Marvin Gaye and Anna Gordy tied the knot today (January 8, 1964).
Marvin Gaye had been traveling and performing with legendary singers Harvey Fuqua and The Moonglows, when he landed in Detroit in hopes of making it in the music business.
He was introduced to the Gordy family through Harvey Fuqua, who had already sold his Tri-Phi label (which was owned with Anna’s other sister Gwen) to Berry Gordy in 1961.
Marvin Gaye and Anna Gordy met during an impromptu performance at Berry Gordy’s house.
Anna was 17-years older than Marvin Gaye, and he felt that she was the closest thing to his mother.
When the couple married on January 8, Marvin Gaye was 24 and Anna Gordy was 42.
Some of Marvin Gaye’s earliest hit singles were dedicated to Anna Gordy, including “Pride & Joy” and “Stubborn Kind Of Fellow.”
When the relationship was good, Anna helped write several groundbreaking hits for Marvin Gaye, including “God Is Love,” and “Flying High in the Friendly Skies,” from What’s Going On and “Just To Keep You Satisfied” from the Let’s Get It On album.
By 1973, Marvin Gaye was involved in an infamous affair with Janis Hunter, and in 1977 his marriage to Anna Gordy was officially dissolved.
The divorce became the subject of Marvin Gaye’s classic album Here My Dear, which was produced as part of a court-ordered settlement in the divorce.
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