Marvin Pentz Gay Jnr., 2 April 1939, Washington, DC, USA, d. 1 April 1984, Los Angeles, USA. Gaye was named after his father, a minister in
the Apostolic Church. The spiritual influence of his early years played a formative role in his musical career, particularly from the 70s onwards,
when his songwriting shifted back and forth between secular and religious topics. He abandoned a place in his father's church choir to team up
with Don Covay and Billy Stewart in the R&B vocal group the Rainbows. In 1957, he joined the Marquees, who recorded for Chess under the
guidance of Bo Diddley. The following year the group was taken under the wing of producer and singer Harvey Fuqua, who used them to re-form
his doo-wop outfit the Moonglows. When Fuqua moved to Detroit in 1960, Gay went with him: Fuqua soon joined forces with Berry Gordy at
Motown, and Gay became a session drummer and vocalist for the label. In 1961, he married Gordy's sister, Anna, and was offered a solo
recording contract. Renamed Marvin Gaye, he began his career as a jazz balladeer, but in 1962 he was persuaded to record R&B, and notched up
his first hit single with the confident 'Stubborn Kind Of Fellow', a Top 10 R&B hit. This record set the style for the next three years, as Gaye
enjoyed hits with a series of joyous, dance-flavoured songs that cast him as a smooth, macho, Don Juan figure. He also continued to work behind
the scenes at Motown, co-writing Martha And The Vandellas' hit 'Dancing In The Street', and playing drums on several early recordings by Little
Stevie Wonder. In 1965, Gaye dropped the call-and-response vocal arrangements of his earlier hits and began to record in a more sophisticated
style. The striking 'How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)' epitomized his new direction, and it was followed by two successive R&B number 1
hits, 'I'll Be Doggone' and 'Ain't That Peculiar'. His status as Motown's best-selling male vocalist left him free to pursue more esoteric avenues
on his albums, which in 1965 included a tribute to the late Nat 'King' Cole and a misguided collection of Broadway standards.