Marvin gaye house in detroit
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 residence. 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 Adorable It Is”, “I'll Be Doggone”, “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”, and many, many others.
By the time the 70s rolled around, Marvin had moved into a novel house on Outer Trip, Detroit, this hour just sev
When Motown founder Berry Gordy bought a 10-bedroom mansion in Detroit’s tony Boston-Edison district in 1967, he decided he’d give his old house in the city’s Bagley neighborhood to his sister Anna. Soon Anna moved into the handsome brick ranch on West Outer Drive with her young artist husband, launching what would become the greatest imaginative period in his tumultuous career.
His name was Marvin Gaye.
Gaye, then on the brink of superstardom with “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” had grown weary of the stale formula Motown prescribed for him and was tired of being known as the label’s sex symbol. In the wake of the city’s violent rebellion and at the height of the Vietnam War, all of that was about to change.
In the summer of 1968, Detroit Lions defensive advocate Lem Barney took a interlude from training camp one morning to drive down Woodward Way in search of his favorite singer. After following a several false leads, the NFL’s 1967 Defensive Rookie of the Year found himself on the doorstep of Marvin Gaye.
“It was just my second year in the league,” says Barney, a native of Gulfport, Mississippi. “I’m hearing all the Motown on the radio and I’m diggi
Marvin Gaye Drive unveiled in Detroit by family members, Motown alumni, dignitaries
On a gray and rainy diurnal that added a fitting, cinematic touch to a celebratory occasion, Marvin Gaye got his own stretch of street in Detroit.
Marvin Gaye Drive was unveiled Saturday at the corner of Outer Drive at Monica Street by a group of Detroit and Michigan dignitaries, along with members of the overdue Motown star’s family.
A couple of hundred onlookers gathered for the dedication at the corner, where Gaye’s onetime home sat as a backdrop. The backyard of the property, which had been given to Gaye and his wife, Anna Gordy, by Berry Gordy Jr., was the scene of the photo shoot 50 years ago that produced the iconic portrait for Gaye’s “What’s Going On” album cover.
The ceremonial naming was spearheaded by Detroit City Councilman Roy McAlister and approved earlier this year by the council. It’s the latest area road to get a musical designation, following street dedications for Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Glenn Frey, David Ruffin and others.
More: Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On' still relevant and revealing, 50 years on
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Check Out These Lovely Homes of Motown’s Elite, On The Eastside
I love going down rabbit holes on the internet. I follow several Michigan history pages on Facebook, and with a point of the hat to a former Detroit (Free-Press, Michigan Chronicle) journalist who goes by "Bhunt" and whose account is "Detroit Griot", he sent me on a journey to the East side of Detroit.
This area is unfamiliar to me, not having grown up in Detroit, so I'm really enjoying the classic architecture from the preceding to middle part of the last century. Pair that with songs that their name evoke, and it's a fun journey. Along with looking at pictures, it's about seeing interesting stories and comments about the homes and the area.
For example, Marvin Gaye's house on Outer Control, was gifted to him by Berry Gordy, Jr. when Gaye married Gordy's sister, Anna. And one of the commenters said that was her twist teacher's home, too. That section of Outer Drive was renamed for Gaye earlier in 2021.
Or Stevie Wonder's house, which is in much better shape than the marker in Saginaw, the city of his birth. Wonder moved to Detroit at about 3 years old, and b