| Biography | Marvin Gaye was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo artist with a string of hits, earning him the nicknames "Prince of Motown" and "Prince of Soul".
Gaye's Motown hits include "Ain't That Peculiar", "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)", and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", and duet recordings with Mary Wells, Kim Weston, Diana Ross, and Tammi Terrell. During the 1970s, he recorded the albums What's Going On and Let's Get It On and became one of the first artists in Motown, along with Stevie Wonder, to break away from the reins of a production company. Following a period in Europe as a tax exile in the 1980s, he released the 1982 hit "Sexual Healing", which won him his first two Grammy Awards, and its parent album Midnight Love. Gaye's last television appearances were at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game, where he sang "The Star-Spangled Banner", Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever and on Soul Train.
In 1956, 17-year-old Gaye enlisted in the United States Air Force as a basic airman. Disappointed in having to perform menial tasks, he faked mental illness and was discharged shortly afterwards. Gaye was issued a "General Discharge" from the service. Following his return, Gaye and his good friend Reese Palmer formed the vocal quartet The Marquees.
On 1 April 1984, the day before his 45th birthday, Gaye intervened in a fight between his parents and became involved in a physical altercation with his father, Marvin Gay Sr. Gaye's father fatally shot him at their house in the West Adams district of Los Angeles. |