Marvin Gaye: The Final 24 (Full Documentary) The Story of His Final 24 Hours

marvin

gaye

was a superstar a motown legend he was the prince of motown he was really that kind of guy he had that kind of charisma where the ladies just loved him but the smooth exterior and golden voice struck a very different one

marvin

gaye

paranoid suicidal addict cocaine when he was good he was really very good and when he was bad he just wanted to get out of the way in 24

hours

a lifelong family feud would

final

ly come to an end marvin will be shot to death by his father on march 31 1984 marvin gaye is one of the world's most successful recording artists after a grueling year-long tour has retired to his parents' house in Los Angeles in less than 24

hours

he will be dead for the last six months Marvin has been fighting a growing depression there came a time when he just put on a bathrobe and was there in the house, it just never left, it was crazy.

Marvin Gaye has been addicted to cocaine since he moved in with his parents, his consumption has steadily increased. The tension with his father had addicts and dealers constantly coming to the house when Marvin returned to Los Angeles, he just wanted to be left alone, but they all came out of nowhere, so there was constant traffic at the house day and night, you know, Yes, we could have fun. here yes, any normal home does not have 20 or 30 people coming and going all day every day and it ages very quickly and the father was simply tired, there was too much activity for him, he would like to stay quietly in his room without any activity.

What is happening around him Marvin and his father have been locked in a power struggle since he was a child, but now Marvin is the breadwinner of the family, he bought the family home in the In fact, his father is upset that there is a fight between who will be the head of that family and the theories, life, religion and everything else, the whole coup and everything that is happening there in his house, his father would think, I guess, who was the only person who always kept the family together is Marvin's mother, she has her own bedroom between her. husband and his son, I think the deal that Marvin had was that he started putting his mother in the middle because you know I can't fight your data, but I can get you mom and she loved him to death and uh heh heh Basically He used his mother, you know, against his father.

Marvin's mother in many ways was a peacemaker, a negotiator, a referee, and a caregiver. I think she was his anchor. I think she was the only place he felt loved. My father was always there. There was a closeness between um Marvin and his wife. He always knew that Marvin's father is jealous of his relationship and his son's success. They were like in two different worlds. They didn't recognize each other. He had never seen such a tense relationship between two people. you could feel the vitriol, you know, there seemed to be some love there, but they were just always in conflict, seemingly always in conflict within 22 hours, the bitter hatred between father and son would explode into violence 45 years earlier in Washington DC. marvin pence gay was born the second of four children, the son of a preacher, my father was a very strict man, he believed a lot in discipline and he was a minister in a church, and you know what people say about preachers, children to Sometimes they feel worse.

I've heard that all my life, so he was determined that we weren't going to be the worst. He just wanted the perfect family and everything had to work out the way his father wanted because he had the dream of, you know, the perfect family that Marvin's father imposed. his will through violence we were punished and marvin received more punishment than the rest of us because he was a nonconformist i always called him because even as a child he did things differently marvin would test father frankie would tell me marvin would testify that a lot A lot of the power struggle they had was actually, in many ways, a way for Marvin to seek his father's approval and acceptance instead of using compassion and softness and tenderness, then he began to dictate and dominate and He became a force, a power in his family that converted his children.

From the age of seven, Marvin suffered routine spankings. He also had to endure the shame of having a father who dressed in women's clothing. His father was not only a transvestite, but he was very extravagant, and um, there, in drag, he would have his little boy, you know, women's slippers in his shoes. lumps, you know, sliding around in sandals and dancing the waltz, he was proud of it so he didn't care, the neighbors knew about Marvin's father, the kids called him names and were gay, the image of his father as a preacher , this powerful transvestism. church preacher who returned home and wore his wife's clothes the shame that this imposed on the war marvin's childhood was a daily torment

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of pain and confusion his salvation was music at the age of five marvin began singing gospel His voice earned him instant praise, people were amazed at his beautiful voice, all the attention he was receiving, all the nice things they said to my mother and father, why where does this boy get such a beautiful voice?

Marvin's voice was his ticket out of his father's house when he was a teenager. Marvin was singing for money his father was furious with him it was the devil's music he did not authorize his son to enter the secular world and that was one of the things that hurt him so much that his mother allowed him to do it or venture into that field she allowed him she supported him, she encouraged him and I think that's one of the main reasons why she was so important in his life. He symbolized for him what unconditional love would be, resented by his father and spoiled by his mother.

