Post by timmy84 on Jan 26, 2006 21:24:37 GMT -5
Marvin Gaye Timeline
1939
-April 2: Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. is born in Washington, D.C. to parents Marvin, Sr. and Alberta Gay. Marvin, Sr. is a storefront preacher.
1942
-Age 3: Marvin begins singing in church.
1956
-Age 17: Dropped out of high school, left home and joined the U.S. Air Force.
1957
-Age 18: Marvin is given an honorable discharge by the Air Force who writes that "Marvin Gay doesn't answer to regimentation and authority".
1958
-Age 19: Joins the Marquees, who sign with Okeh Records under the guidance of blues rocker Bo Diddley.
1959
-Age 20: Harvey Fuqua takes the Marquees and makes them the new members of "The Moonglows". Marvin's first led single was "Mama Loocie".
1960
-After a marijuana bust in Chicago, the "new Moonglows" break up but Harvey takes 21-year-old Marvin with him to Detroit.
-December: Marvin enters Motown Records' Hitsville, U.S.A. studios and impresses Motown executives with his singing, piano and drum talents.
1961
-January: Berry Gordy, Jr. signs Marvin as a session musician. Marvin plays drums for acts like the Miracles, the Marvelettes and Mary Wells.
-March: Marvin signs a recording contract as a solo artist and begins recording his first album.
-June: Marvin's official debut, The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye, is released.
-December: Marvin plays drums on the Marvelettes'...and Motown's first #1 pop single, "Please, Mr. Postman".
1962
-February: Marvin performs alongside other Motown acts on the first Motown Revue.
-April: Marvin scores his first commercial hit as a songwriter co-penning the Marvelettes' top 5 R&B and top 20 pop hit, "Beachwood 4-5789".
-June: Marvin plays drums on the live version of Stevie Wonder's first #1 hit, "Fingertips, Pt. 2".
-July: Marvin's fourth single, "Stubborn Kind of Fellow", written by Gaye and William "Mickey" Stevenson, is released and starts to chart.
-October: "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" peaks at #8 on the R&B singles chart and #46 on the Pop singles chart.
-December: Marvin's second hit, "Hitch Hike", is released during the last month of '62.
1963
-January: "Hitch Hike", written by Gaye, Stevenson and Clarence Paul, is Marvin's first top 40 Pop hit peaking at #30 and peaking at #12 on the R&B singles chart. Marvin plays both piano and drums on the song.
January 31: Marvin's second album, That Stubborn Kind of Fellow, is released.
-February: Marvin performs on "American Bandstand" singing "Hitch Hike".
-March: Marvin's "Pride & Joy" is released.
-June: "Pride & Joy", the third single featuring the Vandellas, is Marvin's first Top 10 pop hit reaching #10 Pop and #2 R&B. The song is co-written by Gaye, Stevenson and Norman Whitfield, it's one of Whitfield's first hits.
-October: "Can I Get a Witness", Gaye's first collaboration with Holland-Dozier-Holland, reaches #22 on the Pop singles chart.
1964
-January: Marvin scores a hit with "You Are a Wonderful One". The single, which charts at #3 R&B and #15 Pop, features the Supremes in the background.
-March: Motown issues the Marvin Gaye & Mary Wells duet two-fer, "What's the Matter With You Baby"/"Once Upon a Time". The singles both hit the charts peaking at #2 and #3 on the R&B singles chart and #19 and #17 on the Pop singles chart respectively.
-April 15: Marvin & Mary's Together album is Marvin's first charted album peaking at #42 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.
-April: Marvin and Anna finally marries after a three-year courtship.
-Spring-Summer: Marvin scores with the hit singles "Try It Baby" (featuring background vocals by the Temptations; #6 R&B and #15 Pop) and "Baby Don't You Do It?" ( #14 R&B and #27 Pop).
-October: Marvin performs alongside the Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry and James Brown on the first and only annual "awards show", the T.A.M.I. show.
-November: Marvin's "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" is released. Going to #3 R&B and #6 Pop, it would become Marvin's biggest hit to date at the time.
-December: Martha & the Vandellas, now a top-selling Motown group, hit pay dirt with their now classic-soul standard, "Dancing In The Street". The song would peak at #2 on both the pop and R&B singles chart. Marvin co-writes the standard.
1965
-January: Marvin's "I'll Be Doggone" (written by two of the Miracles) replaces the Temptations' "My Girl" (also written by two of the Miracles) at #1 on the R&B singles chart within the end of the month. It eventually peaks at #8 on the Billboard Pop singles chart.
-June: Marvin releases his next Miracles-written composition with "Ain't That Peculiar?"; the same month, he and wife Anna Gordy adopts a boy named Marvin Pentz Gaye, III.
-August: Marvin's "Ain't That Peculiar" hits the charts where it peaks at #1 R&B and #8 Pop.
-October: Marvin performs at the Copacabana. An album is recorded but is never released until nearly 40 years later.
1966
-May: Marvin's Moods of Marvin Gaye album is released. An impressive seven top 40 R&B records are released from the record: alongside the aforementioned "I'll Be Doggone" and "Ain't That Peculiar", the album also yield five additional hits including "One More Heartache" (#4 R&B, #29 Pop), "Pretty Little Baby" (#16 R&B, #25 Pop), "Take This Heart of Mine" (#16 R&B, #44 Pop), "Little Darling (I Need You)" (#10 R&B, #47 Pop) and "Your Unchanging Love" (#7 R&B, #33 Pop).
-October: Marvin scores another hit duet, this time, with Kim Weston. The upbeat "It Takes Two" (written by Sylvia Moy and William "Mickey" Stevenson) peaks at #14 Pop and #4 R&B. It's Gaye's most notable hit as a duet singer/vocalist. It's also notable as his first major UK hit peaking at #16 there making it his biggest-selling duet for a minute.
