Who was Marvin Gaye, and why does he still matter? He was the voice that made soul music a reflection of love, longing, and social conscience, and his records continue to appear relevant because they pick at the heart with integrity and art.
Marvin Pentz Gay Jr. was born April 2, 1939, in Washington, D.C., the second of four sons of minister Marvin Gaye Sr. and Alberta Gay.
As a child he grew up in a rigorous church family within which he learned harmony in pews and correction at home, a combination which gave a powerful gospel grounding and an abiding hunger for freedom.
As a child he used to sing in church with his dad at the piano. By junior high school he was president of the glee club, and by early teens a doo wop enthusiast leading groups all over the city.
After a miserable short stint in the Air Forces he came back to music, leading originally the Marquees and thereafter Harvey and the New Moonglows, cutting sides in Chicago and singing background on Chuck Berry sessions while devotionally teaching himself piano and drums.
A transfer to Detroit transformed his life. At Motown’s studios he became a key sessionnaire on drums, adopted an e to his own surname, and fulfilled his ambition of crooning the music of Billy Eckstine before being directed by the company’s songwriters toward rhythm and blues.
The hits came thick and fast with the inevitability of a born-in-song talent finding his niche. Pride and Joy, Hitch Hike, Can I Get a Witness, and How Sweet It Is made and kept him a star, and his duet sessions with Mary Wells, Kim Weston, and especially Tammi Terrell gave him a sensitive foil on the air.
The on stage collapse and death in 1970 of Terrell undid him and challenged him to pose more challenging questions to art and mission. From that soul searching came What’s Going On, an oral song cycle regarding war, community, ecology, and compassion that lent R&B the form of a current-day chat and established that a singer should do and aural detective work simultaneously. He kept on evolving.
Let’s Get It On centered on intimacy and did it with musical sophistication. I Want You added quiet storm sheen that would characterize radio for years. Here, My Dear made divorce testimonial music. After disagreements with Motown and piling-up tax troubles he withdrew to Europe, recorded in Ostend, and produced Midnight Love, of which Sexual Healing joined drum machine pulse with classic Marvin melody and won him his first Grammys.
A magnificent live act when he set his mind to it, his 1983 national anthem at the NBA All Star Game remains a drum and feeling tutorial. Behind the accolades lies a complex man battered by a daunting upbringing, bouts of depression, and a peripatetic search for serenity.
His seminal achievements are revolutionizing the soul singer from interpreter to creator, delineating the sound of Motown as performer and star, and having influence on entire subgenres from quiet storm onwards to neo soul.
His life’s largest moments are the breakout of I Heard It Through the Grapevine, the creative liberties of What’s Going On, the comeback of Sexual Healing, two marriages and three children, and a senseless death on April 1, 1984, in Los Angeles following a family row.
The arc is tormented and sublime, and the legacy indelible. When they speak of Marvin Gaye they speak of a criterion of feeling and a promise that popular music is beautiful, adult, and human.
Contents
Top Songs
- I Heard It Through the Grapevine
- What’s Going On
- Mercy Mercy Me
- Inner City Blues
- Let’s Get It On
- Sexual Healing
- Got to Give It Up
- Ain’t That Peculiar
- How Sweet It Is
- Trouble Man
- Distant Lover
- Pride and Joy
- Hitch Hike
- Can I Get a Witness
- You’re All I Need to Get By
- Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
- Too Busy Thinking About My Baby
- That’s the Way Love Is
Discography
Solo studio albums
- The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye
- That Stubborn Kinda Fellow
- When I’m Alone I Cry
- Hello Broadway
- How Sweet It Is to Be Loved by You
- A Tribute to the Great Nat King Cole
- Moods of Marvin Gaye
- In the Groove
- M.P.G.
- That’s the Way Love Is
- What’s Going On
- Trouble Man
- Let’s Get It On
- I Want You
- Here, My Dear
- In Our Lifetime
- Midnight Love
Collaborative albums
- Together with Mary Wells
- Take Two with Kim Weston
- United with Tammi Terrell
- You’re All I Need with Tammi Terrell
- Easy with Tammi Terrell
- Diana & Marvin with Diana Ross
Selected posthumous releases
- Dream of a Lifetime
- Romantically Yours
- Vulnerable
- You’re the Man
- Funky Nation: The Detroit Instrumentals
Top Albums
What’s Going On
A seminal body of songs flowing like a constant discourse on war, religion, family, and city. Strings, congas, and harmonized voices framed by a subtle but uncompromising plea for forgiveness. Having redefined the potential of an R&B album and remaining as a near-perfect union of message and song.
Let’s Get It On
A lesson in intimacy and groove. The title cut is classic for a reason, but the strength of the album is that it makes yearning a patient, adult discourse with a use of deep pocket rhythms, soulful horns, and vocals that hover between confession and invitation.
I Want You
Smooth, sultry, and modern, the album crystallized the quiet storm vibe. The production is complex and highly detailed, the beats flexible and fluid, and Marvin’s multi-layered harmonies transform the songs into a solo film of feeling.
