The Mammoth Book of Celebrity Murders (17 page)

Marvin was spending a great deal of time with his singing partner, Tammi Terrell and the pair became very close, both in and out of the recording studio. Between them they managed to record some
of the best records of the era, records which have stood the test of time – “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, “Your Precious Love”, “Ain’t Nothing
Like the Real Thing” and “You’re All I Need to Get By” to name but a few of their hits. Sadly the relationship was doomed for during one of their performances Terrell
collapsed into Marvin’s arms while they were on stage and was subsequently diagnosed with a brain tumour. Terrell’s illness heralded the end of their recording partnership, a real blow
for Marvin, although later the same year he released the record for which he became most famous, “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”. With his song a terrific success Marvin was elated,
but typical of the singer, his success was to be followed by devastatingly bad news – in early 1970, Terrell died of her illness, an event which sent him spiralling downwards.

Marvin Gaye’s public image was that of a confident man who had built up a musical persona as the ultimate lover, but by the early 1970s this was all set to change – his behaviour had
grown increasingly erratic and he was now spending the majority of his time working on his own. He had withdrawn from public view, making very few appearances, and seemed on the verge of becoming a
recluse. He avoided any work which forced him into the public eye, missing concerts and even studio work. At a particularly low ebb following an argument with Anna, he holed himself up in an
apartment, only this time he was equipped with a gun. His depression had spiralled to the point where he was reported to have threatened to kill himself if anybody tried to enter the room. It was
Anna’s father who came to the rescue and managed to pacify the distraught Marvin, calming the situation down. With all of the pressures, the fame and the public scrutiny, not to mention his
violent marriage, Marvin had taken to drugs and was struggling with his increasing use of cocaine, one of the triggers which had caused him to reach such a dangerous low.

His absence from the public circuit and the diminishing output from his record label had the media speculating over his health. The rumours of his drug use, his violence, the womanizing and his
preoccupation with guns were now circulating amongst the gossip columns – it seemed that everyone but those closest to him were aware of his life-threatening problems.

In 1973, during the recording of the title track of his new album
Let’s Get It On
, Marvin encountered a young girl who was to become his lover, and subsequently his second wife.
Janice Hunter was just starting out as a singer and had begged her father, a co-producer of the record, to introduce her to Gaye. Marvin recalled that for him it was lust at first sight, while
Hunter had a more romantic description of their initial meeting, describing her first encounter with Marvin as “The figure in my fantasy came to life.”

This time he was the older person in the relationship, by now aged 33, whereas Janice was just 16 years of age. Hunter’s family however did not seem to disapprove – on the contrary,
the girl’s parents encouraged the relationship with the famous, wealthy singer. Hunter was totally besotted with the successful older man and he too was totally taken with her, enjoying the
flush of a new, very willing, sexual partner. The power of his new sexual relationship seemed to be echoed in the lyrics of his songs, giving him a new lease of life at Motown.

But the strong sexual themes of his music were not overlooked by his father, who by now was disappointed and angry with his son. The years of religious tutoring seemed wasted as Marvin flaunted
his sexuality through his records, ignoring his father’s rule that sex is only for procreation. The old family conflict was never far from the surface, but Marvin was far too independent,
both financially and mentally, to spend any time dwelling on old wounds.

With his success in the record charts, Marvin was on top of the world and was soon to have more to celebrate – Janice was pregnant with his daughter. Nona Gaye arrived in September 1974
and was followed just 14 months later by a boy, Frankie. Anna Gaye had ignored Marvin’s newly developed relationship for as long as she could, but news of Hunter’s pregnancy triggered a
change of heart and in 1975 Anna Gordy Gaye filed for divorce.

