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.

Gaye had aspired to be a Perry Como-styled performer that did not have to resort to " shaking ass onstage ", rather, just sit on a stool and croon.

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.

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.

* February 13 – Marvin Gaye performs 4 " The Star-Spangled Banner " before the NBA All-Star Game.

Musa Gibril Bala Gaye ( born August 13, 1946 ), also known as Mousa G. Bala Gaye, is a Gambian politician, economist, banker and diplomat.

The Wheels were founded December 13, 1973 by ten investors, whose number eventually grew to 33, including singer Marvin Gaye, Motown Records vice-president Esther Edwards, and Little Caesars founder ( and future Red Wings and Tigers owner ) Mike Ilitch.

" Due to his influence in R & B and soul music, Gaye has been cited as " the number-one purveyor of soul ".

The original recording by Gaye and Terrell peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and number-one on Billboard's Hot R & B / Soul Singles chart for five weeks, becoming one of the longest-running number one R & B hits of 1968 and the most successful duet recording of Marvin Gaye's entire career.

It became his first million-selling record and his first number-one single on the R & B chart, staying there for two weeks, and was the first song Gaye recorded with Smokey Robinson as one of the songwriters of the record.

Gaye was one of many who shaped the sound and success of Motown Records in the 1960s, becoming that label's top-selling solo artist of that decade with a string of hits including " How Sweet It Is ( To Be Loved By You )", " Ain't That Peculiar ", " I Heard It Through the Grapevine " and his duet singles with singers such as Mary Wells and Tammi Terrell.

Gaye, who was one of the few Motown artists to write his own material, produced and co-wrote two hits for The Originals including " Baby I'm For Real " and " The Bells ".

Gaye changed his range to a raspier tenor for his gospel-inspired early hits such as " Stubborn Kind of Fellow " and " Hitch Hike ".

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.

On the A & E Network television program Biography, Knight stated that she and the Pips were regarded as a second-string act, and that " Diana ( Ross ) & the Supremes, The Temptations, and Marvin Gaye were given all the hits, while we took the leftovers.

Top artists on the Motown label during that period included Diana Ross & The Supremes, The Four Tops, and The Jackson 5, while Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The Marvelettes, and The Miracles released hits on the Tamla label.

After the songwriting trio Holland – Dozier – Holland left the label in 1967 over royalty payment disputes, Norman Whitfield became the company's top producer, turning out hits for The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, and Gladys Knight & the Pips.

Among the only Motown acts to write and compose their own recordings, the group would also write and compose hits for the likes of Mary Wells, The Temptations and Marvin Gaye with much success.

In the early 1970s Ed Townsend teamed up with Marvin Gaye to produce one of the biggest hits of all times, " Let's Get It On " from the album of the same title.

She started her career as a background singer in Detroit, Michigan, singing on many of the Golden World / Motown hits and working with legendary acts like The Four Tops and Marvin Gaye.

His work includes Motown hits such as, among hundreds of others, " Shotgun " by Jr. Walker & the All Stars, " For Once in My Life ", " I Was Made To Love Her " by Stevie Wonder ( sometimes noted as being claimed by Carol Kaye, Ms Kaye actually claims the track on the late 60s Beach Boys version of the same song ), " Going to a Go-Go " by The Miracles, " My Girl " by The Temptations, " Dancing in the Street " by Martha and the Vandellas, " I Heard It Through the Grapevine " by Gladys Knight and the Pips, and later by Marvin Gaye, and most of the album What's Going On by Marvin Gaye, " Reach Out I'll Be There " and " Bernadette " by the Four Tops, and " You Can't Hurry Love " by The Supremes.

Some of the group's early hits were written by band members and some of Motown's rising singer-songwriters such as Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye, who played drums on a majority of their early recordings.

Top artists on the Motown label during that period included Diana Ross & The Supremes, The Four Tops, and The Jackson 5, while Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and The Miracles released hits on the Tamla label.

Upon joining the Motown staff in 1966, Ashford & Simpson were paired with the vocal duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and they wrote and / or produced all but one of the late-1960s Gaye / Terrell singles, including hits such as the original version of " Ain't No Mountain High Enough ", " Your Precious Love ", " Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing ", and " You're All I Need to Get By ".

Shortly after the song hits the charts, the group go on a tour with various other Motown artists, such as the Vandellas, the Miracles, and Marvin Gaye.

Gaye would later put the song into his set list during his last tours in the early-1980s as he performed a medley of his hits with Terrell.

The first release off the duo's second album: You're All I Need, the song-written and produced by regular Gaye / Terrell collaborators Ashford & Simpson-became a hit within weeks of release eventually peaking at # 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and # 1 on the Hot Soul Singles chart, the first of the duo's s two # 1 hit R & B hits.

Later the wife of Motown recording artist Marvin Gaye, she co-wrote two tunes on Gaye's What's Going On album, and co-wrote hits with Gaye for the Motown group The Originals, including the hit ballad, " Baby, I'm for Real ".

Gordy's biggest success as a songwriter came in the late 1960s and early 1970s, co-writing two major hits for Motown group The Originals, alongside her then-husband Marvin Gaye, including " Baby, I'm For Real " and " The Bells ", which also featured Anna's niece Iris, as a co-writer.