However, with the exception of the Grammy Award-winning " Nightshift " (# 3 in the U. S., a tribute to Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson ; in 2010 a new version was recorded dedicated to Michael Jackson ), the band never achieved the same level of success it had enjoyed with Richie.

Gaye had performed by himself at a Christmas party in Gordy's home after Gwen Gordy and Harvey Fuqua invited him.

The album, that had been recorded as an intent for Gaye to remit a portion of its royalties to her to receive alimony payments, flopped on the charts.

By this time, Gaye had developed a serious dependence and addiction to cocaine and was dealing with several financial issues with the IRS.

It was also later determined that the revolver used in the murder was the same revolver Gaye had given to his father during the Christmas holidays.

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.

In an GQ article about Foxwell, author Bernard J. Taylor was quoted as saying he was told by Foxwell that she and Gaye had discussed marriage.

Months following his death, Decker told Parade magazine that she had carried Gaye's unborn child and that she lived with Gaye at his parents ' house until, she said, family resentment caused Gaye to move her to an apartment in West Hollywood.

Gaye often used cocaine by either rubbing it on his gums or eating it because he had a hard time snorting.

Gaye had a total of 13 number-one hits in his career (" I'll Be Doggone ", " Ain't That Peculiar ", " Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing ", " You're All I Need to Get By ", " I Heard It Through the Grapevine ", " Too Busy Thinking About My Baby ", " What's Going On ", " Mercy Mercy Me ( The Ecology )", " Inner City Blues ( Make Me Wanna Holler )", " Let's Get It On ", " I Want You ", " Got to Give It Up " and " Sexual Healing ") as well as many other top ten hits.

In his Marvin book Mercy Mercy Me: The Art, Loves and Demons of Marvin Gaye, Michael Eric Dyson described Gaye as someone " who transcended the boundaries of rhythm and blues as no other performer had done before ".

Later in his life, Gaye reflected on the influence of Ruffin and Stubbs stating, " had heard something in their voices something own voice lacked ".

" And while he noted that ballads and jazz was " his basic soul ", he stated Gaye " had the ability to take a roughhouse, rock and roll, blues, R & B, any kind of song and make it his own ", later citing that Gaye was the most versatile vocalist he ever worked with.

According to the liner notes of his DVD set, Marvin Gaye: The Real Thing in Performance 1964-1981, Rob Bowman stated that by the early 1970s, Gaye had essentially developed " three distinct voices ; his smooth, sweet tenor, a growling rasp and an unreal falsetto ".

When Gaye began working on What's Going On, only a few R & B artists and pop artists in general had ever composed a full album of social issues on one record.

Early in his career, Gaye had been affected by events such as the 1965 Watts riots and asked himself once, " with the world exploding around me, how am I supposed to keep singing love songs?

What's Going On also provided another first in Motown and R & B music: Gaye and his engineers had composed the album in a song cycle, segueing previous songs into other songs giving the album a more cohesive feel as opposed to R & B albums that traditionally included filler tracks to complete the album.

In I Want You, a more personal focus had been given to the majority of the tracks, with Gaye making the album primarily about his personal relationship with his girlfriend.

Robinson struggled to compete with his former collaborators Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and former Temptations member Eddie Kendricks as all three had multiple hit singles during this period.

Peak among them at # 3 on the Black Singles, # 18 on the Pop Singles charts and # 22 on the UK Singles was the Holland – Dozier – Holland song " How Sweet It Is ( To Be Loved By You )", which had previously hit for Marvin Gaye in 1964.

Gaye branched out into secular music as a teenager, joining the doo-wop group The Marquees, after returning from an honorable discharge from the United States Air Force, before the group was hired by Harvey Fuqua to be Harvey & The Moonglows.

Following the death of Tammi Terrell in 1970, Gaye went into seclusion, emerging the following year with " What's Going On " and its subsequent album, which helped to make him one of the first artists in Motown to break away from the reins of Motown's production company to be his own artist.

Gaye and his siblings would often be told to observe an extended Sabbath, which started every Saturday, and to recite Biblical passages he taught them, striking them if they answered the passages wrong.

It was eventually decided that Gaye wouldn't be allowed to perform a tryout due to fears of injuries could have on his music career.

In October of 1975, Gaye gave a performance at a UNESCO benefit concert at New York's Radio City Music Hall to support UNESCO's African literacy drive, resulting in him to be commended at the United Nations by then-Ambassador of Ghana Shirley Temple Black and Kurt Waldheim.

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.

In 1979, Gaye attempted suicide a second time by ingesting an ounce of cocaine while in Hawaii, later stating, " I just wanted to be alone and blow my brains on high-octane toot.

Gaye considered Frank Sinatra to be a real major influence in what he wanted to be.

" When Gaye called Gordy in the Bahamas about wanting to do a protest record, Gordy cautioned him, " Marvin, don't be ridiculous.

Between 1962 and 1966, Robinson would also be one of the in-demand songwriters and producers for Motown, penning several hit singles such as " The One Who Really Loves You ", " You Beat Me to the Punch " and " My Guy " for Mary Wells, " The Way You Do The Things You Do ", " My Girl ", " Since I Lost My Baby " and " Get Ready " for The Temptations, " When I'm Gone " and " Operator " for Brenda Holloway, " Don't Mess With Bill ", " The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game " and " My Baby Must Be a Magician " for The Marvelettes and " I'll Be Doggone " and " Ain't That Peculiar " for Marvin Gaye.

The TR-808 would later be further popularized in 1982, with the release of the mainstream American hits " Sexual Healing " by Marvin Gaye and " Planet Rock " by Afrika Bambaataa.

The board of directors of this alliance supports legal changes that will allow people who have from incurable diseases to be assisted in suicide .< ref > Grish, Gaye.

Kravitz's other musical influences at the time included Fela Kuti, Bill Withers, Marvin Gaye and Miles Davis ; John Lennon and Bob Marley proved later to be influential as well.

Fuqua would later be credited for bringing Marvin Gaye to the label, which signed Gaye in 1960.

Wells and Robinson also recorded a duet titled " I Want You ' Round ", which would be re-recorded by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston.

According to Terrell's fiancé, Dr. Garrett, who knew Gaye, Terrell's mother allowed just Gaye at the funeral but told him that Terrell's other Motown colleagues would not be allowed in.

Together, Strong and Whitfield wrote some of the most successful and critically acclaimed soul songs ever to be released by Motown, including " I Heard It Through the Grapevine " by both Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight & the Pips ; " War " by Edwin Starr ; " Smiling Faces Sometimes " by The Undisputed Truth ; and the long line of " psychedelic soul " records by The Temptations, including " Cloud Nine ", " I Can't Get Next to You ", " Psychedelic Shack ", " Ball of Confusion ( That's What the World Is Today )", and " Papa Was a Rollin ' Stone ", amongst others.

Before the book could be finished, Gaye died of complications following a heart attack at the age of 60.

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 ).

The single, co-written by William " Mickey " Stevenson, Gaye and Norman Whitfield, and produced by Stevenson, was considered to be a tribute to Gaye's then-girlfriend, Anna Gordy.

He found a songwriting collaborator in lyricist Barrett Strong, the performer on Motown's first hit record, " Money ( That's What I Want )", and wrote material for The Temptations and other Motown artists such as Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight & the Pips, both of whom recorded Whitfield-produced hit versions of the Whitfield / Strong composition " I Heard It Through the Grapevine ".

Burlesque performer Mara Gaye performed at the Troc in the 1950s.