History Music / MarvinGaye

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* PerfectlyCromulentWord: "Ain't That Peculiar" declares "it" to be "a peculiar-arity".

In 1978, Gaye's wife, Anna Gordy (the sister of Motown founder Berry Gordy) divorced him, citing irreconcilable differences and seeking money in palimony to support their adopted son. As a result of a deal Gaye's lawyer made, Gaye would give her half the royalties from his next album. He wrote an album in three months but held onto the album that would become ''Here, My Dear'' (1978) for a year. At the time of its release, the album was indeed neither critically nor commercially successful, leading to accusations that Gaye released a lackluster album intentionally to make sure his ex-wife would end up with as little money as possible, despite this being against Gaye's best interest. Regardless, the album has since been VindicatedByHistory, and today is seen as one of his best albums. The following year, Gaye filed for bankruptcy and moved to Hawaii. His next album, ''In Our Lifetime'' (1981), was edited and remixed by Motown without Gaye's consent; he terminated his contract with Motown shortly afterward and moved to UsefulNotes/{{Belgium}}.

Gaye's best-regarded album was ''Music/WhatsGoingOn'' (1971), released only after a raucous argument over it with Motown head, Berry Gordy, to critical and commercial success [[note]] (pretty much any list of "Greatest Albums in History" you'll ever see will have three albums at or near the top: Music/TheBeatles' ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'', Music/TheBeachBoys' ''Music/PetSounds'', and ''What's Going On'') [[/note]] that spawned hits such as the title track and "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)." After the album's release, Gaye renegotiated a contract with Motown that allowed him creative control and made him the highest earning African-American musician at the time. Gaye moved to UsefulNotes/LosAngeles from UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} in order to score the blaxploitation film ''Trouble Man''; the soundtrack was a hit.

* ICannotSelfTerminate: No one can say for sure but it's entirely possible that Gaye -- who had attempted suicide several times in his lifetime, one of them reportedly days before he died -- ''allowed'' his father to kill him. According to Marvin's brother, his [[FamousLastWords last words]] were:

* UnfortunateNames: Yeah, jokes about his last name are pretty much inescapable. Worse still, he was born as Marvin '''Gay''' Jr.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: In "What's Going On", someone audibly says "fuck" during the sampled chatter.

* YourCheatingHeart: "I Heard It Through the Grapevine". The song is about a man (the narrator of the song) and his girlfriend / wife when the former finds out that the latter loves someone else through hearing it from other people, and lamenting that she not only didn't bother to ''tell him'' that she didn't love him anymore, but that she's very likely to pick the other man and end their relationship. The "cheating" aspect becomes more apparent when the song was performed live when a member of the band would pretend to call Marvin on the phone to tell him that he saw the woman heading into a motel room with another man.

Gaye's best-regarded album was ''Music/WhatsGoingOn'' (1971), a critical and commercial success [[note]] (pretty much any list of "Greatest Albums in History" you'll ever see will have three albums at or near the top: Music/TheBeatles' ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'', Music/TheBeachBoys' ''Music/PetSounds'', and ''What's Going On'') [[/note]] that spawned hits such as the title track and "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)." After the album's release, Gaye renegotiated a contract with Motown that allowed him creative control and made him the highest earning African-American musician at the time. Gaye moved to UsefulNotes/LosAngeles from UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} in order to score the blaxploitation film ''Trouble Man''; the soundtrack was a hit.

* ''Diana & Marvin'' [[note]]with [[Music/TheSupremes Diana Ross]][[/note]] (1973)

-->-- '''Music/{{Seal}}''', about Marvin Gaye

!! Albums by him with their own page:

* ICannotSelfTerminate: No one can say for sure but it's entirely possible that Gaye -- who had attempted suicide several times in his lifetime, one of them reportedly days before he died -- ''allowed'' his father to kill him. According to Marvin's brother, his last words were:

Gaye started out as a member of the doo-wop group the Moonglows, and then embarked on an extremely successful solo career on Creator/{{Motown}} Records. His early hits included "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" and "I'll Be Doggone." During the same period, he was writing hits for other Motown groups, such as the Marvelettes' "Beechwood 4-5789" and Martha Reeves & the Vandellas' "Dancing in the Street," and was a session drummer. Marvin's works defined the "Motown Sound," which was a blend of R&B and pop music with orchestral strings.

