Marvin Gaye was on a roll. He had worked his way up from a studio musician to a solo artist in record time. In fact, by 1971, his talent transformed him into the face and voice of Motown. But behind the scenes of the great Marvin Gaye, he was tired. He was tired of the lovey dovey love songs that got him his fame. Real things like the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War had captured his attention. Marvin had the voice, and wanted to use it to spread awareness of the atrocities happening in his community. But Marvin was told no. Motown wasn’t supposed to be edgy, it was supposed to pump out a variation of the same-old love song to get the American dollar. Marvin was tired of following the rules though. He was tired of doing everything everyone told him to do. So Marvin rebelled and made a masterpiece of a protest album we now know of as What’s Going On. This defiance marked the beginning of Marvin’s best work...and the beginning of his dramatic demise.
References
Billboard. (n.d.). Marvin Gaye. https://www.billboard.com/artist/marvin-gaye/.
Hill, M. (1987). Marvin Gaye. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
https://rockhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Marvin_Gaye_1987.pdf
Ritz, D. (2010). Divided soul: The life of Marvin Gaye: The life of Marvin Gaye. Omnibus Press.
Rolling Stone. (2024, January 4). The 500 greatest albums of all time.