Trouble Man
A lean instrumental leader set presenting Marvin as composer and leader. The title theme was a classic of the noir soul style, and the musicianship of the score broadened the scope of his talents beyond singing.
Midnight Love
Released at the culmination of a year of hardship, it pitted drum machines against classic songwriting. Sexual Healing is the title but the whole album proves how Marvin was able to evolve to a new period without sacrificing his identity.
Here, My Dear
A private diary of heartache and responsibility that listeners now recognize as adventurous and forward-thinking. The beats are slow and talky, and lyrics flow like a diary on soul.
Marvin Gaye Singles with US Charts
| Year | Single (artist credit) | US Hot 100 | US R&B |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | Stubborn Kind of Fellow (Marvin Gaye) | 46 | 8 |
| 1962 | Hitch Hike (Marvin Gaye) | 30 | 12 |
| 1963 | Pride and Joy (Marvin Gaye) | 10 | 2 |
| 1963 | Can I Get a Witness (Marvin Gaye) | 22 | 3 |
| 1964 | You’re a Wonderful One (Marvin Gaye) | 15 | 5 |
| 1964 | Try It Baby (Marvin Gaye) | 15 | 6 |
| 1964 | Baby Don’t You Do It (Marvin Gaye) | 27 | 7 |
| 1964 | How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You) (Marvin Gaye) | 6 | 3 |
| 1964 | Once Upon a Time (Marvin Gaye & Mary Wells) | 19 | 3 |
| 1964 | What’s the Matter with You Baby (Marvin Gaye & Mary Wells) | 17 | 2 |
| 1965 | I’ll Be Doggone (Marvin Gaye) | 8 | 1 |
| 1965 | Ain’t That Peculiar (Marvin Gaye) | 8 | 1 |
| 1966 | One More Heartache (Marvin Gaye) | 29 | 4 |
| 1966 | Little Darling (I Need You) (Marvin Gaye) | 47 | 16 |
| 1966 | It Takes Two (Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston) | 14 | 4 |
| 1967 | Your Unchanging Love (Marvin Gaye) | 33 | 7 |
| 1967 | Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) | 19 | 3 |
| 1967 | Your Precious Love (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) | 5 | 2 |
| 1968 | If I Could Build My Whole World Around You (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) | 10 | 2 |
| 1968 | Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) | 8 | 1 |
| 1968 | You’re All I Need to Get By (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) | 7 | 1 |
| 1968 | You (Marvin Gaye) | 34 | 7 |
| 1968 | Chained (Marvin Gaye) | 32 | 8 |
| 1968 | I Heard It Through the Grapevine (Marvin Gaye) | 1 | 1 |
| 1969 | Too Busy Thinking About My Baby (Marvin Gaye) | 4 | 1 |
| 1969 | That’s the Way Love Is (Marvin Gaye) | 7 | 2 |
| 1970 | Abraham, Martin and John (Marvin Gaye) | 9 | 1 |
| 1971 | What’s Going On (Marvin Gaye) | 2 | 1 |
| 1971 | Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) (Marvin Gaye) | 4 | 1 |
| 1971 | Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) (Marvin Gaye) | 9 | 1 |
| 1972 | Trouble Man (Marvin Gaye) | 7 | 4 |
| 1973 | Let’s Get It On (Marvin Gaye) | 1 | 1 |
| 1973 | Come Get to This (Marvin Gaye) | 21 | 3 |
| 1974 | You Sure Love to Ball (Marvin Gaye) | 31 | 13 |
| 1974 | Distant Lover – Live (Marvin Gaye) | 28 | 12 |
| 1976 | I Want You (Marvin Gaye) | 15 | 1 |
| 1976 | After the Dance (Marvin Gaye) | 74 | 14 |
| 1977 | Got to Give It Up (Pt. 1) (Marvin Gaye) | 1 | 1 |
| 1979 | A Funky Space Reincarnation (Marvin Gaye) | — | 23 |
| 1979 | Ego Tripping Out (Marvin Gaye) | — | 17 |
| 1981 | Praise (Marvin Gaye) | — | 18 |
| 1981 | Heavy Love Affair (Marvin Gaye) | — | — |
| 1982 | Sexual Healing (Marvin Gaye) | 3 | 1 |
| 1983 | My Love Is Waiting (Marvin Gaye) | — | — |
| 1985 | Sanctified Lady (Marvin Gaye) | — | 32 |
Notes: Peaks are Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. “—” indicates not on that chart. Sources: Wikipedia discography overview and MusicVF single-by-single peaks.
Awards
Marvin Gaye received Grammys for Sexual Healing and went on to win the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Gaye was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame. Gaye has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and has multiple appearances on Rolling Stone’s best albums and songs lists. What’s Going On is preserved in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress and has been referred to by music commentators again and again as among the most significant albums ever recorded. His name is continued on in tribute, sample, and chart history, but more importantly, it’s continued on in the way that those who sing reflect on truth, tenderness, and groove.