This dynamic would define Marvin Gaye's life, but it was the sinister threat of his father that would end it. my father has always taught us, even as children, that we don't talk back first and we certainly don't act like we mean any harm second and He has always said that if we did anything to raise our voice at him like that or to attack him, he brought us into this world, he can take us out, he told us that we were little children, the children knew that we should take his threat seriously and in the future. the last day of marvin gaye's life his father would prove to be a man of his word los angeles california it's late afternoon seoul superstar marvin gaye is only 18 hours old he stays with his parents his father who beat him when he was child and a mother who is always there has been her greatest support.

Marvin and his mother had a wonderful relationship, they were very close and shared many things together and they love to laugh together. You could walk down the hallway of the house and you would hear laughter coming from the bedroom and they had a good time together, but there was always tension in the house, it doesn't take much for things to explode, you know, that particular day, of course, It was a day when my father had been drinking and there was an argument. with my mother over some business documents, unpaid taxes, and two divorces that have forced Marvin to sell his property.

Senior gay is worried that his house may be in danger. There are many things that are being folded. The studio is gone. going, that's it, that's it, it's all over, what else is going to happen and I think it might have been in the back of the father's mind, plus he was just trying to make sure his son knew he was a failure. , no matter how famous he was. He probably raised his voice at my mother. I don't think Marvin would have intervened if he hadn't thought he had to protect my mother from something. Hey, what are you thinking?

What are you talking about? What are you looking at? He probably told her not to talk to his mother like that. Hey, and knowing my dad, he probably told him to stay out of my way. I know when mom and dad get and he probably he stayed there. Listen, look, never go out. out marvin marvin please don't talk to the father marvin's dependence on cocaine is making him nervous, volatile and paranoid he is convinced that someone is trying to kill him he had a loaded .38 pistol in his pocket at all times i told him how worried i was there was the fact that he was doing these drugs and he never left the house and he was walking around with this loaded gun and I said, I'm really worried about this, oh Dave, you don't have to worry, but there are good reasons to worry the house. is packed with weapons when Marvin returned home six months ago.

He gave a gun to his father. You know, one of the greatest ironies is that Marvin thought he was being chased and followed and chased and that someone was looking to kill him, so he gave it to his father. a gun so that his father could shoot the person seeking to kill Marvin was a fateful decision Marvin had put the gun in his killer's hand 23 years before Motown the music industry machine that would soon produce a dizzying amount of hits he was just finding his feet in the 1960s motown was the only record label that gave black artists the opportunity to become superstars marvin gaye was chasing that dream he was a drummer and you know he was hanging around the studio and looking to get noticed and the competition was interested in you I know his initial struggle at Motown was getting people to pay attention to him.

Marvin's youthful appearance caught the public's attention. His velvety voice made them heard in just over a year. He had a hit song. An opinionated gay fellow who was making a name for himself. but with the spotlight hurtful rumors arose, they came to my dressing room and said you have a car backstage and I went to the phone and when I got there they said, did you know that Marvin was gay? And I just hung up the phone because I got upset about it, but people made fun of him because he was gay. Marvin was not gay, but the questions about his sexuality brought back the shame he felt as a child as the son of a transvestite before going on tour.

Gay added an e at the end. of his name, but on stage there was no confusion for his female fans. Marvin Gaye was a sex symbol. I remember at one of the Motown reviews the fans went crazy and I was walking down a big hallway and I heard someone say Ken Weston Kills the West. oh man it's good to see you and I looked around mom and I hid in the door and I told him what are you doing he said everywhere all the girls were after him so he was going to walk with me to find out where I was going .

As soon as we walked out the door there was a group of them, he was like, Oh, there it is and I just didn't know what to do. He tried to run, but they caught him, so I walked to the bus and said, thank you. go rescue marvin because they brought him back there marvin had his choice of fans in 1963 he chose anna gordy sister of motown boss berry gordy she was 17 years older than him there was a mother picture there and i think he saw things in her that he may have wished his mother had done it because his mother was very passive and Anna was yes, she was out there.

Anna was more than a mother figure, she was a powerful woman who could help his career like everything else in Morgan's life. I think Marvin's relationship with Anna. It was really complicated, I think they loved each other deeply, but she was a gordie, you know, and he saw in her a way to climb the ladder of success and give him an advantage, and everyone else soon Marvin got maximum fame and became in one of Motown's greatest. names had a unique style it was so unusual that his recording of I heard it through the grapevine was initially shelved it was so different that we just couldn't imagine it in the top ten we knew it was good it was super good but it was just too different and they

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ly decided to edit the song on Gladys Knight.