1967
-April: Marvin hooks up with Tammi Terrell for the first time on the hit single, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". The second major hit written by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, the song peaks at #19 Pop and #3 R&B and becomes one of the most beloved songs in Motown's catalogue. Before hooking up with Gaye, Terrell had been a veteran recording artist since 1960 having recorded with the Scepter/Wand label and later hooking up for a minute with James Brown before her discovery by a Motown exec during a performance led her to the label that helped garner a couple of modest hits before her collaboration with Gaye made her a star.
-June: Marvin & Tammi's first duet album, United, is released. It peaks at #7 R&B and #69 Pop and spawns four top 40 R&B singles.
-August: Marvin & Tammi score their second hit duet with the doo-wop flavored "Your Precious Love". The song peaks at #2 R&B and #5 Pop.
-September: Marvin scores a rare solo hit that year with the Frank Wilson-penned and produced Top 40 single, "You". The song provides a rare moment of Gaye "losing his cool" in a song and is considered more gritty and funky in the style of the Four Tops' Levi Stubbs. Gaye even lets out a soulful falsetto wail - the first wail Gaye delivers on a record.
-October 14: During a concert at Virginia's Hampton College after singing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", Tammi collapses on stage. Marvin carries her off stage and carries on without her even though he's worried about her condition. Tammi is later diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. She continues to perform and record with Gaye until her sickness forces her to retire.
-November: Marvin & Tammi establish themselves as a hit-making duo with their third big hit, "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You". Like many of their early hits, not all of the songs were conceived by Ashford & Simpson. The song is co-written by Johnny Bristol, Jimmy Bullock and Harvey Fuqua and produced by Bristol and Fuqua and reaches #2 R&B and #10 Pop. The song also becomes a hit in England peaking at #47.
1968
-January: Marvin & Tammi's fourth single, "If This World Were Mine", actually the b-side of "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You", builds a strong response from radio airplay and is released as a single peaking at #27 R&B and #68 Pop. The song is Marvin Gaye's first solely-written hit.
-March: Marvin & Tammi's fifth single, "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", an Ashford & Simpson masterpiece, peaks at #1 R&B and #8 Pop. It peaks at #34 Pop in the UK.
-May: Marvin & Tammi's sixth single, "You're All I Need to Get By", is released. Peaking at #1 R&B for five weeks and #7 Pop, it's the duo's most successful single to date eventually spawning the future hip-hop/soul hit cover by rapper Method Man and Mary J. Blige ("You're All I Need/"I'll Be There For You", 1995) showing the original song's timeless influence. The song (Marvin & Tammi's version) reaches #19 in the UK.
-August: Marvin & Tammi's You're All I Need album is released. The song peaks at #4 R&B and #60 Pop. Around the same time, Marvin & Tammi hit the charts with two hits in the U.S. and UK: "Keep On Lovin' Me Honey" peaks at #11 R&B and #24 Pop while "You Ain't Livin' 'Til You're Livin'" peaks at #21 UK. Marvin scores his first solo chart-topper in a few months with another Frank Wilson-composed single, "Chained" (#8 R&B; #32 Pop).
-September: Marvin releases his first solo album in two years with In the Groove with the hit songs "You" and "Chained" leading the way. The album also features a little ditty lyrically written by Barrett Strong and musicially composed by Norman Whitfield titled "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", a song Gaye and Whitfield wanted to release around 1967 but was refused to by Gordy, who thought the song wasn't going to be a hit.
-October: Despite Berry Gordy's refusals of releasing "Grapevine" and despite the smash hit version released by Motown newcomers and veteran R&B hitmakers Gladys Knight & the Pips (#2 Pop; #1 R&B), radio airplay of "Grapevine" - featured on the b-side to "Chained" increases, stops the airplay of "Chained", Motown finally and reluctantly released "Grapevine" as a single the next month.
-November: The seminal version of Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is released. By the end of the month, the song rapidly rises on the charts.
-December 7: "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" begins a 7-week run at #1 on the Billboard Pop singles chart. It's Marvin's first #1 pop single.
1969
-January: Marvin & Tammi scores another hit titled "Good Lovin' Ain't Easy to Come By". The song eventually peaks at #30 Pop, #11 R&B and #26 UK.
-March: Marvin's "Too Busy Thinkin' About My Baby" is another huge hit scoring #4 Pop and #1 R&B.
-April 30: Marvin's next album, M.P.G., is his first #1 album on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and is his first top 40 album on the Billboard Pop Albums chart where it peaks at #33.
-September 16: Marvin & Tammi's final album together, Easy. Rumors go around that most of the songs were actually sung by co-songwriter Valerie Simpson replacing a now very-ill Tammi. Hits off the album include "Good Loving Ain't Easy to Come By", "What You Gave Me" (#6 R&B; #49 Pop), "The Onion Song" (#50 Pop; #18 R&B; #9 UK - the duo's actual biggest single in England) and "California Soul" (#56 Pop).
-October: Marvin's "That's the Way Love Is" - the third hit collaboration with Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong - peaks at #2 R&B and #7 Pop.
-November: Marvin co-writes and produces R&B group and formerly Motown background male group, the Originals' hit ballad, "Baby I'm For Real". The hit defines the group and charts at #14 Pop and #1 R&B. It's actually Marvin's seventh hit that he actually had credit writing and one of his first that he produced.
-December: Marvin's cover of Richard Hollier's socially-conscious single, "Abraham, Martin & John", is a big hit in the UK peaking at #9 there.
1970
-January 8: Marvin's That's the Way Love Is album is released. Along with the hit aforementioned title track, the other hits include "How Can I Forget?" (#41 Pop; #18 R&B), "The End of Our Road" (#40 Pop; #7 R&B) and "Gonna Give Her All the Love I Got" (#67 Pop; #26 R&B).
-February: The Originals score another hit with Marvin, "The Bells" eventually hit #4 R&B and #12 Pop. "The Bells", "Baby I'm For Real" and later "We Can Make It Baby" (#20 R&B; #74 Pop; also produced and written by Marvin) helps gives Marvin confidence to become his own writer and producer.
