Marvin Gaye. Marvin Gaye was born in Washington, DC. He got his start singing in the church choir, later learning to play the piano and drums to escape from his physically abusive father. After high school, he joined the air force but was later discharged. He began singing in numerous groups before being finally signed by Berry Gordy Jr. of Motown Records. As a session drummer, Gaye worked with Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, among other groups, and eventually married Anna Gordy, Berry Gordy's sister in 1961. Gaye released three unsuccessful singles until his fourth attempt, Stubborn Kind of Fellow (1962) became a minor hit, as were 1963's Hitch Hike and Can I get a Witness. By 1965, he had released 39 Top 40 songs for Motown, many of them duets with Mary Wells, Kim Weston and Tammi Terrell. Then he hit the charts with his biggest hit, I Heard It Through the Grapevine, which became one of the most memorable soul songs of all time. In 1973 Let's Get It On was a sexually and romantically charged album that was very successful on the charts and remains and was unparalleled in its sheer sensuality. In 1981 tax problems forced Gaye to move to Amsterdam 1981 where he released Midnight Love, the album which spawned the single Sexual Healing, one of his most famous songs. Tragically, he was shot and killed by his father in an argument in 1984. Nonetheless, Marvin Gaye's music still enthrals listeners today, and even his earlier albums don't seem to have dates one bit.