What's Going On and subsequent success[edit]

Main articles: What's Going On (Marvin Gaye album) and Let's Get It On

On June 1, 1970, Gaye returned to Hitsville U.S.A., where he recorded his new composition "What's
Going On", inspired by an idea from Renaldo "Obie" Benson of the Four Tops after he witnessed an
act of police brutality at an anti-war rally in Berkeley.[65] Upon hearing the song, Berry Gordy refused
its release due to his feelings of the song being "too political" for radio. [66] Gaye responded by going
on strike from recording until the label released the song. [66] Released in 1971, it reached No. 1 on
the R&B charts within a month, staying there for five weeks. It also reached the top spot
on Cashbox's pop chart for a week and reached No. 2 on the Hot 100 and the Record World chart,
selling over two million copies.[67][68]
After giving an ultimatum to record a full album to win creative control from Motown, Gaye spent ten
days recording the What's Going On album that March.[69] Motown issued the album that May after
Gaye remixed portions of the album in Hollywood. [66] The album became Gaye's first million-selling
album launching two more top ten singles, "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" and "Inner City Blues".
One of Motown's first autonomous works, its theme and segue flow brought the concept
album format to rhythm and blues. An AllMusic writer later cited it as "...the most important and
passionate record to come out of soul music, delivered by one of its finest voices."[70] For the album,
Gaye received two Grammy Award nominations and several NAACP Image Awards.[71] The album
also topped Rolling Stone's year-end list as its album of the year. Billboard magazine named
Gaye Trendsetter of the Year following the album's success.

Gaye in 1973

In 1971, Gaye signed a new deal with Motown worth $1 million (US$6,313,065 in 2019 dollars[50]),
making it the most lucrative deal by a black recording artist at the time. [72] Gaye first responded to the
new contract with the soundtrack and subsequent score, Trouble Man, released in late 1972. Before
the release of Trouble Man, Marvin released a single called "You're the Man." The album of the
same name was a follow up to What's Going On, but Motown refused to promote the single. Marvin
later alleged that he and Gordy clashed over Marvin's political views, and for that reason, he was
forced to shelve the album's release and substitute Trouble Man. However, Universal Music
Group announced in 2019 that You're the Man would receive an official release.[73] Around this
period, he, Anna and Marvin III finally left Detroit and moved to Los Angeles permanently.

"Let's Get It On"

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"Let's Get It On" was
 written by Gaye and
producer Ed Townsend,
originally as
a gospel song, and later
as a protest song before
eventually turning into
a funk-oriented love
anthem. It became Gaye's
second number-one hit in
1973.

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help.

In August 1973, Gaye released the Let's Get It On album. Its title track became Gaye's second No. 1
single on the Hot 100. The album subsequently stayed on the charts for two years and sold over four
million copies. The album was later hailed as "a record unparalleled in its sheer sensuality and
carnal energy."[74] Other singles from the album included "Come Get to This", which recalled Gaye's
early Motown soul sound of the previous decade, while the suggestive "You Sure Love to Ball"
reached modest success #14 on r&b charts but received tepid promotion due to the song's sexually
explicit content.[75]
Marvin's final duet project, Diana & Marvin, with Diana Ross, garnered international success despite
contrasting artistic styles. Much of the material was crafted especially for the duo by Ashford and
Simpson.[76] Responding to demand from fans and Motown, Gaye started his first tour in four years at
the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum on January 4, 1974.[77] The performance received critical
acclaim and resulted in the release of the live album, Marvin Gaye Live! and its single, a live version
of Distant Lover, an album track from Let's Get It On.
The tour helped to enhance Gaye's reputation as a live performer. [77] For a time, he was earning
$100,000 a night (US$518,421 in 2019 dollars [50]) for performances.[78] Gaye toured throughout 1974
and 1975. A renewed contract with Motown allowed Gaye to build his own custom-made recording
studio.
In October 1975, Gaye gave a performance at a UNESCO benefit concert at New York's Radio City
Music Hall to support UNESCO's African literacy drive, resulting in him being commended at the
United Nations by then-Ambassador to Ghana Shirley Temple Black and Kurt Waldheim.[79][80] Gaye's
next studio album, I Want You, followed in March 1976 with the title track "I Want You" becoming a
No. 1 R&B hit. The album would go on to sell over one million copies. That spring, Gaye embarked
on his first European tour in a decade, starting off in Belgium. In early 1977, Gaye released the live
album, Live at the London Palladium, which sold over two million copies thanks to the success of its
studio song, "Got to Give It Up", which became a No. 1 hit.

Last Motown recordings and European exile[edit]