In The Pips. I heard her through the grapevine. It was a success for Gladys Knight. It outsold Gladys Knights and became Motown's biggest single selling almost four million copies. What she did for Marvin was clown him and she prepared him for her next move, which was, "I'm going to do what I want to do." I'm not going to produce anyone else. I'm going to write this set of songs that don't pay attention to what's playing on the radio these days. I'm going to become an artist with a capital letter and that means. My first loyalty is to my art and not to commerce and not to making Mr.

Gordy or anyone else happy, that I have to make my own kind of personal muse happy and I have to answer to God, not to the Motown corporation so herded the Grapevine was the key that opened the door to Marvin's independence. The success of Grapevine freed Marvin from the controlling influence of Barry Gordy and allowed him to record the songs that would make him a superstar. Night has fallen in Los Angeles. Marvin Gaye is only 15 hours old. To live he stays with his parents in Los Angeles, where he spent the afternoon in a bitter argument with his domineering father.

Marvin is addicted to cocaine in the paranoid delusions of him. He believes someone is trying to kill him to protect themselves. He filled the house with weapons, but now. He fears that his brother who lives next door to him wants to hurt him. Where is my gun? Do you need a weapon? What do you mean I need? The people are behind me. You don't need a gun. Frankie said, Marvin, you don't need a gun and he says. oh even you have turned on me now I can't trust you calm down I knew where the gun was so I went to get it made sure what was inside and gave the gun to Frankiebecause I saw how angry Marvin was getting. me my gun and what's your name he took franklin's gun oh you got what you want so he got really upset because i didn't want to help him and then he walked out the door and before he slammed it shut he just said "even you ".

You're not my friend anymore, you've turned against me, you're not my brother, a desperate Frankie calls her friend Dave Simmons to come up with a plan to help Marvin Dave, hey, it's Frankie, listen man, we were determined to do something we couldn't We had an idea. What exactly were we going to do, if we actually had to physically restrain him, we had no idea where we were going to try to take him, but we just knew we had to do something Frank was like you know what I've done wrong you know I'm just trying to protect him Frankie knew what state he was in. mental state he was in and how he was just being tormented inside and he was totally miserable and I just didn't want to see him get into any more trouble, he was crazy, he had gone really crazy, you know, the way Frankie described his physical appearance, you know, he said that he had simply taken off his coat. buttoned up a little crazy and he was already out of his mind, you know, dave and frankie are convinced that marvin needs treatment marvin had told my mother that he was going to go to a hospital and dry himself off and she was making him keep that promise and he He was preparing for that too, so he never went, but he was going to.

In reality, Marvin's cocaine abuse is getting worse in recent years. He had begun to freely consume the drug. He was killing him slowly. He was crazy because he destroyed it basically because you already know everything. If most of the membranes in his nose were gone, it would burn and, you know, I don't know, I don't know, I know, you know, he always smoked, but that was nothing, just smoking, but I think he probably smoked less. and used more cocaine. It got to the point where this took over and you know he just wasn't himself at all.

You know that many black people have a very high tolerance for discomfort. I think you know how we feel. bad, we feel bad all the time and that's how it is for us and we'll deal with it, so it doesn't surprise me at all that Marvin Gaye never sought treatment because I think he believed that he should be able to. This alone in the last hours of his life Marvin was a slave to his addiction and at war with his father the deadly combination of drugs and conflict would soon end his life 14 years before the Vietnam War was at its peak and Marvin Gaye was at about to peak with the successor i heard it through the grapevine marvin had gained creative control over his next album marvin had a lot of talent and a lot of creativity but he had more skill than most of the producers who were there at the time marvin se He was inspired by the Vietnam War to write one of the most successful concept albums of all time.

What's Going On was a tribute to his brother Frankie, who fought in the war. what's going on marvin was dedicated to frankie because of all his stories, it gave him the inspiration to write that album it was a masterpiece with what's going on marvin resurrected deeply held spiritual beliefs he was delivering a message about poverty, racism and war marvin was the type of man who carried the world on his shoulders everything affected him he felt like he wanted to do something about it and the only way he could do something about it he thought was through music marvin wanted his music to matter that it would be the voice of someone who would inspire social change but motown was about happy dance music barry gordy hated what was happening Then he refused to publish it.

