Spectacular Magazine - April 2014 April 2014 | Page 41

ear to the streets
Marvin Gaye

Grammy-winning singer Marvin Gaye was
fatally shot thirty years ago in a case that shocked
the music world. The gunman was his father, Marvin
P. Gay Sr.
Gaye was killed on April 1, 1984, a day
before his 45th birthday at the family home in
the Crenshaw district after an argument with his
father. Gay Sr., a retired minister of the House
of God Church, pleaded no contest to voluntary
manslaughter and was sentenced to five years of
probation. Police said the argument between the
father and son began when Gaye was unable to find
an insurance company letter that had nothing to do
with the singer. Probation investigators said Gaye
had apparently beaten his father shortly before the
shooting. Shortly after the arrest, it was discovered that Gay Sr. had a brain tumor.
The two men reportedly had a troubled relationship, with the son never believing
that the father appreciated his success. “I’m sorry.... I loved him,” Gay Sr. said at his
sentencing. He later died of pneumonia in 1998. The gun with which Marvin Gay, Sr. shot
his son was given to him by Marvin as a Christmas present.
Following his funeral, Marvin was cremated with part of his ashes spread near
the Pacific Ocean. Marvin’s fans have held vigils for the singer at the final residence to
celebrate the day of his birth.
Marvin Gaye Jr. had 13 records in the top 10 from 1963 to 1977. Here is the Top
10 Marvin Gaye Hits:

Top 10
Marvin
Gaye
Hits
Label: Motown
1. Let's Get It On
2. I Want You
3. Sexual Healing
4. I Heard It Through The Grapevine
5. Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)
6. What's Going On
7. Got To Give It Up
8. Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)
9. I Want You
10. Distant Lover (Live)
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