Lost History – Why did Marvin Gaye’s father kill his son?
On 1 April 1984, at the Gaye family compound in Los Angeles, one of the most famous and peculiar murders of modern times occurred. To the horror of fans across the world, Marvin Gaye Jr, the undisputed prince of soul, was fatally shot in front of his mother by his brutal father, Marvin Sr. It is a tragic episode that still looms large over the history of Soul Music. Still, the motives of Marvin Gaye Sr for slaughtering his namesake and the circumstances around his famous son’s death are still strangely imprecise and understated. Everyone knows that Marvin Gaye was killed by his father, but few can explain why.
Nine months before his death, Marvin Gaye had embarked on a national comeback tour to promote his new album, Sexual Healing. It had been a chaotic progress across the country. The increasingly ruminative soul icon was visibly paranoid. He started to claim that there was a conspiracy at work to assassinate him, one that involved the use of poisons and required the wearing of a bullet-proof vest at all times until he was on stage.
The egregious atmosphere of the tour culminated in a dramatic press conference in which Gaye announced the hiring of a famous attorney to confirm his suspicions regarding the perceived plot. By the time he returned to his family compound, where his siblings, their spouses and both his parents resided, the forty-four-year-old African-American Orpheus was mentally exhausted. He spoke primarily of death and suicide and is said to have leapt from a fast-moving sports car intending to kill himself mere days before the infamous filicide.
His advent at the family compound in that anxious state added extra emotional intensity to an already troubled household. Marvin Sr and his wife, Alberta, quarrelled throughout that week over a misplaced insurance policy letter. Though it sounds a risible reason for a disagreement that resulted in a murder, the loss of that letter was able to provoke the intimidating ire of Marvin Sr.
As the domestic tensions between Marvin Jr’s parents escalated, they became more and more audible across the premises. The din of their dispute soon proved untenable for the introspective and secluded star, and their enervated son decided to intervene. The argument quickly entered Marvin Jr’s private house on the property, where his mother had sought sanctuary. He told his father to leave his mother alone and used some minor violence to eject the old man from his bedroom.
Alberta described a calm Marvin Sr returning to the door of their son’s bedroom wielding a pistol that Marvin Jr had presented him during the previous Christmas. Expressionless, he pulled the trigger, hitting the shocked Marvin Jr in the left shoulder. Alberta ran out of the room screaming as a second shot, and then a third, rang out.
Upon hearing the shots and shrieks, the prince of soul’s brother, Frankie, climbed the stairs and saw his sibling bleeding out on the floor. As he cradled the dying man, Marvin whispered, “I got what I wanted… I couldn’t do it myself, so I had him do it… it’s good, I ran my race, there’s no more left in me.” It didn’t take long for the LAPD to discover the used pistol under Marvin Sr’s pillow. When he was asked by the police how he felt about his son before news of his death had been established, Marvin Gaye’s father said, “Let’s say I didn’t dislike him”.
Marvin Sr had always been an irascible and vicious parent. A preacher and healer associated with a strict and unorthodox Christian sect, he drank heavily, beat his children and oddly for a self-styled conservative zealot, was a notorious crossdresser. According to his relatives, the father of the celebrated singer suffered a terrible childhood, enduring abuse and surviving poverty.
It clearly had a deep and disturbing impact on his mental fortitude and powers of restraint. Though generally perceived as a cantankerous and changeable bully, he reserved a particular disdain for his gifted boy. He regularly denied that the future face of Motown was his child, alleging that he was the result of a non-existent affair. However, despite his intense dislike of Marvin Jr, he did instruct him in the rudiments of piano playing and choral singing.
When the official news of Marvin Gaye’s death reached his incarcerated killer, he wept and insisted his innocence. The son he hated so much for so long had become the primary breadwinner and patriarch of the Gaye family. Whatever ego-stimulation Marvin Sr gained from his powerful position in the family hierarchy proved a craving he lamentably could not kick.