Barry Gordy's reaction was: How would a Marvin Gaye fan relate to this? Marvin came to my hotel room after I left Motown and he told me, Kim says, I recorded the best album I've ever recorded. I've done it once and no one likes it. Not my wife, not Barry Gordy. Nobody likes it and I said to Marvin, did you like it? He says it's the best thing he's ever done in my life. Marvin swore that he would never record another song unless Motown released what it is. passing they did it in 1971. it was an immediate sensation half a million copies sold on the first day tonight I'm very proud to have the best singer in the world in the auditorium tonight it's marvin gaye the following year marvin made a triumphant return home washington dc proclaimed marvin gaye's first day of may, it gave marvin something he had never had before: his father's respect and admiration for being held by his father in public, oh yes, it was a wonderful thing for my father to get close to to him and say son, I'm very proud of you, this is wonderful, you really made me very proud of you and that was a good, very good thing, I wasn't there for Marvin Gaye Day in 1972, but I have a feeling that's how it was. you know, he talked a lot about it and I think it was a big deal, I think it was like a little happy moment, actually, one of those polaroid photos where mom, dad and Marvin got together and I think it was sweet for everyone in the community.

It came and it was a big deal and then bam! and you know, people at Motown and others maybe didn't know Marvin's family how well they saw it and I think they were just in the public eye, so I think he wanted to do the right thing and I think he really, already You know, he just changed his mind, he was going to do his good thing, he was going to do his part if Dad did his part, I think it's one of those nap shots, an additive life of maybe what he could have done. If only there had been true harmony between mom, dad and Marvin.

If there had been some kind of reconciliation. If there had been some kind of deep understanding that day, that was fine, but that day was a very isolated day and a very extraordinary day and a day that wasn't. Not at all typical, tragically, this was a fleeting moment of happiness. Father and son would never find lasting peace. Years of conflict and violence had left scars too deep to heal. It's early morning in Los Angeles. Marvin Gaye has less than four hours to live through yesterday's discussion of The Money Has Been Simmering Since Last Night. She tells him to give it to Marvin.

Even this small act of favoritism is seen as an insult by Marvin's father. She was upset because mom didn't give breakfast to dad instead of giving breakfast to Marvin because I think dad developed jealousy over Marvin and mom's relationship because she paid a lot of attention to Marvin. Marvin was her baby and, you know, if there is any option. between the two of them it would always be Marvin and you know he loved her very much and if there was any animosity or jealousy it would have been on the father's part because I don't think Marvin felt that she favored the father over him at any time while Marvin's sister-in-law leaves breakfast he realizes he's in bad shape marvin didn't look good he looked absolutely exhausted he looked like he hadn't slept for days he just looked tired it was almost like he just wanted to give up make sure you have something later ok you will make you feel better.

In fact, for the past few weeks, those who knew him well believed that Marvin was thinking about suicide, he had a desire not to live, so when I think. in terms of drug use and everything that he was basically trying to eliminate, but he was a very strong individual when he wakes up. Marvin feels physical and mental pain. He is exhausted. His body torn apart by years of drug abuse. He was a man. looking for a way out ten years earlier marvin was at the top of his game what was happening had secured him a place among the greats of soul music with his career on the right track he tried to start over with his family he moved to hollywood and bought His parents had a house in Los Angeles, but their success failed to bring the gay family closer together.

Once we moved to what we called the big house in Gramercy, things began to deteriorate. I would say I noticed my father becoming increasingly reclusive, which meant I didn't want to go anywhere or do anything and it was my mother who went places and did things my mother accompanied my brother on his tours but it's not like he never asked me His father always asked him and he always said no. Marvin's father still disapproved of his son's career even though he lived off his royalties. His father denied approval of his son to the point of destroying him.

Unfortunately, I disagree with the father. I think he was, he was, he was very, very poisoned by the negativity. and the importance of it was important to him to play takeout with people who wanted something from him and uh Marvin really wanted it from him, he hated it, he loved it at the same time, you know, it's just that he didn't want any recognition. from him, so he really wanted everything from him, so it was like it became a curse to Marvin, you know, and he just took it to everything in his life, like that, his music, his relationships, his children, everything that Marvin walked away from his father again. and he dove into the music scene in the 1970s, he had this kind of cocaine game, you know, everywhere you know, everyone was playing and playing and going crazy on cocaine and, particularly in the music world, they didn't It took a long time before Marvin became addicted.

