American soul and R&B singer, and songwriter, Marvin Pentz Gay Jr. preferred to write his surname as ‘Gaye.’ His fans knew him as the ‘Prince of Soul’ and ‘Prince of Motown.’ His musical career included genres such as Progressive Soul, Jazz, R&B, Psychedelic Soul, Funk, Soul, and Gospel.
Marvin had 17 studio albums, six collaborative and live albums, two music videos, and five posthumous albums. Yes, you read it right. He died in 1984 when he was only 44, as he got shot by his father twice. Marvin acted in a couple of television movies as a Vietnam veteran and in documentaries. However, his acting skills were not as good as his music. Thus, he went back to his world of music, and he knew it.
Marvin interrupted his parent’s fight in April 1984 in their family house in Los Angeles and ended up getting shot twice by his father. The first bullet pierced his heart, and the second went into his shoulder. Thus, just a day before his 45th birthday, Marvin got declared dead within half an hour by the California Hospital Medical Center.
Marvin’s father, Marvin Pentz Gay Sr., got charged with first-degree murder. However, his sentence got reduced to six years with five years of probation, calling it ‘voluntary manslaughter.’ Gay Sr. died of a brain tumor in 1998.
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Marvin Gaye’s Career
Marvin used to sing in Church when he was four, and his father used to play piano. It is how he fell in love with singing at an early age. On the one hand, he often used to get beaten by his father for any shortcomings. On the other hand, his mother used to console and encourage him to sing. He said he would have committed suicide if his mother did not stand by him.
Marvin joined the US Military and got discharged when he pretended to be mentally ill. After that, he formed a vocal group, ‘The Marquees,’ which lasted till 1960. Later, he started working for Tri-Phi Records as a session musician. His first album and single got released in 1961.
‘What’s Going On,’ Marvin’s album released in 1971, got certified Platinum in the UK and Gold in the US. In 1982, he released ‘Midnight Love,’ his most successful album, which was among the top ten in New Zealand, Canada, The Netherlands, the US, and the UK. Similarly, in the US, it got certified 3x Platinum.
Marvin Gaye’s Net Worth
At the time of Marvin’s death, his net worth was $9 million. Who will think of dying and making a will at the early age of 44? Thus, he left no will with an estate in debt for unpaid taxes to IRS. He kept the publishing rights of most of his songs with himself and sold royalty rights to Motodown Records. Due to the royalties, IRS kept receiving $1 million per year for many years after his death.
Forbes kept Marvin in thirteenth place in 2008, according to ‘Top-Earning Dead Celebrities.’ In 1987, he appeared in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Worldwide tours and record sales majorly contributed to his net worth. He did not live luxuriously but had a nice car collection that included a Rolls Royce.
Marvin earned’ $100,000 from his studio album ‘In The Groove’ in 1968, $800,00 through ‘What’s Going On’ in 1971, $60,000 from ‘Let’s Get It On’ in 1973, $1,000,000 from ‘Diana And Marvin in 1973, and the same amount from ‘Marvin Gaye Live!’ in 1974, $1,100,000 from ‘Marvin Gaye’s Greatest Hits’ in 1976, $2,000,000 from the London Palladium live album in 1977, $6,000,000 from ‘Midnight Love’ in 1982, $1,000,000 from ‘Every Great Motown Hit’ in 1983, $60,000 from ‘The Love Songs’ in 2000, and $300,000 from ‘The Very Best Of Martin Gaye’ in 2002.
In 2015, it was found that Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke took a piece from Marvin’s ‘Got To Give It Up’ in their hit song ‘Blurred Lines,’ breaching copyright. Accordingly, Marvin’s family was about to get $7 million but ended up getting only $5.3 million when the US District Judge added royalties to it. The family also asked for $777,000 for legal expenses and $2.66 million to pay the lawyer. Creative Rights Group And Geffen Management Group are looking after his estate as of 2018.
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