-March 16: Tragedy hits when Tammi Terrell passes away after dealing with eight operations with her brain tumor. Terrell dies in Philadelphia at the tender age of 24. Gaye attends the funeral and is so crushed emotionally by Terrell's death that he refuses to perform onstage and even contemplating retiring from music altogether flirting with a football career as a player for the Detroit Lions, but eventually decides to re-enter the studio a couple months later.
-June 10: After contemplation and still obviously going through depression over Terrell's death, Marvin helps finish a song that was started by the Four Tops' Renaldo Benson and his songwriting partner Al Cleveland titled "What's Going On". The song is recorded on this day and is followed up by another record titled "God is Love", which Gaye wrote with his wife and his friends Elgie Stover and James Nyx. Marvin fought with Berry Gordy over releasing the song.
1971
-January 21: Thanks to massive radio airplay, "What's Going On" is released by a Los Angeles Motown executive behind Gordy's back. Gordy wanted to protest...until he saw the song's rising success. The song eventually reached #1 on the R&B singles chart for five straight weeks and #2 on the Pop singles chart for three straight weeks and became Motown's fast-selling single at the time. It eventually sold over 2.5 million copies and thanks to the surprising success, Gordy tells Gaye to record a full album featuring similar material in 30 days.
-March 1-10: Marvin records the rest of the songs for the now-landmark What's Going On album.
-May 21: What's Going On is finally released on this day. The album becomes a sensation eventually peaking at #1 R&B and #6 Pop. The album yields three consecutive hits, goes on to sell over 3 million copies alone, making it the biggest-selling album of all time in Motown's history. Because Marvin produced the album himself and co-writing all nine tracks (including one solely-written single), it helps Marvin break out as the label's first independent artist inspiring Stevie Wonder to make the same trip.
-June 10: Marvin's second single, the solely-written "Mercy, Mercy Me (The Ecology)", is released and eventually peaks at #1 R&B and #4 Pop.
-August: The third and final single from What's Going On, the place ode, "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)", is his third consecutive straight #1 R&B record and his third consecutive Top 10 pop single reaching #9.
-December: Marvin wins the Billboard award for Trendsetter of the Year for his accomplishments with What's Going On.
1972
-March: Marvin wins a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Male Artist.
-May 1: Marvin attends a homecoming to his old hometown of Washington, D.C. where it's officiated Marvin Gaye Day at his neighborhood. Later he performs at Constitution Hall marking his first public performance in two years.
-June: Marvin begins recording, reluctantly, a duet album with now ex-Supreme lead singer Diana Ross.
-July: Marvin's "You're the Man" (about President Nixon basically) was a modest hit peaking at #7 R&B and #50 Pop. It was supposed to be the leading single for the album, You're the Man, though that album was withdrawn.
-November: Marvin's "Trouble Man" single is released. Solely written and produced by Gaye, the autobiographical blues song becomes a Top 10 Pop and R&B hit.
-December 21: Marvin's only soundtrack and film composition, Trouble Man, is released. Mostly a jazz/funk instrumental piece led by Gaye (who plays drums and piano on the album) and Paul Riser, it'll be sampled by hip-hop acts in years to come.
1973
-June 15: Marvin's newest single, "Let's Get It On", is released. Dedicated to his new love, 17-year-old Janis Elizabeth Hunter (born January 15, 1956 in California), the daughter of respected Cuban jazz musician Slim Gaillard, and is written by Gaye and Ed Townsend. The song mixes love ("there's nothing wrong with me loving you") and God ("have you been sanctified?") and gives a hint at Marvin's double-sided psyche, also known as "divided soul".
-August 25: "Let's Get It On" begins a two-week tenure at #1 on the Billboard Pop singles chart and R&B singles chart for an amazing eight weeks. The song would also go on to sell more than 4 million copies making it the best-selling Motown release in America. It was the biggest R&B hit of the year and the second biggest hit overall of the year second only to Tony Orlando and Dawn's "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Around the Ole Oak Tree".
-August 28: Marvin's Let's Get It On album is released. The album, now featuring more solely-written tunes by Gaye, would yield other hits including the doo-wop-esque "Come Get to This" (#21 Pop; #3 R&B) and the sexually explicit (at the time) "You Sure Love to Ball" (#50 Pop; #13 R&B). The album would peak at #2 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart and #1 on the Billboard Black (R&B) Albums chart for eleven consecutive weeks and would surpass What's Going On as Gaye's best-selling album ever in Motown selling over 4 million copies.
-October 26: Motown releases Marvin and Diana's first and only duet album, Diana & Marvin. Hits will include "You're a Special Part of Me" (#12 Pop; #4 R&B), "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" (#25 UK), "My Mistake (Was to Love You)" (#19 Pop; #15 R&B), "Don't Knock My Love" (#46 Pop; #25 R&B) and "You Are Everything" (#5 UK).
1974
-January 4: Marvin officially marks his return to live performing in the Oakland Coliseum on this day. Recorded for a live album released later that year, Gaye would mark his "comeback" surely with the show-stopping live rendition of "Distant Lover" from his Let's Get It On album. The strong response from the live version would eventually get picked up for a release as a single later on in the year.
-June 19: Marvin's second live album, Marvin Gaye Live! is released.
-September 4: 35-year-old Marvin and his 18-year-old girlfriend Janis celebrate the birth of their first child together, daughter Nona Aisha Gaye, in Washington, D.C., with her middle name later revealed as Marvisa after her father. Nona would later tell an interviewer why she got the middle name saying her dad wanted to name her Marvelous. Janis steadfastly denied the name and settled for "Marvisa".
-September 12: The live version of "Distant Lover" hits the charts peaking at #12 R&B and #28 Pop.
1975
-Summer: Marvin buys a condo in Los Angeles' Hidden Hills section where he lives with Janis and daughter Nona. He also buys another condo and builds his own recording studio there. It would be known later as Marvin's Room.