I saw cocaine increase first, it was just a little bit here and there, if there were parties or this, and that's what made it just eat it, you know, smoke it, you know any way you can take it, it did. very nervous, tense and paranoid, all the symptoms of that type of drug, you know, Marvin's marriage to Ana Gordie fell apart and he hooked up with sixteen year old Janice Hunter, she was absolutely beautiful, uh, teenager, They met while Marvin was recording, let's do it in his tribute to sexual freedom, she became his second wife and Marvin dedicated himself to creating his ideal woman.

I think he saw and found a way to mold a woman. You know, he takes this teenage girl and turns her into what he thought she was a woman. She should be Marvin's ideal woman; she was his mother, but she was an image that no one could fulfill. I think he considered her a standard by which she evaluated the morality, the ability to commit, the perseverance, the charm, the grace that her mother had. had done it and then he, in turn, created a self-fulfilling prophecy that, you know, no one will be able to do it for me, since Janice didn't live up to his expectations, their relationship fell apart, the infidelities led to jealousy and they quickly became in rage.

I had to go. underground with my sister for a week or two because he was threatening to kill her until one day he called and said, "Okay, it's over, I want to see my girl" and she went back to him and you know, then they went to another marvin on vacation had the ability to shoot himself in the foot uh marvin had this ability or this strange psychological mechanism uh that would undermine happiness and find a way to complicate his life he loved drama he loved emotional drama um it was because of pain, he found ways From hurting themselves over and over again, it is very common for addicts and alcoholics to sabotage their own success because it is much easier to stay in the addiction and get applauded for doing 50 percent, whereas if we are supposed to have it all together, The expectation is that you will reach 100 with a constant supply of cocaine.

Marvin was becoming the violent, controlling man who had tormented him when he was a child. His father on his last day. Marvin and his father are locked up. a power struggle simmering on opposite sides of the house a life of resentment will soon end in tragedy it is late in the morning marvin gaye has only two hours to live marvin stays with his parents in los angeles he is addicted to cocaine he suffers from paranoid delusions he thinks someone wants to kill him his father is fed up with his son's madness and drug use when he can't find some important business documents his anger explodes when he bursts into marvin's room another bitter fight breaks out marvin's entire life they told him what do not only for his father, but for Motown and everyone else and when he came home, things from the past just piled up and when he failed, Bobby kicked him for what my mother said and then went up to his room.

Marvin's father leaves the room humiliated. All respect. Because their authority disappeared, many young people grow up in homes where they are under the control of an oppressive critical parent who had convinced them their entire lives that they were not good enough and therefore part of their growth and arrival to the life. theirs and being successful is an opportunity for them to tell their parents to fuck off. Now I have sick power. I knew in my heart that if my brother or any of us hit my father, he would do something terrible because my father had always told us he would if we ever did it five years ago, devastated by his cocaine addiction, career Marvin had stalled and was running from the tax collector.

Federal agents had seized his house in Los Angeles for not paying taxes and he was living in a van in Hawaii I'm trying to think of a good word to use how he viewed money he was very free with it on the one hand and didn't really take it seriously, he wasn't the person who cared about money, so you couldn't entice him to do this and that, he was just a good-hearted person, he bought a rolls-royce and a couple of houses and a place in jamaica and He never went to Jamaica, I mean, he was just living in chaos in Hawaii.

Marvin was running away from his friends.problems he was at war with everyone his wife janice motown and the irs that's where he fell into a big depression and his cocaine habit uh it's worth it you know he did drugs all the time I guess the whole Hawaii thing was kind of like taking to people who were in the same kind of sadness and self-destruction and doing so for a while after seven months of mounting debts forced Marvin Gaye to return to the stage, but a tour in Britain ended. in scandal when gay missed a concert and left princess margaret waiting for hours once again marvin hid this time in belgium away from the pressures and temptations of the marvin began to recover in 1982 cbs paid 1.5 million dollars to buy out his contract with Motown and it was in hosting that Marvin began to recover and build up enough strength for you to make sure he returned.