Gaye's best regarded album was ''Music/WhatsGoingOn'' (1971), a critical and commercial success [[note]] (pretty much any list of "Greatest Albums in History" you'll ever see will have three albums at or near the top: Music/TheBeatles' ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'', Music/TheBeachBoys' ''Music/PetSounds'', and ''What's Going On'') [[/note]] that spawned hits such as the title track and "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)." After the album's release, Gaye renegotiated a contract with Motown that allowed him creative control and made him the highest earning African-American musician at the time. Gaye moved to UsefulNotes/LosAngeles from UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} in order to score the blaxploitation film ''Trouble Man''; the soundtrack was a hit.

In 1978, Gaye's wife, Anna Gordy (the sister of Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown) divorced him, citing irreconcilable differences and seeking money in palimony to support their adopted son. As a result of a deal Gaye's lawyer made, Gaye would give her half the royalties from his next album. He wrote an album in three months, but held onto the album that would become ''Here, My Dear'' (1978) for a year. At the time of its release, the album was indeed neither critically nor commercially successful, leading to accusations that Gaye released a lackluster album intentionally to make sure his ex-wife would end up with as little money as possible, despite this being against Gaye's best interest. Regardless, the album has since been VindicatedByHistory, and today is seen as one of his best albums. The following year, Gaye filed for bankruptcy and moved to Hawaii. His next album, ''In Our Lifetime'' (1981), was edited and remixed by Motown without Gaye's consent; he terminated his contract with Motown shortly afterward and moved to UsefulNotes/{{Belgium}}.

Both Gaye's tensions with his father and his suicidal tendencies would reach a breaking point on April 1, 1984: following another confrontation with him, Gaye's father entered his bedroom and [[OffingTheOffspring shot him]] with a pistol Gaye had previously given to him as a Christmas present. Frankie, Gaye's brother, was alerted to the shooting, found Gaye, and cradled him in his dying moments; according to Frankie, it was at this point that Gaye revealed that [[DrivenToSuicide he had intentionally coerced their father into murdering him.]] Gaye's father would later be given a six year suspended sentence and five years of probation for the killing. Thus ended the life of the man whose works ranged from doo-wop to soul and political to sexual, who influenced others to gain creative control and produce themselves, and who made uniquely autobiographical albums.

* FadingIntoTheNextSong: As mentioned above, ''WhatsGoingOn'' is gapless apart from the fadeout at the end of the title track and the break between LP sides. This didn't stop "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" and "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" from becoming hit singles, but each of these is at the end of its respective album side.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: In "What's Going On," someone audibly says "fuck" during the sampled chatter.

* ICannotSelfTerminate: No one can say for sure but it's entirely possible that Gaye -- who had attempted suicide several times in his lifetime, one of them supposedly days before he died -- ''allowed'' his father to kill him. According to Marvin's brother, his last words were:

* YourCheatingHeart: "I Heard It Through the Grapevine". The song is about a man (the narrator of the song) and his girlfriend / wife when the former finds out that the latter loves someone else through hearing it from other people, and lamenting that she not only didn't bother to ''tell him'' that she didn't love him anymore, but that she's very likely to pick the other man and end their relationship. The "cheating" aspect becomes more apparent when the song was performed live, when a member of the band would pretend to call Marvin on the phone to tell him that he saw the woman heading into a motel room with another man.

In 1982, Gaye signed with Creator/ColumbiaRecords, which released his comeback album ''Midnight Love'' (1982) and the Grammy-winning single "Sexual Healing," which was a change in style to European flavored pop and contemporary R&B. After going on a tour of the U.S., he moved into his parents' home.

On April Fools' Day 1984, Marvin Gaye was [[OffingTheOffspring fatally shot by his own father]] after an argument, only a day shy of Marvin's 45th birthday. This ended the life of the man whose works ranged from doo-wop to soul and political to sexual, who influenced others to gain creative control and produce themselves, and who made uniquely autobiographical albums.

In 1982, Gaye signed with Creator/ColumbiaRecords, which released his comeback album ''Midnight Love'' (1982) and the Grammy winning single "Sexual Healing," which was a change in style to European flavored pop and contemporary R&B. After going on a tour of the U.S., he moved into his parents' home.

* ICannotSelfTerminate: No one can say for sure, but it's entirely possible that Marvin Gaye was suicidal, and ''allowed'' his father to kill him. According to Marvin's brother, his last words were: