The death of Marvin Gaye is one of the most notorious murders in music
history. Here's what we know about his final moments — and his final words.
On April 1st, 1984, a retired minister, Marvin Gay Sr., shot his son, Marvin Gaye,
twice with a .38 pistol. His son slumped down against the far wall and lay there,
bleeding out. The gun had been a present from his son for Christmas that year.
Marvin Gaye, the musical legend known as the Prince of Motown,
died a day before his 45th birthday. His father shot him in what some saw
as an inevitable outcome of their troubled relationship. Gaye had gone so far as adding
an e to the end of his name to distance himself from the man who had abused him his whole life.
Gaye was born on April 2nd, 1939, in Washington D.C., and suffered under the strict corporal
punishment liberally dolled out by his father. Even before his son was born,
Marvin Gay Sr., already seemed to have a problem with him. Alberta
Cooper Gay told David Ritz in his book Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye:
"My husband never wanted Marvin. And he never liked him."
Marvin Gay Sr. even went so far as telling Alberta he didn't believe Marvin was his
son. Gaye's father was a minister in the Hebrew Pentecostal Church, but that didn't stop him from
physically abusing his children or becoming violent when he over-consumed alcohol. Marvin
Gaye found solace in music at church and believed he could win his father's love through singing.
"In this life, I love music, and music is my love. It's all I know."
Still, the better he became, the more demands his father made on him. If not for Gaye's mother,
Alberta, who consoled and supported her son, Gaye himself claimed he might have died by
suicide as a child. Instead, Gaye, tired of his father's abuse, quit school at age 17,
ran away from home, and joined the U.S. Air Force — which ended disastrously,
with Gaye faking a mental illness to get a discharge.
By the early 1960s, Marvin Gaye had found a home at Motown records, starting as a session
drummer before making the leap to singer. He had a string of hits in the 1960s with songs
like "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," a duet with
Tammi Terrell. His success only grew into the 1970s with "What's Going On?" and "Let's Get
it On." The more successful Marvin Gaye became, however, the more his father seemed to resent him.
By 1981, Marvin Gaye had become addicted to cocaine, declared bankruptcy, and endured two
failed marriages. Moreover, the IRS hit him with a massive fine for unpaid back taxes,
and he eventually attempted suicide. Later, he moved to Belgium, got clean, and made a
comeback with the 1982 album Midnight Love and its megahit "Sexual Healing." Unfortunately,
once he was back in the music scene, he began using cocaine again. The last four
months of his life he spent living at the Los Angeles home he had bought for his parents.
Living under the same roof, Marvin Gaye and his father's relationship disintegrated once more.
The final fight between Marvin Gaye and his father began on Saturday night, March 31st, 1984,
when the elder man became angry with Alberta over some missing insurance papers. The fight continued
the next day and became physical; Gay Sr. later alleged that Marvin Gaye had been punching and
kicking him. Marvin Gay Sr. then left. Soon after, he came back into the bedroom and shot his son.
Alberta called Gaye's younger brother, Frankie,
who lived next door. As Frankie held his dying brother's head in his lap, Marvin told him:
"I got what I wanted [...] I couldn't do it myself, so I made him do it."
Marvin Gay Sr., later pleaded no contest to one count of involuntary manslaughter,
was given five months of probation, and died in 1998 at 83. At his sentencing, he said:
"I'm sorry [...] I loved him. If I could bring him back, I would."
If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues,
help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).