Marvin Gaye's Impact On Music

Marvin Gaye has made a long lasting impact on music, without him who knows if R&B would have the same sound or if many of the artist he wrote for would be famous at all. Marvin Gaye has been called, “The number-one purveyor of soul music” (Classic Motown). Davis quotes Michael Dyson describing Gaye as someone “…who transcended the boundaries of rhythm and blues as no other performer had done before” (Ritz 121). He paved the way for many artists of this time, so much even after his death people are trying to copyright his music. “Got to Give It Up” was the name of the song that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams committed copyright infringement on with their song “Blurred Lines”. The song made “$17 million, of which over $5.6 million went to
He wasn’t just some junkie that made music, he was a true artist who is appreciated and will never be forgotten. It’s evident what kind of impact that he has left on the music industry, even today in this generation you can ask people of the younger age groups about Marvin Gaye and they will know him because the music and work he put into his master pieces are timeless. “Gaye’s last public performance was on February 13, 1993 performing the “Star-Spangled Banner” at the NBA all-start game in Inglewood, California” (Grow). A day before his 45th birthday Marvin and his father got into a heated argument and his own father shot him in the heart, then in his shoulder. He was taken to the hospital and was pronounced dead the same day. This goes to show how love and hate are basically the same thing and will drive you to do things that you can’t imagine. The charges if murder were dropped on the father because they found traces of cocaine in Marvin’s system and he had a brain tumor that he didn’t he didn’t tell anyone about. Hopefully this paper has opened your eyes to the world of Marvin Gaye and his trials and tribulations to make it as