Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye was one of music’s most expressive singers, a deeply talented producer and a superb songwriter of both the romantic and the revolutionary. With a career spanning three decades, he was the Prince of Motown, with hits that ranged from the celebratory “Pride and Joy” to the brooding “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” from the timeless statement “What’s Going On” to the makeout masterpiece “Let’s Get It On.” Marvin’s 1960s records with Mary Wells, Kim Weston (“It Takes Two”) and, most notably, Tammi Terrell—including “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “You’re All I Need To Get By”—are models of male-female duets. He sang everything from deep in his soul, rendering every performance with personal feelings. Marvin died Aril 1, 1984, the day before his 45th birthday, as he was reveling in the success of his hit “Sexual Healing.”