Marvin Gaye's version was recorded in spring 1967, and is the second known recording, though was also rejected by Gordy as a single, and would also later go onto an album, In the Groove.

When Gaye's album with his version of Grapevine was released in August 1968 radio disc jockeys were playing the song, so Gordy had it released as a single in November when it went to number one.

Recordings of this version took more than a month due to Whitfield overdubbing Gaye's vocals with that of the Andantes ' background vocals, mixing in several tracks featuring the Funk Brothers on the rhythm track, and adding the string section from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra with an arrangement by Paul Riser.

Whitfield wanted Gordy to release Gaye's " Grapevine " as a single, but Gordy didn't want to release another version after the Pips had already made a hit out of it.

So Gaye's version was released as a single on October 30, 1968.

Gladys Knight was not pleased that Gaye's version usurped her own, and claimed that Gaye's version was recorded over an instrumental track Whitfield had prepared for a Pips song, an allegation Gaye denied.

Marvin Gaye's version of the song is used in the opening credits of The Big Chill ( 1983 ) as each of the main characters gets to hear ( through the " grapevine ") about the death of their college friend, and then travels to his funeral ; the song serving in an extradiegetic fashion to both unite the main characters ' friendship and to locate it nostalgically for the viewer.

The Gladys Knight & the Pips version was the best-selling Motown single ever to that point, but it was replaced a year later by Gaye's version.

Gaye's version peaked at # 22 on the Hot 100 chart and its title soon became a catchphrase.

Lee Michaels ' 1971 version reached # 39 on the Hot 100 ; both his and Gaye's versions peaked during Christmas week.

The album version of the single featured on Gaye's second album, That Stubborn Kinda Fellow is different in parts to the single version presenting a more jazz effect than the gospel-emulated version that became a single.

Whitfield produced Gaye's version as well, which featured background vocals by The Andantes.

After listening to an outtake of Gaye's 1982 album track, " Turn On Some Music " ( titled " I've Got My Music " in its initial version ), Sermon decided to mix the vocals ( done in a cappella ) and add it into his own song.

However on Gaye's version, the singer completely rewrote the lyrics and based the song on the demise of a marriage.

A cover version of Marvin Gaye's " I Heard It Through the Grapevine " was not a hit, but was followed by their next album, Aphrodisiac.

Gaye's version, produced under a funk sound and featuring just him in vocals, was the B-side to his number-one hit " Let's Get It On ".

The B-side of the UK single is a cover version of Marvin Gaye's " Sexual Healing ", which features Irish musician Davy Spillane on uilleann pipes, originally recorded for his 1994 A Place Among the Stones album.

Although the album was not as commercially successful as its predecessor was, it contained three high-charting singles, including the title track, " True Colors " which became Lauper's second song to hit No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100, " Change of Heart " ( No. 3 ) and a cover of Marvin Gaye's " What's Going On " ( No. 12 ) followed.

His brother Frankie later recounted how Gaye's public performance at a school play when he was 11 encouraged him to pursue a singing career.

" Gaye's sister Jeanne said Gaye was beaten often between age seven well into his teenage years.

During his teen years, Gaye's relationship with his father further deteriorated and he often was kicked out of the house by his father for what he perceived was misbehavior.

Gaye's first top 40 pop song, " Hitch Hike ", was soon followed by his first top-10 hit single, " Pride & Joy ".

In 1964, he scored his first hit duets with singer Mary Wells including " Once Upon a Time ", which was later featured on the duo's album, Together, which became Gaye's first charted album.

" Other singles from the album included " Come Get to This ", which recalled Gaye's early Motown soul sound of the previous decade, while the suggestive " You Sure Love to Ball " reached modest success but was kept from being promoted by Motown due to its sexually explicit nature.

His attorney until his death, Curtis Shaw, said Gaye's Ostend period was " the best thing that ever happened to Marvin ".

It was later determined during Gaye's autopsy that the singer had cocaine and PCP, or " angel dust " in his system at the time of his death.

Friends and some of Gaye's family members later contended that the gun was an act of " premeditated suicide " by Gaye, who had suffered from depression in the months leading up to his death.

Gaye's funeral was held on April 5 at Forest Lawn Memorial Park by over 10, 000 mourners.