The divorce proceedings were long and bitter, with Marvin being as defiant as he could be. He would antagonize Anna at every opportunity, angry that she was seeking to extract what he considered
to be too great a portion of his wealth. They finally reached a settlement in which Marvin had to record an album and give all the proceeds to Anna in lieu of alimony. Marvin devoted the next year
to the
Here
,
My Dear
double album, which ended up being an ode to his soured relationship with Anna. Its ironic title, which contained cynical, personal statements clearly referencing
their life together were so hurtful to Anna that she considered taking Marvin to court. In some of the lyrics he reflected on the breakdown of his 14-year marriage and of the joy of discovering his
new love. In 1977 the couple were divorced, leaving the way clear for him to marry his young lover and the mother of his two children.

After an intensely sexual start to their relationship, things started to change with Marvin’s now heavy use of cocaine. History started to repeat itself as the friction which his erratic
behaviour caused inevitably triggered the domestic violence which became a new feature in the couple’s life. At this stage in his career Gaye was singing romantic ballads, yet in contrast his
private life was quite different and he now got his kicks out of degrading Janice. He had found a way to torment both himself and Janice, and in a bizarre twist he forced her into a number of
affairs with other well-known singers, including Frankie Beverly, Rick James and Teddy Pendergrass. Still not yet 21 years of age she was used as a pawn to satisfy Marvin’s degrading sexual
and sadistic tendencies. Hunter was now caught in a catch-22 situation – she was unable to refuse Gaye’s demands yet she knew that as a consequence of her actions he would become angry
and then of course violent. He was using her to punish himself and would suffer the consequences of his own delinquent perversions. In a rare insight Marvin did share some rather intimate
information with his mother regarding his kinky sex life, describing how his first wife Anna had taught him certain sexual tricks, using her body in a certain way, tricks which Marvin then taught
Janice.

Marvin had entered another phase of his tormented life. Unhappy in love he continued to torment Hunter, and all the while, the spectre of his drug problem lingered like a dark black cloud. The
rumours of his strange existence were perpetuated in the tabloids, no doubt one source being his estranged father.

Later, Hunter described the darker times which she and Marvin shared. She is reported to have recalled, “The dark side of life and the dark side of the mind really fascinated him; there
was stuff that I can’t even talk about, things that just went so deep, so dark and so bizarre . . . Forbidden, dangerous, scary, off-the-wall ways of thinking and behaving.”

Marvin was very chauvinistic and forbade Hunter from pursuing her own ambition of becoming a singer, saying to her, “I like to see women serve me and that’s that.” In
Hunter’s case, serving Marvin meant feeding his evil fantasies. He was completely obsessed with sex, an unstoppable womanizer and a chronic masturbator who watched and read endless
pornography. Perhaps it was a psychological problem from his overly restricted childhood, but he was now kicking back, only twice as hard.

With all of the problems which surrounded him Marvin was now tiring of his second marriage; it appeared as though he felt too restricted by his young wife and craved the freedom of being a
single man. With his record sales plummeting and tax demands needing to be met, Marvin was starting to drown in a sea of opposing pressures. His poor financial situation meant he needed to sell
records and perform at concerts, yet his depression robbed him of the will to work. He was becoming increasingly unreliable and missed concert appearances, claiming ill health as the cause of his
cancellations. As the pressure reached fever pitch, Marvin turned to his destructive crutch, drugs. The substances which were destroying his life were becoming the only things which could afford
him the temporary pleasure and relief that he craved. Finally in a bid to try and save his marriage and get away from his troubles, Marvin fled the US mainland to Hawaii. Hunter visited him there
on several occasions but found that the old wounds were still open – almost as soon as they were in each other’s company the arguments would begin. Finally Hunter could take no more and
left him and their children, moving in with one of Marvin’s friends, Teddy Pendergrass.

When he eventually became bored with his life in Hawaii, he returned to the studio and cut another record, but with poor sales he was forced to withdraw the album. With the small amount of money
the record created Marvin was unable to meet the fresh demands coming from the Internal Revenue Service. Desperate for space away from his pressures he fled to Europe where he planned to tour,
hoping to re-establish his waning fan base. His concerts were very well received, spurring him to extend the tour, eventually heading to Belgium. It was while in Belgium that Marvin was besieged by
demands from the IRS totalling $2 million in back taxes. Having been tracked down and backed into a corner he was forced to declare bankruptcy amid furious rows with Motown.

