Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. (April 2, 1939 - April 1, 1984), better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye (he added the 'e' as a young man), was an acclaimed American singer-songwriter and musician who achieved major success in the 1960s and 1970s as an artist for the Motown label.
Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Gaye was the son of a storefront minister of a local Pentecostal church and grew up singing in his father's church, later learning to play piano and drums. As a teenager, he discovered doo-wop and joined local doo-wop groups in the D.C. area. After dropping out of school and briefly enlisting in the United States Air Force, he returned to D.C. where he formed the Marquees, who were first discovered by Bo Diddley and later was mentored by Harvey Fuqua, who changed their name to "Harvey & The New Moonglows", recording for Chess Records for two years. Later leaving the Moonglows for a solo career as Harvey Fuqua's protege, he settled for work in Detroit labels such as Anna and Tri-Phi Records before joining Motown in 1961.
Initially earning pay as a session drummer and encompassing a three-octave vocal range, Gaye eventually became Motown's top-selling solo artist of the 1960s. He was crowned "The Prince of Motown" and "The Prince of Soul" because of solo hits such as "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)", "Ain't That Peculiar", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and his duet singles with singers such as Mary Wells and Tammi Terrell.
His early 1970s releases, What's Going On and Let's Get It On paved the way for the concept album format in R&B music in the 1970s while the Let's Get It On and I Want You albums helped influence the quiet storm, urban contemporary and slow jam genres. After a self-imposed tax exile in Europe in the early 1980s, Gaye returned on the 1982 Grammy-Award winning hit, "Sexual Healing" and the Midnight Love album. After a violent argument with his father, he was shot dead by him on April 1, 1984.
In 2008, the American music magazine Rolling Stone ranked Gaye at number 6 on its list of the Greatest Singers of All Time, and ranked at number 18 on 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and he ranked number 20 on VH1's list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Gaye was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
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