Comments on: Lost Ones: Marvin Gaye

By: Ali A.

Ali A. — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 00:13:04 +0000

Hi Deanna!!! I have never heard of those various allegations until now! Well, if the supposed allegations are true, then you are right. Marvin Gaye would be a despicable, vice-filled individual; immersed in drugs, physical abuse, and pornography addiction.

In my mere opinion, most stars struggle with a few or with several life-bounding vices, and Marvin Gaye Jr may be one of them

By: funkystarkitty50

funkystarkitty50 — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 06:25:45 +0000

I have loved Marvin for years. My parents saw him live years and years ago and I remember hearing his music around the house a lot. I also remember when he died even though I was a little girl. I remember feeling sad, but not knowing why–not really understanding. It was only until I read the book by his brother and the one by David Ritz, that I began to see how much of a tortured soul he was. Even though he was a gifted singer and songwriter, his personal life was a mess and people took advantage of him all the time. I sometimes wonder what he would have been like if he had lived. He changed R&B forever and he will always be missed. But his music lives forever.

By: afrobella » Blog Archive » Marvin Gaye – Gone But Never Forgotten

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 16:52:42 +0000

[...] I paid homage to Marvin in this Lost Ones post — I gave up writing that series because it ached to work on it. That post in particular got under my skin, and the feelings I voiced then still hold true now. [...]

By: Bronson

Bronson — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 20:51:08 +0000

The house Marvin Gaye bought his parents, I read recently that after Marvin’s death the house was sold to a Homosexual couple. They wrote a article stating that they have a dog, And when ever the dog walks into the bed room that use to be Marvin’s where his father killed him, The dog barks. It makes me wonder if Marvin’s spirit still hangs around in that house. Marvin Gaye’s father died back in 1998 in a rest home, I wonder what were his conversations like in that rest home, And whether or not they hated him living their. Marvin’s younger sister was doing a play about her brothers life, It hasn’t made it to Los Angeles yet i don’t believe. Dick Gregory was a close friend to Marvin and was in contact with him around the time he was murdered, And i wonder if Dick fed into Marvin Gaye’s paranoia. The reason i say this, Dick Gregory even till this day speaks alot about hidden conspiracy theories which i believe fed into Marvin’s paranoia although the drugs he was using was doing it to him. I read that Dick Gregory had mixed up some kind of health drink and gave it to Marvin because at that time Marvin thought he had been poisoned, And this drink rid his body of any poison toxin so he thought. You’d be susprised how people around Marvin during his last days probably contributed to his demise.

By: Keith

Keith — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 21:19:52 +0000

Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross, the tragic lives of the four iconic soul men. They overshadowed Percy Sledge, Barry White, Issac Hayes, Stevie Wonder, Al Green, in the controversies of their lives or their deaths. But Marvin Gaye had a special quality because he awakened so many of us to music that went beyond the emotional. His, like Bob Marley’s was a conscious music that sought to educate and address social inequality at a time when most soul singers (there was no rap, then) did not realize the profound effect they had on the black population and on the poor and did nothing to address the issues of need and injustice. Despite his faults, here in America Marvin stands out for his willingness to lead the fight against social injustice. Stevie Wonder,too stands out because although he never sought to lead, he educated the masses through his music. Because of these men – Bob, Marvin and Stevie- we are truly blessed.

By: Christy Jackson

Christy Jackson — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:51:48 +0000