Gaye cut his ties with Motown and signed a fresh recording contract with CBS, for which they paid the princely sum of $2 million. This focused Marvin’s attention and he made a valiant
effort to impress CBS and get his career and life back on track.

CBS were not disappointed with their new protégé and in 1982 Marvin provided them with one of the best records of his career, “Sexual Healing”. This became one of his
best-known records which well received by his critics and was soon selling in volume all around the globe. He followed this with the album
Midnight Love
which was a great boost to
Gaye’s mental state and indeed CBS, who were very pleased with their new signing. With his career once more back on top, he went all out to fulfil his side of the deal, even agreeing to tour,
the thing he least liked. A massive tour of the United States was organized to promote his new album, the result of which earned him two Grammies, eventually selling 1.5 million copies. He was now
enjoying the success which he had been craving and it was the first top ten album he had recorded in over six years.

Once more his massive selling hit songs boosted his celebrity status and he found himself back in the press and back under pressure. But the strain of touring was revealing the cracks in his
mental state and again he turned to drugs. His cocaine use had grown dramatically and he was now spending a small fortune on narcotics, simply to get him through the tour.

Unfortunately his increased drug use had its down-side – he was often bad mannered, late for rehearsals and was becoming increasingly paranoid that there was somebody out there, watching
and following him. He started collecting a large number of weapons, including guns, even a small machine gun, and he took to wearing a bulletproof vest, removing it only when he was performing on
stage. The tour itself was running fairly smoothly, but cracks began to surface, the management of the tour had not been good and it soon became obvious that they were heading for financial
disaster. This was just too much for the emotionally weary Marvin, who was already convinced that his life was in danger – the strains caused by the failure of the tour had become too much
for him to cope with, his recording skills deserted him and he sank to rock bottom. His depression had reached an all-time low – fuelled by his now chronic cocaine addiction he sought
emotional support from the only person he could turn to – his mother.

This was to prove a fatal decision, one that would ultimately bring about the end of a legend – perhaps his paranoia had been a warning after all. Desperate and in need of support, Marvin
moved home to be with his mother. The house in the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles was one which he had bought for his parents years before. He always made sure that his folks wanted for nothing
– throughout his career he would always make sure that they had money, cars and clothes. His mother was immensely proud of her son and was thrilled that the family were able to live so well.
His father, on the other hand, although happy to accept the charity from his son, wasn’t grateful, expecting his son to pay him back for bringing him into the world.

The house was large and Marvin took up residence in one of the bedrooms. He was reacquainted with family life and enjoyed spending time with his brother Frankie and his wife, Irene, who lived in
an apartment which was attached to the main house. Even though he was heavily into drugs he was able to start recharging his batteries and enjoyed a stable home for the first time in a long while.
Able to relax, he took time to reassess his life and career. His mother was also recovering as she had recently undergone a serious operation and was able to spend time with her beloved son. Marvin
Gay Sr was not at the house when Marvin arrived as he had returned to Washington DC for a few months in a bid to sell his original family home. Marvin was unhappy that his father had not thought it
necessary to be with his wife during her recovery period after her operation, but took solace in the fact that he did not to have to face the old man, at least until he had managed to reorganize
his life.

Marvin’s career seemed to be on the verge of recovery, and it appeared that he was patching his life back together again, when his father returned in January 1983. The men clashed almost
from the word go. Arguments erupted with both men throwing hurtful comments at the other. Marvin resented the fact that his mother had been left on her own by the man she had cared for all her
life, at the one time when she could have really done with his support. Old family arguments soon surfaced but there were never any winners in their battles, they were just too alike to see the
other’s point of view. Alberta was often used as a reason to have yet another row, which inevitably became more and more violent, pushing Marvin’s life further into the danger zone with
each heated attack.