-July: Anna Gordy finally files for divorce from Marvin Gaye after 11 tumultuous years together.
-November 16: Marvin and Janis' second child together, son Frankie Christian Gaye, is born.
1976
-March 16: Marvin releases his first studio album in three years with I Want You. He collaborates on the album with Leon Ware, who was gonna record it for his own album but after visiting Gaye at his recording studio convinced Gaye to record the material.
-April 1: The sensual funk/soul single, "I Want You", is released. The song eventually peaks at #1 Soul (R&B) and #15 Pop.
-August: "After the Dance" - co-written by Gaye, Ware and Arthur "T-Boy" Ross (Diana's younger brother; who also co-wrote "I Want You" with Ware) - is a modest hit reaching #14 R&B and #74 Pop.
-September: Marvin begins his first full-fledged European tour. One show recorded in Switzerland will later be released in the U.S. and at a few times the full concert of it was showcased on TV.
-October 3: Marvin records a live concert at the London Palladium in London, England.
1977
-March 1: "Got to Give It Up", Marvin's only commercialized attempt at disco (though he'll call it a funk single), hits #1 on the Billboard Pop, Soul (R&B) and Disco (Club Play) charts. During the same time, Marvin performs the song live on Soul Train.
-March 15: Marvin's third live album, Live at the London Palladium, is released and becomes his most successful live album eventually peaking at #1 R&B and #3 Pop and selling over 2 million copies, it becomes one of the top ten biggest-selling albums of the year thanks to the mega hit success of the sole studio track, "Got to Give It Up".
-July: Marvin & Anna Gaye finally call it quits in their marriage around this month eventually settling for joint custody of their 12-year-old son Marvin, III.
-October: Marvin and Janis marries in California.
1978
-December 15: After holding off the album for a year, Marvin finally releases the hugely personal double-album, Here, My Dear. The album is an autobiographical account of the demise of Marvin & Anna's marriage.
1979
-January: The single, "A Funky Space Reincarnation", peaks at #23 on the R&B singles chart.
-July: Marvin files for bankruptcy.
-September: "Ego Tripping Out", a song Gaye self-composed, is an autobiographical and self-mocking account of his ego and his troubles. It hits #17 R&B.
1980
-Summer: Marvin records some songs in London for a new album titled In Our Lifetime?.
1981
-January: Marvin releases an early draft of his In Our Lifetime? to Motown executives.
-January 15: Unbeknownst to Marvin's knowledge, Motown releases the album without his consent.
-February: Motown releases the first single from In Our Lifetime titled "Praise". The spiritual funk single peaks at #18 on the Billboard R&B singles chart and #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Bubbling Under singles chart.
-April: Marvin's last Motown single, released when he was still alive, the smooth funk-soul effort, "Heavy Love Affair", peaks at #61 R&B.
-May: Under the advice of Belgium boxing promoter Freddy Couseart, Marvin relocates to Ostend, Belgium and cleans up his act.
-June: Marvin headlines the "The Heavy Love Affair Tour" in Belgium.
1982
-January: Marvin finally leaves Motown Records after 21 years.
-April: Through his attorney, 42-year-old Gaye signs with Columbia Records and begins working with a little song titled "Sexual Healing".
-September: Gaye releases his first post-Motown single, "Sexual Healing" this month. It becomes his first big hit in five years and is his 40th top 40 hit.
-October: "Sexual Healing" begins a 10-week trek at #1 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart. It becomes the longest-running #1 R&B single in the 1980's.
-November 6: Marvin's first post-Motown solo album, Midnight Love, is released on Columbia Records. The album peaks at #1 R&B and #7 Pop and will go on to sell over 6 million copies worldwide.
-December: Marvin returns to America after a two-year exile after hearing about his mother Alberta's illness.
1983
-January: "Sexual Healing" peaks at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The single peaks at #4 in the UK.
-February: Marvin gives a legendary performance at the NBA All-Star game singing his own soulful rendition of the National Anthem in Los Angeles.
-February: After 11 Grammy nominations, Marvin Gaye, at the age of 43, wins his first two Grammy Awards for "Sexual Healing" - Best R&B Male Vocal Performance and Best R&B Instrumental.
-March 16: Marvin reunites with Berry Gordy and Motown by performing "What's Going On" at "Motown 25".
-April-August: Marvin performs on a 5-month grueling tour.
1984
-February: Marvin is nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B Male Vocal Performance for the Midnight Love album.
-April 1: Marvin Pentz Gaye, Jr. is shot and killed by his father, Marvin, Sr. after an intense argument. He dies a day before turning 45.
-April 8: Over 100,000 well-worshippers, friends, fans and family members paid their last respects to Marvin Gaye in Los Angeles.
1985
-February: Marvin posthumously hit #2 on the Hot R&B singles chart with "Sanctified Lady".
-May: CBS releases the posthumous album, Dream of a Lifetime.
-October: CBS releases Romantically Yours.
1987
-March: Marvin Gaye is inducted posthumously to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
1990
-Summer: Marvin is posthumously given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1991
-July: Motown releases a rare 1970s single, "My Last Chance" from The Marvin Gaye Collection. Strong urban radio airplay sends the song to #16 on the Billboard Hot R&B singles chart.
1996
-Marvin is posthumously honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Singers Seal and Annie Lennox pay tribute to Marvin singing "What's Going On".
1999
-Several modern R&B artists pay tribute to Marvin on the tribute album, Marvin is 60.
2001
-June: Marvin scores a posthumous hit with rapper Erick Sermon on the song, "Music".
-Spring-Summer: Motown re-issues Marvin's What's Going On and Let's Get It On albums as two-disc deluxe editions.
2003
-Marvin was posthumously given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the R&B Foundation Awards.
2005
-October: Five years after first discussing about the possibility of renaming a park at Washington, D.C. after Marvin Gaye, $5 million was passed to make the park name change a reality.
