There's no sound like Motown.
The record company changed the way music was done in the '60s and '70s, letting black people
see famous musicians who looked like themselves.
But the fame and fortune hid some tragic stories behind the scenes.
Tammi Terrell really brought out the best in Marvin Gaye.
Together they performed some of the most riveting love songs of all time, including "Ain't No
Mountain High Enough" and "You're All I Need to Get By."
But while she and Gaye always hit the right notes together, the partners in her private
life horribly wronged her.
Before joining Motown, Terrell worked for and dated James Brown.
The Godfather of Soul beat Terrell bloody, according to Bobby Bennett, a former member
of Brown's band.
Terrell managed to get out of that relationship, but she eventually entered the arms of another
abuser, Temptations singer David Ruffin.
By all accounts, Ruffin treated Terrell terribly.
Their relationship ended after Ruffin allegedly struck her face with a motorcycle helmet.
Rumor has long held that Ruffin caused Terrell's death by hitting her head with a hammer.
In reality, she died of a brain tumor, which was discovered after she collapsed in Marvin
Gaye's arms onstage.
She underwent eight surgeries that impaired her memory and left her partially paralyzed.
She was only 24 when she passed.
Marvin Gaye made music that moved human hearts to different beats.
He turned his voice into an aphrodisiac in "Let's Get It On," voiced the widespread anxieties
surrounding the Vietnam War in "What's Going On?" and championed environmentalism in "Mercy,
Mercy Me."
But the beauty he created stood in stark contrast to the ugliness in his personal life.
Gaye was the son of Marvin Gay Sr., a preacher with a taste for drinking and violence.
Gaye Sr. subjected young Marvin to hellish beatings.
With soaring fame came more pain.
In 1970, Gaye was deeply depressed by the loss of his singing partner Tammi Terrell,
and he nearly quit the music business.
He had multiple divorces, struggled with drug addiction, and became so paranoid that he
reportedly had people test his food and water.
In 1983, he moved back home with his parents.
On April 1, 1984, one day before his 45th birthday, he got into a fight with his father,
who shot and killed him.
"My blessings actually outweigh all of the negative things that have occurred in my life,
and it’s that fact that probably makes me happiest."
The Temptations have existed since the 1960s in different forms.
But the frontman most associated with their heyday was David Ruffin.
Ruffin had smooth moves and massive magnetism.
But to put it bluntly, his greatness as a performer was eclipsed by his horribleness
as a person.
In addition to terrorizing his girlfriend Tammi Terrell, he also had an insufferable
ego, as evidenced by how he rode separately from his fellow Temptations in a mink-lined
limo.
But even people who do detestable things can be tragic figures.
In Ruffin's case, he wasted his immense talent and ultimately destroyed himself.
Drug addiction was his undoing.
As he became increasingly erratic, he was kicked out of the Temptations.
He had some solo success but never fully succeeded at kicking his drug habit, which hindered
his career.
In 1991, a 50-year-old Ruffin collapsed in a crack house and died shortly thereafter
at the hospital.
Before 1962, Motown had never had a top 10 song.
But then Mary Wells came along and not only did she crack the top 10 multiple times, she
also sang the label's first #1 hit, "My Guy."
Upbeat and syrupy sweet, "My Guy" sounded nothing like the bitterness Wells experienced
with the men in her own life.
At age 17, she married Motown background singer Herman Griffin.
They frequently argued, Griffin cheated with a prostitute, and he forced her to terminate
two pregnancies.
They divorced in 1963, and in 1964 Wells parted ways with Motown because she felt the company
underpaid her.
But then her career floundered.
Wells continued to have ill-fated relationships.
She married Cecil Womack, had an affair with his brother, and later attempted suicide because
of the intense guilt she felt.
She then became addicted to heroin.
Also a heavy smoker, she developed cancer of the larynx, which destroyed her voice.
Reduced to whispering her songs, she could no longer perform, went broke from medical
expenses, and got evicted from her apartment.
A slew of celebrities and supporters, including Bruce Springsteen and Phil Collins, helped
her financially but nobody could save her.
She died at age 49.
Despite thriving in the limelight, the Temptations had their share of sour notes.
Perhaps none played out more painfully than the downfall of Paul Williams.
He was one of the group's original lead singers, and the only founding member who didn't originally
drink alcohol.
Unfortunately, he didn't maintain that healthy lifestyle.
He suffered from sickle cell anemia, which can cause debilitating pain, and that pain
drove him to alcohol.
According to fellow founding Temptation Otis Williams, Paul sometimes drank "two to three
fifths" of the cognac Courvoisier a day.
This ruined his stamina and wore down his respiratory system.
Too sick to perform, he had to leave the group in 1971.
Two years later, he parked two blocks away from Motown’s Studios and took his own life.
He was just 34.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).