YouTube Gold: Marvin Gaye Sings The National Anthem

Still dazzling

Marvin Gaye, born in 1939 in Washington DC, was a spectacular vocal talent and a troubled soul.

One of the greatest talents to come out of Motown, Gaye rebelled against the musical factory system Barry Gordy set up and ultimately produced timeless classics like “What’s Goin’ On” and “Mercy Mercy Me.” Gordy wanted no part of that sort of music - until it started to sell.

Gaye had a very troubled family life. His father, Marvin Jr., was a preacher who had many dark secrets and a quite violent side.

Marvin Jr. had to come to terms with many of those things during his rise to fame and while he craved his father’s approval, he rarely got it.

In 1983, he was asked to perform the national anthem at the NBA All-Star game and what he did that evening was, and remains, iconic and untouchable. No one else could have sung the national anthem the way he did.

Tragically, he would be dead the next year and worse, by his father’s hand: his parents had an argument and when Marvin intervened, his father shot and killed him. It was April 1, 1984. Gaye would have turned 45 the next day.