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And there you have it, Marvin Gaye's life in a timeline capsule. WHEW!
1939
-April 2: Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. is born in Washington, D.C. to parents Marvin, Sr. and Alberta Gay. Marvin, Sr. is a storefront preacher.
1942
-Age 3: Marvin begins singing in church.
1956
-Age 17: Dropped out of high school, left home and joined the U.S. Air Force.
1957
-Age 18: Marvin is given an honorable discharge by the Air Force who writes that "Marvin Gay doesn't answer to regimentation and authority".
1958
-Age 19: Joins the Marquees, who sign with Okeh Records under the guidance of blues rocker Bo Diddley.
1959
-Age 20: Harvey Fuqua takes the Marquees and makes them the new members of "The Moonglows". Marvin's first led single was "Mama Loocie".
1960
-After a marijuana bust in Chicago, the "new Moonglows" break up but Harvey takes 21-year-old Marvin with him to Detroit.
-December: Marvin enters Motown Records' Hitsville, U.S.A. studios and impresses Motown executives with his singing, piano and drum talents.
1961
-January: Berry Gordy, Jr. signs Marvin as a session musician. Marvin plays drums for acts like the Miracles, the Marvelettes and Mary Wells.
-March: Marvin signs a recording contract as a solo artist and begins recording his first album.
-June: Marvin's official debut, The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye, is released.
-December: Marvin plays drums on the Marvelettes'...and Motown's first #1 pop single, "Please, Mr. Postman".
1962
-February: Marvin performs alongside other Motown acts on the first Motown Revue.
-April: Marvin scores his first commercial hit as a songwriter co-penning the Marvelettes' top 5 R&B and top 20 pop hit, "Beachwood 4-5789".
-June: Marvin plays drums on the live version of Stevie Wonder's first #1 hit, "Fingertips, Pt. 2".
-July: Marvin's fourth single, "Stubborn Kind of Fellow", written by Gaye and William "Mickey" Stevenson, is released and starts to chart.
-October: "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" peaks at #8 on the R&B singles chart and #46 on the Pop singles chart.
-December: Marvin's second hit, "Hitch Hike", is released during the last month of '62.
1963
-January: "Hitch Hike", written by Gaye, Stevenson and Clarence Paul, is Marvin's first top 40 Pop hit peaking at #30 and peaking at #12 on the R&B singles chart. Marvin plays both piano and drums on the song.
January 31: Marvin's second album, That Stubborn Kind of Fellow, is released.
-February: Marvin performs on "American Bandstand" singing "Hitch Hike".
-March: Marvin's "Pride & Joy" is released.
-June: "Pride & Joy", the third single featuring the Vandellas, is Marvin's first Top 10 pop hit reaching #10 Pop and #2 R&B. The song is co-written by Gaye, Stevenson and Norman Whitfield, it's one of Whitfield's first hits.
-October: "Can I Get a Witness", Gaye's first collaboration with Holland-Dozier-Holland, reaches #22 on the Pop singles chart.
1964
-January: Marvin scores a hit with "You Are a Wonderful One". The single, which charts at #3 R&B and #15 Pop, features the Supremes in the background.
-March: Motown issues the Marvin Gaye & Mary Wells duet two-fer, "What's the Matter With You Baby"/"Once Upon a Time". The singles both hit the charts peaking at #2 and #3 on the R&B singles chart and #19 and #17 on the Pop singles chart respectively.
-April 15: Marvin & Mary's Together album is Marvin's first charted album peaking at #42 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.
-April: Marvin and Anna finally marries after a three-year courtship.
-Spring-Summer: Marvin scores with the hit singles "Try It Baby" (featuring background vocals by the Temptations; #6 R&B and #15 Pop) and "Baby Don't You Do It?" ( #14 R&B and #27 Pop).
-October: Marvin performs alongside the Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry and James Brown on the first and only annual "awards show", the T.A.M.I. show.
-November: Marvin's "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" is released. Going to #3 R&B and #6 Pop, it would become Marvin's biggest hit to date at the time.
-December: Martha & the Vandellas, now a top-selling Motown group, hit pay dirt with their now classic-soul standard, "Dancing In The Street". The song would peak at #2 on both the pop and R&B singles chart. Marvin co-writes the standard.
1965
-January: Marvin's "I'll Be Doggone" (written by two of the Miracles) replaces the Temptations' "My Girl" (also written by two of the Miracles) at #1 on the R&B singles chart within the end of the month. It eventually peaks at #8 on the Billboard Pop singles chart.
-June: Marvin releases his next Miracles-written composition with "Ain't That Peculiar?"; the same month, he and wife Anna Gordy adopts a boy named Marvin Pentz Gaye, III.
-August: Marvin's "Ain't That Peculiar" hits the charts where it peaks at #1 R&B and #8 Pop.
-October: Marvin performs at the Copacabana. An album is recorded but is never released until nearly 40 years later.
1966
-May: Marvin's Moods of Marvin Gaye album is released. An impressive seven top 40 R&B records are released from the record: alongside the aforementioned "I'll Be Doggone" and "Ain't That Peculiar", the album also yield five additional hits including "One More Heartache" (#4 R&B, #29 Pop), "Pretty Little Baby" (#16 R&B, #25 Pop), "Take This Heart of Mine" (#16 R&B, #44 Pop), "Little Darling (I Need You)" (#10 R&B, #47 Pop) and "Your Unchanging Love" (#7 R&B, #33 Pop).
-October: Marvin scores another hit duet, this time, with Kim Weston. The upbeat "It Takes Two" (written by Sylvia Moy and William "Mickey" Stevenson) peaks at #14 Pop and #4 R&B. It's Gaye's most notable hit as a duet singer/vocalist. It's also notable as his first major UK hit peaking at #16 there making it his biggest-selling duet for a minute.
