What's Going On - Background

Background

During the late 1960s, Marvin Gaye had fallen into a deep depression following the collapse and later diagnosis of his singing partner and fellow Motown artist Tammi Terrell having a malignant brain tumor. Gaye was also depressed with the fallout of his first marriage to Anna Gordy, a growing dependency on cocaine which he often rubbed on his gums or ate because he had trouble snorting, troubles with the IRS and struggling with his relationship in Motown Records, the label he had signed with in 1961. At one point, Gaye attempted suicide at his brother-in-law Berry Gordy's father's home with a handgun, only to be saved from committing the incident by Berry Gordy himself. During this time, Gaye began experiencing international success for the first time in his career following the release of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and subsequent hit singles such as "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby", "Abraham, Martin & John" and "That's the Way Love Is". But Gaye was in no mood to celebrate: "My success didn't seem real. I didn't deserve it. I knew I could have done more. I felt like a puppet -- Berry's puppet, Anna's puppet. I had a mind of my own and I wasn't using it."

During this time, Gaye was able to prove his worth as a producer, producing several songs for Motown vocal group The Originals. The songs, "Baby, I'm for Real" and "The Bells", became hits as a result. On March 16, 1970, Terrell succumbed from her illness, roughly five weeks before her 25th birthday. Gaye dealt with Terrell's death by going on a prolonged seclusion from the music business. After his success with the Originals, Gaye changed his look, ditching his clean-cut, college boy image to form a beard and dressing more casually, wearing sweatsuits. Gaye also pierced his ear in defiance and stood up to Motown executives who felt he should've been touring. He also began working on fixing his personal issues, re-embracing his spirituality and also attended several concerts held by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, which had been used for several Motown recordings in the 1960s. Around the spring of 1970, Gaye also began seriously pursuing a career in football with the professional football team, the Detroit Lions of the NFL, even working out with the Eastern Michigan Eagles football team. However, Gaye's pursuits for a tryout with the Lions was stopped after being advised that an injury would derail his music career, leaving him upset. Despite this, Gaye would befriend two of the Lions teammates, Mel Farr and Lem Barney.