Marvin Gaye Lived in These Michigan Places, 1960s-1970s

Marvin Gaye was born on April 2, 1939 in Washington D.C.

During his high school years, he joined a few different singing groups, until he dropped out of school in 1956. He joined the Air Force, refused to follow orders, and was discharged.

He joined Harvey Fuqua in a revamped version of The Moonglows and recorded some tracks until the group split up in 1960. Now 21 years old, Marvin moved to Detroit. He became a session drummer and wound up performing at Motown Records owner Berry Gordy's house. Gordy was impressed with Marvin's drumming and singing, and soon he signed him to Motown's subsidiary label, Tamla Records.

Marvin moved into a house on Appoline Street in Detroit - eight miles away from the Motown studios - during his early/60s Motown years. The hits started racking up: “Pride And Joy”, “Can I Get A Witness”, “How Sweet It Is”, “I'll Be Doggone”, “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”, and many, many others.

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By the time the 70s rolled around, Marvin had moved into a new house on Outer Drive, Detroit, this time just seven miles away from the recording studios. It was in this house where Marvin worked on his song “What's Going On?” that he co-wrote with Obie Benson and Al Cleveland.

Fast-forward to 1984, April Fool's Day, a day before Marvin's 45th birthday. A childhood that retained memories of beatings, whippings, and being thrown out of the house by his father, culminated in an argument on this date. During a heated argument, Marvin ended up being shot through the heart and killed by his own father. Read more about this HERE.

In order to protect the privacy of the current home owners, the photos below show the Detroit neighborhoods where Marvin lived, and even the L.A. Home where he was shot.

Marvin is still missed by his peers and fans to this day...we can only imagine what his music would have evolved to in the 2000s.