1967
-April: Marvin hooks up with Tammi Terrell for the first time on the hit single, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". The second major hit written by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, the song peaks at #19 Pop and #3 R&B and becomes one of the most beloved songs in Motown's catalogue. Before hooking up with Gaye, Terrell had been a veteran recording artist since 1960 having recorded with the Scepter/Wand label and later hooking up for a minute with James Brown before her discovery by a Motown exec during a performance led her to the label that helped garner a couple of modest hits before her collaboration with Gaye made her a star.
-June: Marvin & Tammi's first duet album, United, is released. It peaks at #7 R&B and #69 Pop and spawns four top 40 R&B singles.
-August: Marvin & Tammi score their second hit duet with the doo-wop flavored "Your Precious Love". The song peaks at #2 R&B and #5 Pop.
-September: Marvin scores a rare solo hit that year with the Frank Wilson-penned and produced Top 40 single, "You". The song provides a rare moment of Gaye "losing his cool" in a song and is considered more gritty and funky in the style of the Four Tops' Levi Stubbs. Gaye even lets out a soulful falsetto wail - the first wail Gaye delivers on a record.
-October 14: During a concert at Virginia's Hampton College after singing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", Tammi collapses on stage. Marvin carries her off stage and carries on without her even though he's worried about her condition. Tammi is later diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. She continues to perform and record with Gaye until her sickness forces her to retire.
-November: Marvin & Tammi establish themselves as a hit-making duo with their third big hit, "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You". Like many of their early hits, not all of the songs were conceived by Ashford & Simpson. The song is co-written by Johnny Bristol, Jimmy Bullock and Harvey Fuqua and produced by Bristol and Fuqua and reaches #2 R&B and #10 Pop. The song also becomes a hit in England peaking at #47.
1968
-January: Marvin & Tammi's fourth single, "If This World Were Mine", actually the b-side of "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You", builds a strong response from radio airplay and is released as a single peaking at #27 R&B and #68 Pop. The song is Marvin Gaye's first solely-written hit.
-March: Marvin & Tammi's fifth single, "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", an Ashford & Simpson masterpiece, peaks at #1 R&B and #8 Pop. It peaks at #34 Pop in the UK.
-May: Marvin & Tammi's sixth single, "You're All I Need to Get By", is released. Peaking at #1 R&B for five weeks and #7 Pop, it's the duo's most successful single to date eventually spawning the future hip-hop/soul hit cover by rapper Method Man and Mary J. Blige ("You're All I Need/"I'll Be There For You", 1995) showing the original song's timeless influence. The song (Marvin & Tammi's version) reaches #19 in the UK.
-August: Marvin & Tammi's You're All I Need album is released. The song peaks at #4 R&B and #60 Pop. Around the same time, Marvin & Tammi hit the charts with two hits in the U.S. and UK: "Keep On Lovin' Me Honey" peaks at #11 R&B and #24 Pop while "You Ain't Livin' 'Til You're Livin'" peaks at #21 UK. Marvin scores his first solo chart-topper in a few months with another Frank Wilson-composed single, "Chained" (#8 R&B; #32 Pop).
-September: Marvin releases his first solo album in two years with In the Groove with the hit songs "You" and "Chained" leading the way. The album also features a little ditty lyrically written by Barrett Strong and musicially composed by Norman Whitfield titled "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", a song Gaye and Whitfield wanted to release around 1967 but was refused to by Gordy, who thought the song wasn't going to be a hit.
-October: Despite Berry Gordy's refusals of releasing "Grapevine" and despite the smash hit version released by Motown newcomers and veteran R&B hitmakers Gladys Knight & the Pips (#2 Pop; #1 R&B), radio airplay of "Grapevine" - featured on the b-side to "Chained" increases, stops the airplay of "Chained", Motown finally and reluctantly released "Grapevine" as a single the next month.
-November: The seminal version of Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is released. By the end of the month, the song rapidly rises on the charts.
-December 7: "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" begins a 7-week run at #1 on the Billboard Pop singles chart. It's Marvin's first #1 pop single.
1969
-January: Marvin & Tammi scores another hit titled "Good Lovin' Ain't Easy to Come By". The song eventually peaks at #30 Pop, #11 R&B and #26 UK.
-March: Marvin's "Too Busy Thinkin' About My Baby" is another huge hit scoring #4 Pop and #1 R&B.
-April 30: Marvin's next album, M.P.G., is his first #1 album on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and is his first top 40 album on the Billboard Pop Albums chart where it peaks at #33.
-September 16: Marvin & Tammi's final album together, Easy. Rumors go around that most of the songs were actually sung by co-songwriter Valerie Simpson replacing a now very-ill Tammi. Hits off the album include "Good Loving Ain't Easy to Come By", "What You Gave Me" (#6 R&B; #49 Pop), "The Onion Song" (#50 Pop; #18 R&B; #9 UK - the duo's actual biggest single in England) and "California Soul" (#56 Pop).
-October: Marvin's "That's the Way Love Is" - the third hit collaboration with Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong - peaks at #2 R&B and #7 Pop.
-November: Marvin co-writes and produces R&B group and formerly Motown background male group, the Originals' hit ballad, "Baby I'm For Real". The hit defines the group and charts at #14 Pop and #1 R&B. It's actually Marvin's seventh hit that he actually had credit writing and one of his first that he produced.
-December: Marvin's cover of Richard Hollier's socially-conscious single, "Abraham, Martin & John", is a big hit in the UK peaking at #9 there.
1970
-January 8: Marvin's That's the Way Love Is album is released. Along with the hit aforementioned title track, the other hits include "How Can I Forget?" (#41 Pop; #18 R&B), "The End of Our Road" (#40 Pop; #7 R&B) and "Gonna Give Her All the Love I Got" (#67 Pop; #26 R&B).
-February: The Originals score another hit with Marvin, "The Bells" eventually hit #4 R&B and #12 Pop. "The Bells", "Baby I'm For Real" and later "We Can Make It Baby" (#20 R&B; #74 Pop; also produced and written by Marvin) helps gives Marvin confidence to become his own writer and producer.
