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Marvin Gaye
R&B Balladeer
Born in 1939, Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. was a rebel. He resisted the iron fist rules of his minister father and suffered through the beatings that were meant to keep him in line. He began singing in his father's church and also sang in various local groups including the Moonglows. In 1960 he moved to Detroit and found work as a Motown sessions drummer. Gaye was Motown's most successful male solo act. He racked up more hits than anyone else there. The label's leading sex symbol, he was paired with Mary Wells and then Kim Weston, but the duet concept didn't catch on until 1967 when he joined Tammi Terrell.
The duo had six R&B chart toppers with their smoky sexual chemistry that had listeners convinced they were lovers. Unfortunatley, Tammi was diagnosed with a brain tumor after she collapsed on stage into Marvin's arms. She died 2 years later and Marvin was never the same. After her death, he went into seclusion, coming out four years later to record an album with Diana Ross..but the chemistry wasn't the same. Marvin was shot to death by his father while he was trying to stop his dad from beating his long suffering mother. He was 45.
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