Marvin Pentz Gay Jr. was born on the 2nd April 1939, in Washington D.C, USA, and died on 1st April 1984. He is known to the world as soul and R&B singer Marvin Gaye. During his career, Marvin released a total of 17 studio albums, some of which include “The Soulful Moods Of Marvin Gaye” (1961), “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” (1968), “What`s Going On” (1971), “Let`s Get It On” (1973), “Midnight Love” (1982) among others.
Have you ever wondered how rich Marvin Gaye was before he died? According to sources, it is estimated that Marvin`s overall net worth was $5 million, an amount earned through his successful career as a singer, however, Marvin also featured in a number of films, such as “The Ballad Of Andy Crocker” (1969) and “Chrome And Hot Leather” (1971), which also increased his net worth.
Marvin Gaye Net Worth $5 Million
Marvin grew up in a family of six siblings; his father was a church minister who would often let him sing in the church, accompanying him on piano, and his mother was a housewife. Regarding his education, Marvin attended Cardozo High School, but never graduated, dropping out at 17 to join the US Air Force. However, he soon left the force as he was dissatisfied with his position, doing only menial jobs.
Marvin then embarked on a singing career, rotating through numerous bands, and collaborating with Bo Diddley among others, however with no major success. He then moved to Detroit and soon made contact with Berry Gordy of Motown records, which resulted in a contract signing. In 1961, Marvin released his first album “The Soulful Moods Of Marvin Gaye”. Although the album did not prove to be successful upon its release, he continued with his singing career, but with a change in genre. However, before his next release, in order to pay his expenses Marvin served as a drummer for the group The Miracles.
In 1963, Marvin released his second album “Stubborn Kinda Fellow”, which created his first hit singles “Hitch Hike” and “Wherever I Lay My Hat”. He continued without much success, until in 1967, when Gaye recorded several duet songs with other famous artists on the music scene such as Mary Wells, Kim Weston and Tammi Terrell which increased his net worth and his popularity.
In 1968, Marvin released his first single that reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” – since covered by a myriad of artists – and in 1969, his album M.P.G reached number one on Billboard.
Following his first number one hit, Marvin released numerous songs by which he will remain remembered, including “Let`s Get It On”, “Got To Give It Up”, and “Sexual Healing” for which he won two Grammy awards and an American Music Award for the Favorite Soul Single.
In 1982, Marvin released his last album, entitled “Midnight Love”, increasing his net worth with every successful venture.
In 1987, Marvin was posthumously inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
Since his teen years, Marvin had not been in a good relationship with his father, in fact, he was thrown out of the family home when Marvin was 17. Their bad relationship peaked in 1984 when the two got into a domestic dispute, which resulted in a shooting and eventual death of Marvin Gaye; he was shot in the chest and shoulder from close range by his father, brought to the California Hospital Medical Centre where he was pronounced dead.
When it comes to his personal life, Marvin had a lot of trouble with the law, precisely with IRS and substance abuse, which resulted in several monetary fines.
To talk about his love life, Marvin was married twice, first to Anna Gordy, from 1964 to 1977, with whom he has one child, and secondly to Janis Hunter, with whom he had a daughter, from 1977 until 1981.