-March 16: Tragedy hits when Tammi Terrell passes away after dealing with eight operations with her brain tumor. Terrell dies in Philadelphia at the tender age of 24. Gaye attends the funeral and is so crushed emotionally by Terrell's death that he refuses to perform onstage and even contemplating retiring from music altogether flirting with a football career as a player for the Detroit Lions, but eventually decides to re-enter the studio a couple months later.
-June 10: After contemplation and still obviously going through depression over Terrell's death, Marvin helps finish a song that was started by the Four Tops' Renaldo Benson and his songwriting partner Al Cleveland titled "What's Going On". The song is recorded on this day and is followed up by another record titled "God is Love", which Gaye wrote with his wife and his friends Elgie Stover and James Nyx. Marvin fought with Berry Gordy over releasing the song.
1971
-January 21: Thanks to massive radio airplay, "What's Going On" is released by a Los Angeles Motown executive behind Gordy's back. Gordy wanted to protest...until he saw the song's rising success. The song eventually reached #1 on the R&B singles chart for five straight weeks and #2 on the Pop singles chart for three straight weeks and became Motown's fast-selling single at the time. It eventually sold over 2.5 million copies and thanks to the surprising success, Gordy tells Gaye to record a full album featuring similar material in 30 days.
-March 1-10: Marvin records the rest of the songs for the now-landmark What's Going On album.
-May 21: What's Going On is finally released on this day. The album becomes a sensation eventually peaking at #1 R&B and #6 Pop. The album yields three consecutive hits, goes on to sell over 3 million copies alone, making it the biggest-selling album of all time in Motown's history. Because Marvin produced the album himself and co-writing all nine tracks (including one solely-written single), it helps Marvin break out as the label's first independent artist inspiring Stevie Wonder to make the same trip.
-June 10: Marvin's second single, the solely-written "Mercy, Mercy Me (The Ecology)", is released and eventually peaks at #1 R&B and #4 Pop.
-August: The third and final single from What's Going On, the place ode, "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)", is his third consecutive straight #1 R&B record and his third consecutive Top 10 pop single reaching #9.
-December: Marvin wins the Billboard award for Trendsetter of the Year for his accomplishments with What's Going On.
1972
-March: Marvin wins a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Male Artist.
-May 1: Marvin attends a homecoming to his old hometown of Washington, D.C. where it's officiated Marvin Gaye Day at his neighborhood. Later he performs at Constitution Hall marking his first public performance in two years.
-June: Marvin begins recording, reluctantly, a duet album with now ex-Supreme lead singer Diana Ross.
-July: Marvin's "You're the Man" (about President Nixon basically) was a modest hit peaking at #7 R&B and #50 Pop. It was supposed to be the leading single for the album, You're the Man, though that album was withdrawn.
-November: Marvin's "Trouble Man" single is released. Solely written and produced by Gaye, the autobiographical blues song becomes a Top 10 Pop and R&B hit.
-December 21: Marvin's only soundtrack and film composition, Trouble Man, is released. Mostly a jazz/funk instrumental piece led by Gaye (who plays drums and piano on the album) and Paul Riser, it'll be sampled by hip-hop acts in years to come.
1973
-June 15: Marvin's newest single, "Let's Get It On", is released. Dedicated to his new love, 17-year-old Janis Elizabeth Hunter (born January 15, 1956 in California), the daughter of respected Cuban jazz musician Slim Gaillard, and is written by Gaye and Ed Townsend. The song mixes love ("there's nothing wrong with me loving you") and God ("have you been sanctified?") and gives a hint at Marvin's double-sided psyche, also known as "divided soul".
-August 25: "Let's Get It On" begins a two-week tenure at #1 on the Billboard Pop singles chart and R&B singles chart for an amazing eight weeks. The song would also go on to sell more than 4 million copies making it the best-selling Motown release in America. It was the biggest R&B hit of the year and the second biggest hit overall of the year second only to Tony Orlando and Dawn's "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Around the Ole Oak Tree".
-August 28: Marvin's Let's Get It On album is released. The album, now featuring more solely-written tunes by Gaye, would yield other hits including the doo-wop-esque "Come Get to This" (#21 Pop; #3 R&B) and the sexually explicit (at the time) "You Sure Love to Ball" (#50 Pop; #13 R&B). The album would peak at #2 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart and #1 on the Billboard Black (R&B) Albums chart for eleven consecutive weeks and would surpass What's Going On as Gaye's best-selling album ever in Motown selling over 4 million copies.
-October 26: Motown releases Marvin and Diana's first and only duet album, Diana & Marvin. Hits will include "You're a Special Part of Me" (#12 Pop; #4 R&B), "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" (#25 UK), "My Mistake (Was to Love You)" (#19 Pop; #15 R&B), "Don't Knock My Love" (#46 Pop; #25 R&B) and "You Are Everything" (#5 UK).
1974
-January 4: Marvin officially marks his return to live performing in the Oakland Coliseum on this day. Recorded for a live album released later that year, Gaye would mark his "comeback" surely with the show-stopping live rendition of "Distant Lover" from his Let's Get It On album. The strong response from the live version would eventually get picked up for a release as a single later on in the year.
-June 19: Marvin's second live album, Marvin Gaye Live! is released.
-September 4: 35-year-old Marvin and his 18-year-old girlfriend Janis celebrate the birth of their first child together, daughter Nona Aisha Gaye, in Washington, D.C., with her middle name later revealed as Marvisa after her father. Nona would later tell an interviewer why she got the middle name saying her dad wanted to name her Marvelous. Janis steadfastly denied the name and settled for "Marvisa".
-September 12: The live version of "Distant Lover" hits the charts peaking at #12 R&B and #28 Pop.
1975
-Summer: Marvin buys a condo in Los Angeles' Hidden Hills section where he lives with Janis and daughter Nona. He also buys another condo and builds his own recording studio there. It would be known later as Marvin's Room.