Marvin had quit cocaine but his failed relationships with women haunted him. Ritz visited him in Belgium where he saw the gay's apartment filled with the saddest masochistic feelings. drawings i think he was tortured by the fact that he never had a good female romantic relationship and i remember telling marvin this is sick what you really need is sexual healing and he said i love that idea, you know, just write a poem about it, so I wrote this lyric and he immediately took it and put a melody to it. Sexual healing and the album became Midnight Love.

The first hits Marvin had had in nine years earned him two Grammy Awards, but back in Los Angeles he became addicted to cocaine on his final concert tour. Marvin's addiction spiraled out of control as millions of fans reveled in his backstage performance. Marvin was self-destructing. It wasn't an easy tool to stay in control and become pathetic because you had loved ones on drugs and you couldn't help it. I went to a couple of concerts but I wasn't on the tour. I wouldn't even come close. He was crazy, he thought someone was trying to kill him. Marvin insisted on having his brother by his side at all times as a decoy for his imaginary killer.

They looked so much alike that cocaine was driving Marvin crazy, which is very consistent with heavy daily cocaine use. and in fact, one of the main reasons we see addicts in a psychiatric unit is because of drug-induced psychosis. It's the beginning of, I think, the most tortured part of his life, when he loses his mind and, out of his mind, builds a kind of script of his own death and uh, it all begins, I think on this final tour, when The tour started, Marvin started stripping down to his underwear while watching the sexual healing and for me it was very sad because it showed that he was not feeling the love that people offered him and he felt like an object, ultimately not He understood that his fans loved him deeply, they loved him deeply for who he was, this complicated character after the tour, a devastated Marvin Gaye retired to his parents' house. it was a fatal mistake he went back to the source of his psychological dilemma and now it is worse it is exacerbated by his drug use by his father's alcoholism there is no clarity marvin gaye has less than an hour to live in a violent argument marvin has just been hit to his father for the first time in his life some believe he knew exactly what the consequence of kicking your father would be, son, I told him that if you keep bothering your father, he means it when he says I brought you into this world and if sometime Take me out, I'll take you after I bring Marvin breakfast.

His sister-in-law is back in her apartment next to the main house. Marvin's brother, Frankie, is with her. They don't realize the fight going on next when he hits his father, some believe that Marvin had found a way to end his life, Marvin was really and truly, as he explained to me, knowing certain moments that he didn't want to live without explanation , I'm just shy, I heard the gun shots, what a shot I made. I didn't hear anything, no, I heard two gunshots like two seconds ago, are you sure? and he said oh no, that was just a car on the highway, it must have been it and I said, frankie, it sounded like a gun to me and he said no, we.

She lives right next to the highway you know frankie she collapsed in my arms and I ask her what's wrong what's wrong and all I could hear was shock and I'm like you've been shot and she said no parent was torn apart marvin Gaye has been shot twice, one in the shoulder, one in the chest, one of the bullets has damaged several vital organs and he is losing blood rapidly. Marvin's brother, Frankie, runs into the house, but he is afraid that his father might attack again. Marvin is conscious when Frankie finds him. He yells at Irene to call 911.

His father is still armed and in the house he was conscious when Frankie was holding him. The paramedics arrive in less than 10 minutes but refuse to enter the house while Marvin's father and the gun are still inside. from the father, so I found my father, he was sitting on his bed and I asked him where did you put the gun, father, a gun and he was sitting there very calm and he looked at me and said, good gun, it was like there was no one at home and I said the paramedics are here and they need to come in and they won't come until the gun is out please tell me where the gun is and he just bowed his head.

He was going through his drawers and everything looking for the gun and me. he turned her pillow over and it was under his pillow. Marvin is dying in his brother's arms. It's a

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20 minutes before the paramedics can get to him. If Marvin didn't die at the scene. He died on the way to the hospital. I remember the one at the end of the stretcher he asked me if I knew his name and when I said it was Marvin Gaye, he looked at me twice and said you don't mean Marvin Gaye and I said yes and he just started crying .

You can't really describe it. the pain and the pain because when you love someone it's just a pain that you can't describe. I remember leaving a baseball game that day, April 1, April Fools' Day, and hearing Marvin gays on the radio, you know my father had shot and killed Marvin. and I thought to myself this is how he's going to do it, oh my god, that's so marvin, that's so wickedly brilliant, the official time of death is 101 pm on April 1, 1984. the next day, marvin Gaye would have been 45 years old. Marvin Gaye Sr. pleaded guilty to voluntary involuntary manslaughter and received a five-year suspended sentence.

His son remains one of the most influential musicians of his time.