Remembering Marvin Gaye, a legend who bought his death

Gaye won two Grammys while alive and received a posthumous achievement award

Marvin Gaye would have been 78 years old on April 2nd, 2017 but the legend met his death in the hands of his father in 1984.

Ironically, the Soul singer was shot twice with the 38 special caliber pistol he had bought for his father to use for protection.

Before his death in 1984, Gaye first attained success in the 1960s, eventually getting a song ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’ to reach the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 list in 1968.

He followed that up with a number one R&B album, M.P.G in 1969 among other chart successes for himself and The Originals, for whom he wrote and produced songs for.

The death of Tammi Terrell – a close collaborator of his and with whom he recorded the evergreen ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ – in 1970 got him depressed.

Doctors had discovered she had a brain tumor in the late ’60s, effectively ending her career as she stopped performing live while seldom recording in the studio under careful supervision.

This had left Gaye devastated and her death initially left him disillusioned about the music business. His successes on the charts continued through the ’70s, though.

Gaye’s greatest success came in the ’80s after he recorded the Midnight Love album, in which was the hit record, ‘Sexual Healing’ released in 1982.

The hit single would go one to sell two million records in the US alone, achieve chart success in North America, Europe and New Zealand, as well as earn him his first two Grammy Awards in 1983.

Following his shocking death on April 1, 1984, he has received more recognition, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

His last couple of years may have been troubled – him and his dad were usually not on the best of terms in addition to his relapse to cocaine use and dispute with MoTown Records – but his music and legacy live on.

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