music Icons series (past honorees include Elvis Presley and John Lennon).
In 2008, Gaye's estate earned $3.5 million (US$4,207,032 in 2020 dollars. As a result, Gaye took 13th place in "Top-Earning Dead Celebrities" in Forbes magazine.


What's Going On (50th Anniversary) has been released on today.
A Birthday Tribute to the Life & Music of Marvin Gaye has also been scheduled to hold on Friday, April 8, 2022, 9:30 PM at
Bunkers Music Bar,
761 N Washington Avenue
Minneaopolis, MN 55401,
United States.

What a blessed man!!!

"Sexual healing" comes to mind.

'Sexxxual healing'...I love old school

And baby, I can't hold it much longer "heal me my darling, heal me my darling"
It's getting stronger and stronger
When I get that feeling
I want sexual healing
Sexual healing, oh baby
Makes me feel so fine

Sexual healing.

My popman loves this song ehn!

Oh baby,when i get this feeling,I need "Sexual Healing"
His popman was a gangster tho

The song

"Marvin Gaye " by Megan Trainor and John legend comes to mind

Where is the painful death, I want to read the painful death! Make I send sexual healing YouTube link to my maye asap.

Where is the painful death, I want to read the painful death! Make I send sexual healing YouTube link to my maye asap.
Post the painful death!

Where is the painful death, I want to read the painful death! Make I send sexual healing YouTube link to my maye asap.
Post the painful death!

So sad he was sent to an early grave by his father.

Hmmm

LordIsaac:
"Sexual healing" comes to mind.

SmellySperm:
Oh baby,when i get this feeling,I need "Sexual Healing"
His popman was a gangster tho

Ikillbrokehoes:
"Let's gets it on and "Sexual healing" my two favorite songs of mavin gaye.

Spechialone:
'Sexxxual healing'...i love old school

He as a numbers of tracks aside this mennnn!
Seexx is overrated.