Early years:

Marvin Gaye was born in Washington DC on 2nd April 1939 and named after his father, an Apostolic minister with whom he had a fiery relationship.

From the age of three he sang and played the organ and drums in church. But his real interests lay elsewhere. He began singing in street corner doo-wop group, The Rainbows, and in 1957 formed his own group, The Marquees. Singer and producer Harvey Fuqua hired the group as his backing singers. When the band broke up, Fuqua moved to Detroit and took his girlfriend, Gwen Gordy and Marvin with him.