What each of us has to truly remember is that Marvin Gaye, above all else, first and foremost, was human. We as a society are so quick to place celebrities on a pedastal and then when they die, or are murdered tragically, as in this case, at such a young age especially, and then when all the dirty wash is hung to dry for us to read about (drugs, beatings, etc.) we feign shock. WHY? Marvin was the product of a cross-dressing, abusive, eccentric minister father, who was really just a glorified freak in the church community, and a mother who was loving, gracious and beautiful. Though Marvin’s mother was somewhat timid, strong when she had to be, but afraid of her husband, in the autobiography by David Ritz on Marvin’s life, “Divided Soul,” he offers a thorough take on the twisted-but-so-true triangle of love & hate shared by Marvin Sr, Mrs. Gay and of course, little Marvin. Mrs. Gaye’s summed up words in the bio were this: “Marvin Sr. never liked Marvin. He was jealous of him. Marvin was special—my favorite child and his father hated him from the time he was born.” A child was abused for nearly 44 years of his life, and his anger, resentment and pain was only intensified by his drug demons. Both Marvin and his father was a tragedy waiting to happen, a downright explosion. One would only soon wind up killing the other, going from past history. Living under one roof…Marvin’s crazed mind and sexual appetites, not to mention Marvin Sr’s obvious mental illness…what was really bound to happen if you think long and hard about it? Pretend this wasn’t Marvin Gaye, the singer from Motown who gave us the ultimate soul classic album, “What’s Going On.” Let’s all dig deeper in our minds and recall family members, friends, neighbors even, who we know or have known during our lifetime who have hatred, resentment and mental illness. Better yet, look in the mirror: how does your father feel about you? How do you feel about you? Do you love yourself? Marvin didn’t. Do you abuse drugs and alcohol and are fighting those demons? Did your father beat you horribly as a child and never give you love? This was Marvin, but the fact that it was Marvin Gaye does not make it exceptional, for as I will reiterate, he was human. And so was his father. The fact that Marvin’s music touched us all for so long and made us think, feel sexy, feel happy, feel inspired at times and just plain ole’ feel GOOD is what makes us still mourn and miss him. He was a truly great artist in every right, but he was a mere man after all, and each of us has a debt to pay for life, and that is death. We all have a date with death…we must never forget that all the people involved in the Marvin Gaye Life Story were…human. Leave it alone. Celebrate his music and let the man, the human being, just rest in peace. He’s in no more pain now, but his music will live forever and THAT will never die. I take solace in that, for it was not his life story, but his music, rather, that touched me back in the day and today still. Who isn’t driving home after a long day’s work, stuck in a traffic jam, out of a cigarette and then What’s Going On or Got To Give It Up plays on the radio. We swing our shoulders, tap our feet on the gas, turn up the volume and smile. Marvin’s music, not Marvin’s death, makes us manage to still feel good. P.S. And to the writer who wrote of Marvin Sr’s alleged molestation of his granddaughter, Nona. That’s an out and out lie. Marvin’s wife Jan never physically saw Marvin in the many months leading up to his death and neither did his children. The only visitors Marvin held company with were drug dealers, drug addicts, prostitutes and the like. Stop feeding the rumor mill.

By: lagwadia

lagwadia — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:50:52 +0000

man im young marvin gaye was a ver nice man im an old soul so that why i love him and i got permission 2 marry him when i get to heaven where he went god bless you marvin love

By: Deana

Deana — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 08:39:38 +0000

I don’t mean to be rude, but I wonder why the black community worships Marvin like we do. Music aside, he seemed like he wasn’t a very good guy. His first child’s mother was 15 (he was 26) and his second was 17. All of these people making love to Let’s Get it On are making love to an album that was inspired by a high school junior! He beat both of his wives, coerced the younger one (Jan, the mixed one) into affairs, didn’t pay child support and had a serious porn problem. Maybe it’s because I’m younger (I wasn’t born when Marvin died) so I don’t really get all the praise. I like his music a lot, but by all accounts, he seemed like a despicable man. I know some people blame it on drugs and other people say he was mentally ill and that may all be true, but it just seems to me like he was a despicable beat who happened to have choir boy good looks.

By the way, designdiva, my mother was born and raised in the Gramercy area, and rumor has Marvin’s father was molesting his little girl Nona and Marvin found out and confronted his father about it. That could just all be made up, but between Marvin Sr’s weird sexual habits and Marvin Jr’s Madonna/whore complex (and Nona’s druggie teen years), I think there’s some truth in the rumor. If that’s true, then I bet that Marvin Sr killed Marvin Jr because he was afraid that Jr would kill him first. Even as freaky as he was, I could see Marvin Jr. going crazy because somebody violated his “pure” daughter.

By: designdiva

designdiva — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 02:07:56 +0000

I heard his father killed him because he (Marvin Jr.) was demanding money for drugs. But I remember I was ironing some clothes when I heard he died. I cried because I felt like I knew him. My mother couldn’t sing and instead of singing lullabys, she’d play Marvin. I have to find that book and read about what really happened. Thanks for the post, bella.

By: Elena

Elena — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 23:31:06 +0000

Hi Afrobella, I’m from Germany and stumbled into your page about Marvin Gaye while looking for more facts about his alas, too short life. It was Alicia Keys’ rendition of “Mercy mercy me” at the N.Y.C. Live Earth Concert that made me remember instantly how much I loved the original! And I’ve been listening to it on Youtube a hundred times since. I was so sad and shocked at Marvin’s death in 1984 and I am feeling sad all over again. I remember the Commodores opening lines on “Nightshift”: Marvin, he was a friend of mine… Thank you for honouring this wonderful artist. Peace and Love to all on earth. Marvin will live on forever in our hearts.