s music critic Michael Eric Dyson once said, Motown legend Marvin Gaye “chased away the demons of millions… with his heavenly sound and divine art.” But while this soulful voice healed those who listened, the man behind it suffered a tremendous amount of pain.
That pain largely centered on Gaye’s relationship with his father, Marvin Gay Sr., an abusive man who never wanted his son and made no secret of it. A violent alcoholic, Gay took out his anger on his children — especially Marvin.
But not only did Marvin Gaye endure this abusive childhood, he eventually found worldwide fame as a soul singer for the iconic Motown Records in the 1960s and ’70s. But by the 1980s, Gaye moved back in with his parents in Los Angeles following a losing battle with cocaine addiction as well as financial difficulties.
