Profile: Marvin Gaye (1939 - 1984) - Singer-Songwriter and Musician

Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a four-octave vocal range. Starting as a member of the doo-wop group The Moonglows in the late fifties, he ventured into a solo career after the group disbanded in 1960 signing with the Tamla Records subsidiary of Motown Records. After starting off as a session drummer, Gaye ranked as the label's top-selling solo artist during the sixties.

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, he was crowned "The Prince of Motown"and "The Prince of Soul". His work in the early and mid-1970s, including the albums What's Going On, Let's Get It On, and I Want You, helped influencing the quiet storm, urban adult contemporary, and slow jam genres. After a self-imposed European exile in the early eighties, Gaye returned on the 1982 Grammy-Award winning hit, "Sexual Healing" and the Midnight Love album before his death. Gaye was shot dead by his father on April 1, 1984. He was posthumously inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

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. 

READ MORE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Gaye

In early 1967, Gaye scored his first international hit with the duet, "It Takes Two", with Kim Weston, who ironically had already left the label when it became a hit. Only one televised performance of the song showed Gaye singing the song to a puppet. That year, Motown hooked Gaye up with veteran Philadelphia-based singer Tammi Terrell, who had an early stint with James Brown. Gaye would later say of Terrell that she was his "perfect partner" musically.

Terrell and Gaye's first major hit was the Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson composition, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". The duo quickly followed up with the top five hit ballad, "Your Precious Love". Despite rumors of a romantic relationship - Gaye was married to Anna Gordy and Terrell was dating Temptations lead vocalist David Ruffin - both singers denied such a relationship with Gaye saying later that they had a brother-and-sister relationship, a statement reiterated by Ashford & Simpson.

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Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - You're All I Need To Get By  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FlV3g2ASeA

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 Marvin Gaye - Where Are We Going? 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56AgF4gSSZQ

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 Marvin Gaye - I Want You 
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RRCZ0QjM2k

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 Marvin Gaye - Heard It Through The Grapevine (Live at Montreux) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7dGdrP3pms

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 Marvin Gaye - Mercy, Mercy Me (The Ecology) (With Lyrics)  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMuWmU1iNJo

  

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