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Marvin Gaye stands as one of the most talented singers of his generation and his influence still shines brightly today. The R&B and Soul legend was shot and killed 35 years ago on April 1, 1964, and Twitter is reminiscing on Gaye’s lasting impression on what would have been his 80th his birthday.
Gaye was born Marvin Pentz Gay Jr. on April 2, 1939, in Washington, D.C. As a boy, he began singing in church and began to hone his talent. However, Gaye recalled later in life that his father brutally beat him well into his teenage years. After a failed stint in the military, Gaye began singing with a series of Washington, D.C. singing groups in the ’50s before joining Harvey Fuqua’s Moonglows group and moving to Chicago. After the group disbanded, Gaye traveled to Detroit with Fuqua and later signed with Motown subsidiary Tamla Records and the rest is history.
With over two dozen studio albums, four live albums, and over 80 singles, Gaye saw his career take a huge creative turn in 1971 with the release of the politically-charged What’s Going On. The shelved follow up to that album, 1972’s You’re The Man, was just released last weekend.
We’ve collected some of the Twitter responses remembering the great Marvin Gaye below.
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