MARVIN GAYE 1939 - 1984
At about midday on Sunday, April 1, at an hour when, 30 years before, they would have been in church together, Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by his father, Rev. Marvin Gaye, Sr., over nothing much that anyone has been able to discern. Early reports said they fought over an insurance form; others suggested that Marvin interceded in an argument between his parents or that the dispute was over plans for Marvin’s birthday party—he would have been 45 the next day.
MARVIN GAYE 1939 - 1984
FEATURES
At about midday on Sunday, April 1, at an hour when, 30 years before, they would have been in church together, Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by his father, Rev. Marvin Gaye, Sr., over nothing much that anyone has been able to discern. Early reports said they fought over an insurance form; others suggested that Marvin interceded in an argument between his parents or that the dispute was over plans for Marvin’s birthday party—he would have been 45 the next day. Not that it finally matters, but I’d have a modest chance at reconciling my heartbroken confusion and anger with the immutable facts if there were something, anything to understand. Twenty years after the abr surd death of Sam Cooke, the only sense I can make is that Cooke’s work was exquisite and he’s been badly missed. So it shall be with Marvin Gaye. That’s the way love often is.