Since Gaye's death, fans of the singer will crowd around Gaye's final residence where he was murdered to hold vigils on the day of his birthday.

Gaye's 1976 album, I Want You, was inspired by this relationship.

Gaye's last girlfriend at the time of his death was London native Deborah Decker.

A year later, Gaye's mother founded the Marvin P. Gaye Jr. Memorial Foundation in dedication to her son to help those suffering from drug abuse and alcoholism ; however she died a day before the memorial was set to open in 1987.

Other artists such as Maxwell, Nas and Common adapted his early 1970s fashion style of wearing kufis and beanie skull caps and jean outfits which was also later appropriated by Eddie Murphy in his role as James " Thunder " Early in Dreamgirls, while Michael Jackson, who admitted Gaye was an influence on his music and once described his music as " ridiculous " in a good way, in 2001, allegedly was also influenced by Gaye's fashion style in the 1980s adapting the military-styled suits Gaye wore on his final concert tour.

When VH1 launched on January 1, 1985, Gaye's 1983 rendition of the national anthem was the very first video to be aired.

Growing up, as a child, Gaye's main influence was that of his minister father, something he would later acknowledge to biographer David Ritz and also in interviews he gave, often mentioning that his father's sermons left a big impression on him.

Holland further stated of Gaye's voice was " one of the sweetest and prettiest voices you ever wanted to hear.

Gaye's vocal style changed in the late 1960s in which he was told to incorporate a sharper raspy voice especially in Norman Whitfield's recordings, which Gaye initially profoundly disliked, considered it out of his range, but said he was " into being produce-able ".

Gaye's father never kept a job, working for a total of three years, working at the Western Union and the post office.

In a review for Inner City Blues: The Music of Marvin Gaye, Erlewine also wrote " A few tracks stand out from the mire, particularly Madonna and Massive Attack's trip-hop re-interpretation of " I Want You "..." Jim Farber of the New York Daily News stated that " has never sounded better than in the cover of Marvin Gaye's " I Want You ".

Gaye's first album, The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye, released in June 1961, failed to chart, however.

In March 1982, Motown and CBS Records negotiated for Gaye to be released from Motown, but didn't release the contents of their contract fearing a negative effect on Gaye's settlement to pay his creditors.

Following his death, CBS released two albums to complete Gaye's contract including Dream of a Lifetime and Romantically Yours.

The performance documented on the resulting double LP, entitled Live at the London Palladium and released in 1977, is considered one of Gaye's finest live recordings.

She is also a part of the yet to be released documentary Marvin Gaye's sister made about her brother's life, My Brother Marvin.

Studio musicians were not credited by Motown until Marvin Gaye's What's Going On in 1971, although Motown released a handful of singles and LPs by Earl Van Dyke.

His most recent album, Hardcastle VI, released in September 2011, features yet another remake of " Rainforest " -- this time mixed with R & B legend Marvin Gaye's signature song, " What's Going On.

Both Marvin Gaye and Valerie Simpson gave different stories on how the production of Terrell's and Gaye's third album together, Easy, was released.

In addition, Gaye's classic album What's Going On, an introspective, low-key work which dealt with mature themes released in 1971, was in part a reaction to Terrell's death.

It replaced Marvin Gaye's " I Heard It Through the Grapevine " as the most successful single released on Motown in the U. S., a record it held until the release of Lionel Richie's duet with Diana Ross, " Endless Love " ( 1981 ).

The song, a response to Gaye's label Motown pushing for the singer to record commercially accessible dance music to fit the music industry's embrace of dance rhythms, was released in March 1977.

Motown struggled to get Gaye in the studio as Gaye focused on work on an album ( which would later be released as Here, My Dear, dedicated to Gaye's troubled first marriage ).

Before, Gaye had modest success with two singles-" Save the Children " ( which was released as a double-A side with Gaye's 1966 recording, " Little Darling ( I Need You )") in 1971 and " Let's Get It On " in 1973 ( which peaked at number 31 on the UK chart ).

Gordy was often the focal point of Gaye's early hits, including " Stubborn Kind of Fellow ", " Pride & Joy " and " You Are a Wonderful One ", the latter song released right around the time Gaye and Gordy married in April of 1964.

The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye is Marvin Gaye's 1961 debut album, and the second long-playing album ( TM-221 ) released by Motown.