What's Going On: Marvin Gaye's Baby Sister Remembers His Most Important Song 30 Years After His Death
Marvin Gaye's baby sister, Zeola, didn't understand the impact of her brother's music until she heard his 11th studio album, "What's Going On." Though he had plenty hits by that time — "How Sweet It Is to Be Loved by You," "Ain't Nothin' Like the Real Thing," "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" — Zeola had a unique reaction to the album's title track.
"I was a teenager," says Zeola, speaking to Yahoo Music the week of the 30th anniversary of her brother's death. "When I played it and I was reading the lyrics, really, that's when Marvin — my brother — became 'Marvin Gaye' to me. That was the first time I said, 'Wow. This is so heavy. So beautiful.' I almost couldn’t believe this came from my brother."
The title track resonated with music fans, becoming his most famous and important song ever. It sold 200,000 copies in one week, and went No. 1 and No. 2 on the R&B and pop charts, respectively. But the lyrical content of the entire album was just as important as his vocal and production styling.
On the album, Marvin addressed his frustration with the Vietnam War. On the title track, he sang, "War is not the answer/For only love can conquer hate."
The title track resonated with music fans, becoming his most famous and important song ever. It sold 200,000 copies in one week, and went No. 1 and No. 2 on the R&B and pop charts, respectively. But the lyrical content of the entire album was just as important as his vocal and production styling.
On the album, Marvin addressed his frustration with the Vietnam War. On the title track, he sang, "War is not the answer/For only love can conquer hate."
The war was especially troubling to Marvin because his younger brother Frankie had been drafted.
Marvin said God told him to write the song. "He was guided by that and felt all the things that were going on in the world were so disturbing to everybody, especially him," Zeola explains.
Though Marvin believed he responded to a calling when making the album, Motown founder Berry Gordy didn't initially support the temporary departure from the singer's slick, pop-friendly soul sound.
Zeola addresses the creative conflict between Marvin and Berry in her stage play, "My Brother Marvin." In one scene, she depicts Marvin and Berry arguing about the song.
"I do not feel like singing about the birds and the bees, not when our nation is in a state of emergency," Marvin's character says in the play. Berry's character counters, "I worked real hard to build up your image and make you what you are, man, I made you rich … And [you're going to] throw it away in one fell swoop? Hell naw."
In the "My Brother Marvin" play and book, Zeola shares many stories about her brother, including the events that lead up to Marvin being fatally shot by his father the day before his 45th birthday. Zeola addresses her father's alcohol abuse, and Marvin's struggle with drugs. After having an argument with his father on April 1, 1984, the minister shot Marvin as he sat next to his mother.
"That was just a horrible day, I really don't want to get into that," Zeola tells Yahoo Music, preferring to focus on his 75th birthday, which is April 2, the day after his death anniversary.
Every year, Zeola hosts a party that starts at midnight on April 2 and resumes later that evening. "We party," she says. They eat, dance, and sing to Marvin's music, and write notes to him. "I buy balloons every year for his birthday. Before midnight, I write a message on the balloon and have everybody sign the balloon, and I let it go at midnight."
This year's celebration will be special. Since Marvin's death, there has been a lot of division in the family, and Zeola has not been in regular communication with Marvin's children. But Marvin's daughter will be there this year.
"We're mending fences as we speak," Zeola says. "I'll be spending Marvin's birthday with my niece, Nona, his daughter, and his ex-wife Janis, and what family we have in the D.C. area will be present. I'm looking forward to doing that, and this will be the first time we've done this in many, many years."
This year's celebration will be special. Since Marvin's death, there has been a lot of division in the family, and Zeola has not been in regular communication with Marvin's children. But Marvin's daughter will be there this year.
"We're mending fences as we speak," Zeola says. "I'll be spending Marvin's birthday with my niece, Nona, his daughter, and his ex-wife Janis, and what family we have in the D.C. area will be present. I'm looking forward to doing that, and this will be the first time we've done this in many, many years."
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