Artist · chart history · #72 in indie & aaa artist polls
Marvin Gaye
Solo artist Washington, D.C. United States
Marvin Gaye is an artist from Washington, D.C.. Marvin Gaye has 103 chart appearances on 38 radio countdowns from 12 stations on RockLists, spanning 1987–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “What's Going On”, which appears on 22 lists with a best position of #2. The station that charted Marvin Gaye most often is WYEP (Pittsburgh, PA), with 25 appearances.
Marvin Gaye came up in Washington, D.C., and got his start under Harvey Fuqua, singing in Harvey and the Moonglows before striking out on his own at the start of the '60s. Signed to Motown's Tamla imprint, he gave the label some of its silkiest hits, "How Sweet It Is (to Be Loved by You)", "Ain't That Peculiar" and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", and made magic in duets with Diana Ross and, above all, Tammi Terrell on "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".
Then in 1971 he made What's Going On, a record that floats: lush strings and layered voices drifting from one song to the next while "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" and "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" turn his gaze from the bedroom to the world outside. It made him one of the first Motown acts to slip free of the label's production machine, and he steered his own sessions on Let's Get It On, I Want You and Here, My Dear. Motown's velvet crooner had become one of its boldest auteurs.
After a spell as a tax exile in Europe, he left Motown for Columbia in 1982 and came back with "Sexual Healing" and Midnight Love, the biggest single and album of his career, which brought him two Grammys. On April 1, 1984, the eve of his 45th birthday, his own father shot him dead in the family home in Los Angeles. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted him in 1987.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Marvin Gaye on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | What's Going On | 22 | #2 | – | – | |
| 2 | Let's Get it On | 14 | #19 | – | – | |
| 3 | 1 Heard It Through The Grapevine | 14 | #54 | – | – | |
| 4 | Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) | 12 | #192 | – | – | |
| 5 | Sexual Healing | 12 | #62 | – | – | |
| 6 | Got to Give It Up | 11 | #71 | – | – | |
| 7 | Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) | 6 | #176 | – | – | |
| 8 | Ain't No Mountain High Enough | 2 | #459 | – | – | |
| 9 | I Want You | 2 | #246 | – | – | |
| 10 | Right On | 1 | #257 | – | – | |
| 11 | Got To Give It Up Pt. 1 | 2 | #445 | – | – | |
| 12 | Distant Lover | 1 | #695 | – | – | |
| 13 | Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology Song) | 1 | #363 | – | – | |
| 14 | Ain't That Peculiar | 1 | #567 | – | – | |
| 15 | Trouble Man | 1 | #1024 | – | – |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about Marvin Gaye.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.