-July: Anna Gordy finally files for divorce from Marvin Gaye after 11 tumultuous years together.
-November 16: Marvin and Janis' second child together, son Frankie Christian Gaye, is born.
1976
-March 16: Marvin releases his first studio album in three years with I Want You. He collaborates on the album with Leon Ware, who was gonna record it for his own album but after visiting Gaye at his recording studio convinced Gaye to record the material.
-April 1: The sensual funk/soul single, "I Want You", is released. The song eventually peaks at #1 Soul (R&B) and #15 Pop.
-August: "After the Dance" - co-written by Gaye, Ware and Arthur "T-Boy" Ross (Diana's younger brother; who also co-wrote "I Want You" with Ware) - is a modest hit reaching #14 R&B and #74 Pop.
-September: Marvin begins his first full-fledged European tour. One show recorded in Switzerland will later be released in the U.S. and at a few times the full concert of it was showcased on TV.
-October 3: Marvin records a live concert at the London Palladium in London, England.
1977
-March 1: "Got to Give It Up", Marvin's only commercialized attempt at disco (though he'll call it a funk single), hits #1 on the Billboard Pop, Soul (R&B) and Disco (Club Play) charts. During the same time, Marvin performs the song live on Soul Train.
-March 15: Marvin's third live album, Live at the London Palladium, is released and becomes his most successful live album eventually peaking at #1 R&B and #3 Pop and selling over 2 million copies, it becomes one of the top ten biggest-selling albums of the year thanks to the mega hit success of the sole studio track, "Got to Give It Up".
-July: Marvin & Anna Gaye finally call it quits in their marriage around this month eventually settling for joint custody of their 12-year-old son Marvin, III.
-October: Marvin and Janis marries in California.
1978
-December 15: After holding off the album for a year, Marvin finally releases the hugely personal double-album, Here, My Dear. The album is an autobiographical account of the demise of Marvin & Anna's marriage.
1979
-January: The single, "A Funky Space Reincarnation", peaks at #23 on the R&B singles chart.
-July: Marvin files for bankruptcy.
-September: "Ego Tripping Out", a song Gaye self-composed, is an autobiographical and self-mocking account of his ego and his troubles. It hits #17 R&B.
1980
-Summer: Marvin records some songs in London for a new album titled In Our Lifetime?.
1981
-January: Marvin releases an early draft of his In Our Lifetime? to Motown executives.
-January 15: Unbeknownst to Marvin's knowledge, Motown releases the album without his consent.
-February: Motown releases the first single from In Our Lifetime titled "Praise". The spiritual funk single peaks at #18 on the Billboard R&B singles chart and #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Bubbling Under singles chart.
-April: Marvin's last Motown single, released when he was still alive, the smooth funk-soul effort, "Heavy Love Affair", peaks at #61 R&B.
-May: Under the advice of Belgium boxing promoter Freddy Couseart, Marvin relocates to Ostend, Belgium and cleans up his act.
-June: Marvin headlines the "The Heavy Love Affair Tour" in Belgium.
1982
-January: Marvin finally leaves Motown Records after 21 years.
-April: Through his attorney, 42-year-old Gaye signs with Columbia Records and begins working with a little song titled "Sexual Healing".
-September: Gaye releases his first post-Motown single, "Sexual Healing" this month. It becomes his first big hit in five years and is his 40th top 40 hit.
-October: "Sexual Healing" begins a 10-week trek at #1 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart. It becomes the longest-running #1 R&B single in the 1980's.
-November 6: Marvin's first post-Motown solo album, Midnight Love, is released on Columbia Records. The album peaks at #1 R&B and #7 Pop and will go on to sell over 6 million copies worldwide.
-December: Marvin returns to America after a two-year exile after hearing about his mother Alberta's illness.
1983
-January: "Sexual Healing" peaks at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The single peaks at #4 in the UK.
-February: Marvin gives a legendary performance at the NBA All-Star game singing his own soulful rendition of the National Anthem in Los Angeles.
-February: After 11 Grammy nominations, Marvin Gaye, at the age of 43, wins his first two Grammy Awards for "Sexual Healing" - Best R&B Male Vocal Performance and Best R&B Instrumental.
-March 16: Marvin reunites with Berry Gordy and Motown by performing "What's Going On" at "Motown 25".
-April-August: Marvin performs on a 5-month grueling tour.
1984
-February: Marvin is nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B Male Vocal Performance for the Midnight Love album.
-April 1: Marvin Pentz Gaye, Jr. is shot and killed by his father, Marvin, Sr. after an intense argument. He dies a day before turning 45.
-April 8: Over 100,000 well-worshippers, friends, fans and family members paid their last respects to Marvin Gaye in Los Angeles.
1985
-February: Marvin posthumously hit #2 on the Hot R&B singles chart with "Sanctified Lady".
-May: CBS releases the posthumous album, Dream of a Lifetime.
-October: CBS releases Romantically Yours.
1987
-March: Marvin Gaye is inducted posthumously to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
1990
-Summer: Marvin is posthumously given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1991
-July: Motown releases a rare 1970s single, "My Last Chance" from The Marvin Gaye Collection. Strong urban radio airplay sends the song to #16 on the Billboard Hot R&B singles chart.
1996
-Marvin is posthumously honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Singers Seal and Annie Lennox pay tribute to Marvin singing "What's Going On".
1999
-Several modern R&B artists pay tribute to Marvin on the tribute album, Marvin is 60.
2001
-June: Marvin scores a posthumous hit with rapper Erick Sermon on the song, "Music".
-Spring-Summer: Motown re-issues Marvin's What's Going On and Let's Get It On albums as two-disc deluxe editions.
2003
-Marvin was posthumously given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the R&B Foundation Awards.
2005
-October: Five years after first discussing about the possibility of renaming a park at Washington, D.C. after Marvin Gaye, $5 million was passed to make the park name change a reality.
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And there you have it, Marvin Gaye's life in a timeline capsule. WHEW!