MARVIN GAYE, "THE PRINCE OF SOUL"

I will write about one of the artists who has made history, an icon named Marvin Gaye, who was the most important artist of the "Motown Sound", born on April 2, 1939, as Marvin Pentz Gaye, Jr. This songwriter and musician is the greatest artist to come out of Motown Records. He died twenty five years ago, bringing an end to an eventful existence, yet his legacy is simply incomparable. He recorded the anthological album called "What's Going On" which has been considered for years as one of the best albums of all time. Concerning this disc, Gaye, well known as “The Prince of Soul," wrote on one side of the disc: "I don't need to tell you how great it is.” This majestic album was recorded in 10 days in March 1971, and came out in May of that year, after overcoming the initial opposition of Barry Gordy, the "boss" of Motown Records, who considered this album too political and out of Marvin Gaye’s style. This disc was a conceptual album about the situation of American society at that time, which was the subject of many of the musical compositions that were created at that time. This album is a delicious blend of soul with jazz and classical music, and addresses the environment, political corruption, abuse of drugs and the Vietnam War. Marvin Gaye threatened to not record any more for Motown Records until the album was published. With three decades of commercial success, artistic addition, and three singles in the top of the charts, this album is considered one of the best ever according to different studies around the world. Marvin Gaye was greatly affected by the death of his recording partner, Tammi Terrell. They recorded big hits like "Ain’t No Mountain High Enough" and "Your Precious Love." In the summer of 1967, Terrell collapsed onstage in Gaye's arms because of an undiagnosed brain tumor that would kill her. "I feel that, somehow, I died with her," Gaye said later. The death of Tammi Terrell, and drug abuse, tragically influenced his life. On April 1, 1984, Gaye was killed by his father, a preacher, and a minister of God's House (House of God), who was trying to exorcise the demons from his son, ending a life that in recent times had fallen into a tragic spiral of self-destruction.