A Life of Blues

April 2nd, 1939 - Marvin Gaye was born in Washington, D.C.

1958 - The Moonglows establish themselves and begin recording

1961 - Marvin Gaye is signed by a Midtown label. In the same year, he marries Anna Gordy.

1964 - Gaye scores his first chart topping Album Together, which was a series of duets with Mary Wells.

1967 - Duets with Tammi Terrel made Marvin Gaye a household name.

1968 - "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" : one of the many chart topping hits by Marvin Gaye.

March 16th, 1970 - Terrel dies of a brain tumor. Marvin Gaye disappears off the Motown scene.

1971 - Gaye releases What's Going On

1973 - Gaye releases Let's Get It On, which took Gaye's lyrics in a new direction. He moved from political to sexual

1975 - Marvin and Anna divorce; the event pushed back his album I Want You.

1978 - Here, My Dear is released but many of its singles fail to be chart topping hits. Gaye's drug problem increased and his second marriage to Janis Hunter began crumbling.

1981 - Because of pressures of the IRS, Gaye flees to Europe.

1982 - Signs with Columbia Records. Stories of erratic behavior and his addiction to cocaine began to spread. Yet, Gaye managed to release Midnight Love, which contained his Top Three hit "Sexual Healing".

1983 - At the NBA All Star Game, he did a rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" (linked in a previous post), which is still considered a legendary performance. It was also his final public appearance.

April 1st, 1984 - Gaye is shot and killed by his own father, one day before his 45th birthday.

2001 - A mass of successful recording artists, including Bono, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera, Nona Gaye, Alicia Keys, and Mary J. Blige, rerecorded his song "What's Going On". Proceeds went to Artists Against AIDS Worldwide.