Main articles: Here, My Dear and In Our Lifetime (Marvin Gaye album)
In December 1978, Gaye released Here, My Dear, inspired by the fallout from his first marriage
to Anna Gordy. Recorded with the intention of remitting a portion of its royalties to her
as alimony payments, it performed poorly on the charts.[81] During that period,
Gaye's cocaine addiction intensified while he was dealing with several financial issues with the IRS.
These issues led him to move to Maui, Hawaii, where he struggled to record a disco album.[82] In
1980, Gaye went on a European tour.[83] By the time the tour stopped, the singer relocated to London
when he feared imprisonment for failure to pay back taxes, which had now reached upwards of
$4.5 million (US$13,963,449 in 2019 dollars[50]).[83][84]
Gaye then reworked Love Man from its original disco concept to another personal album invoking
religion and the possible end time from a chapter in the Book of Revelation.[85] Titling the album In
Our Lifetime?, Gaye worked on the album for much of 1980 in London studios such
as Air and Odyssey Studios.[86]
In the fall of that year, someone stole a master tape of a rough draft of the album from one of Gaye's
traveling musicians, Frank Blair, taking the master tape to Motown's Hollywood headquarters.
[87]
 Motown remixed the album and released it on January 15, 1981. [88] When Gaye learned of its
release, he accused Motown of editing and remixing the album without his consent, allowing the
release of an unfinished production (Far Cry), altering the album art of his request and removing the
album title's question mark, muting its irony.[89] He also accused the label of rush-releasing the album,
comparing his unfinished album to an unfinished Picasso painting.[89] Gaye then vowed not to record
any more music for Motown.[90]
On February 14, 1981, under the advice of music promoter Freddy Cousaert, Gaye relocated to
Cousaert's apartment in Ostend, Belgium.[91] While there, Gaye shied away from heavy drug use and
began exercising and attending a local Ostend church, regaining personal confidence. [92][93] Following
several months of recovery, Gaye sought a comeback onstage, starting the short-lived Heavy Love
Affair tour in England and Ostend in June–July 1981. [94] Gaye's personal attorney Curtis Shaw would
later describe Gaye's Ostend period as "the best thing that ever happened to Marvin". When word
got around that Gaye was planning a musical comeback and an exit from Motown, CBS
Urban president Larkin Arnold eventually was able to convince Gaye to sign with CBS. On March 23,
1982, Motown and CBS Records negotiated Gaye's release from Motown. The details of the contract
were not revealed due to a possible negative effect on the singer's settlement to creditors from the
IRS.[95]

Midnight Love[edit]
Main articles: Midnight Love and Sexual Healing

"Sexual Healing"

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"Sexual Healing" was
written by Gaye alongside
Odell Brown and David
Ritz. Ritz said Gaye
advised him to write a
poem after telling the
singer he needed "sexual
healing" while living in
Europe. The song became
an international hit after its
release in 1982.

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help.
Assigned to CBS's Columbia subsidiary, Gaye worked on his first post-Motown album titled Midnight
Love. The first single, "Sexual Healing" which was written and recorded in Ostend in his apartment,
was released on September 30, 1982, and became Gaye's biggest career hit, spending a record ten
weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Black Singles chart, becoming the biggest R&B hit of the 1980s according
to Billboard stats. The success later translated to the Billboard Hot 100 chart in January 1983 where
it peaked at No. 3, while the record reached international success, reaching the top spot in New
Zealand and Canada and reaching the top ten on the United Kingdom's OCC singles chart, later
selling over two million copies in the U.S. alone, becoming Gaye's most successful single to date.
The video for the song was shot at Ostend's Casino-Kursaal. [96]
Sexual Healing won Gaye his first two Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal
Performance, in February 1983, and also won Gaye an American Music Award in the R&B-soul
category. People magazine called it "America's hottest musical turn-on since Olivia Newton-
John demanded we get Physical." Midnight Love was released to stores a day after the single's
release, and was equally successful, peaking at the top ten of the Billboard 200 and becoming
Gaye's eighth No. 1 album on the Top Black Albums chart, eventually selling over six million copies
worldwide, three million alone in the U.S.
I don't make records for pleasure. I did when I was a younger artist, but I don't today. I record so that
I can feed people what they need, what they feel. Hopefully, I record so that I can help someone
overcome a bad time.

— NME – December 1982[97]

On February 13, 1983, Gaye sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the NBA All-Star Game at The
Forum in Inglewood, California—accompanied by Gordon Banks, who played the studio tape from
the stands.[4] The following month, Gaye performed at the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today,
Forever special. This and a May appearance on Soul Train (his third appearance on the show)
became Gaye's final television performances. Gaye embarked on his final concert tour, titled
the Sexual Healing Tour, on April 18, 1983, in San Diego.[98] The tour ended on August 14, 1983 at
the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa, California but was plagued by cocaine-
triggered paranoia and illness. Following the concert's end, he moved into his parents' house in Los
Angeles. In early 1984, Midnight Love was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Male R&B Vocal
Performance category, his 12th and final nomination.

Death[edit]
Main article: Death of Marvin Gaye
Gaye intervened in a fight between his parents on the afternoon of April 1, 1984 in the family house
in the West Adams district of Los Angeles, and he became involved in a physical altercation with his
father Marvin Gay Sr.[99] Gay Sr. shot Gaye twice, once in the chest, piercing his heart, and then into
Gaye’s shoulder.[99] The shooting took place in Gaye's bedroom at 12:38 p.m. The first shot proved
fatal. Gaye was pronounced dead at 1:01 p.m. after his body arrived at California Hospital Medical
Center, one day short of his 45th birthday.[99][100]
After Gaye's funeral, his body was cremated at Forest Lawn Memorial Park at the Hollywood Hills;
his ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean. [101] Gay Sr. was initially charged with first degree
murder, but the charges were reduced to voluntary manslaughter following a diagnosis of a brain
tumor.[102] He was given a suspended six-year sentence and probation. He died at a nursing home in
1998.[103]

Personal life[edit]
Main article: Personal life of Marvin Gaye
Gaye married Berry Gordy's sister, Anna Gordy, in June 1963. The couple separated in 1973, and
Anna filed for divorce in November 1975. The couple were officially divorced in 1977. Gaye later
married Janis Hunter in October 1977. The couple separated in 1979, and were officially divorced in
February 1981.
Gaye was the father of three children, Marvin III (adopted with Anna; Marvin III was the son
of Denise Gordy, Anna's niece), and Nona and Frankie, whom he had with his second wife, Janis. At
the time of his death, he was survived by his three children, parents, and five siblings.