{"id":20770,"date":"2021-06-07T06:44:37","date_gmt":"2021-06-07T11:44:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=20770"},"modified":"2021-06-07T06:44:37","modified_gmt":"2021-06-07T11:44:37","slug":"marvin-gayes-album-is-turning-50-whats-going-on-is-listed-as-the-greatest-album-of-all-time-in-addition-four-of-his-songs-i-heard-it-through-the-grapevine-whats-going-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=20770","title":{"rendered":"Marvin Gaye&#8221;s Album is turning 50, What&#8217;s Going On is listed as the greatest album of all time. In addition, four of his songs \u2013 &#8220;I Heard It Through the Grapevine&#8221;, &#8220;What&#8217;s Going On&#8221;, &#8220;Let&#8217;s Get It On&#8221; and &#8220;Sexual Healing&#8221; \u2013 made it on the Rolling Stone list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time."},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"collection-headline-flex\" role=\"presentation\">\n<h1>The Album that turns 50 in 2021 that everyone should listen to, What&#8217;s Going On, By Marvin Gaye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<\/h1>\n<\/header>\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"has-aside-ad no-axb layout-small\">\n<div id=\"content\" class=\"content\">\n<article class=\"flex gallery-container none allowvig loaded\" role=\"application\" data-aop=\"galleryflex\" data-id=\"52\" data-m=\"{&quot;i&quot;:52,&quot;p&quot;:49,&quot;n&quot;:&quot;gallery&quot;,&quot;y&quot;:8,&quot;o&quot;:3}\" data-nativead-placements=\"article_aside:3;singlecard1:1;singlecard2:1;singlecard3:1;singlecard4:1;singlecard5:1;singlecard6:1;singlecard7:1;singlecard8:1;singlecard9:1;singlecard10:1;singlecard11:1;\" data-nativead-2call-placements=\"interstitialgallery:3\" aria-label=\"slideshow\">\n<section class=\"gallery\" data-aop=\"galleryflex_slide\" data-click-behavior=\"GoToNextSlide\" data-tbl-ad=\"interstitialgallery:3\">\n<ul class=\"slideshow loaded normalslide\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"list\" data-next-url=\"\/en-us\/music\/news\/the-20-best-instrumental-songs-of-all-time\/ss-BB1biaf4?li=BBnb2gh\">\n<li class=\"\">\n<div class=\"imgcontainer\" data-image-size=\"2500,1668\" data-id=\"53\" data-m=\"{&quot;i&quot;:53,&quot;p&quot;:52,&quot;n&quot;:&quot;image1&quot;,&quot;y&quot;:14,&quot;o&quot;:1}\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"loaded\" title=\"Albums turning 50 in 2021 that everyone should listen to - Jim Britt\/Michael Ochs Archive\/Getty Images\" role=\"presentation\" src=\"https:\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/BB1dklqR.img?h=416&amp;w=799&amp;m=6&amp;q=60&amp;u=t&amp;o=f&amp;l=f&amp;x=602&amp;y=365\" alt=\"Slide 1 of 21: Do you remember the music of 1971? If you were around then, you probably do. However, if you\u2019ve spent any time listening to classic rock or oldies radio you also have likely heard some albums from that year. Or, these days, listening to classic rock on Spotify or something like that. It\u2019s been 50 years since the music of 1971 was released. Some of it has stood the test of time as classics of the era. Others were popular then, but have fallen by the wayside and deserve to be remembered. What are the top albums of 1971 to celebrate 50 years later? Here are our picks.\" data-elementtiming=\"TTVR.Slideshow\" data-record-deferred-loadtime=\"true\" data-src=\"{&quot;default&quot;:&quot;\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/BB1dklqR.img?h=416&amp;w=799&amp;m=6&amp;q=60&amp;u=t&amp;o=f&amp;l=f&amp;x=602&amp;y=365&quot;,&quot;size3column&quot;:&quot;\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/BB1dklqR.img?h=416&amp;w=624&amp;m=6&amp;q=60&amp;u=t&amp;o=f&amp;l=f&amp;x=602&amp;y=365&quot;,&quot;size2column&quot;:&quot;\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/BB1dklqR.img?h=416&amp;w=624&amp;m=6&amp;q=60&amp;u=t&amp;o=f&amp;l=f&amp;x=602&amp;y=365&quot;}\" data-load-time=\"2103\" \/>4<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<h2><span id=\"Music_and_lyrics\" class=\"mw-headline\">Music and lyrics<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>&#8220;What&#8217;s Going On,&#8221; the title track, features soulful, passionate vocals and <a title=\"Multitrack recording\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Multitrack_recording\">multi-tracked<\/a> background singing, both by Gaye. The song had strong <a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"Jazz music\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jazz_music\">jazz<\/a>, <a title=\"Gospel music\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gospel_music\">gospel<\/a>, <a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"European classical music\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/European_classical_music\">classical music<\/a> <a title=\"Orchestration\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Orchestration\">orchestration<\/a>, and <a title=\"Arrangement\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Arrangement\">arrangements<\/a>. Reviewer Eric Henderson of <a title=\"Slant Magazine\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Slant_Magazine\">Slant<\/a> stated the song had an &#8220;understandably mournful tone&#8221; in response to the fallout of the late 1960s <a title=\"Counterculture of the 1960s\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Counterculture_of_the_1960s\">counterculture<\/a> movements.<sup id=\"cite_ref-slantmagazine_18-2\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup> Henderson also wrote that &#8220;Gaye&#8217;s choice to emphasize humanity at its most charitable rather than paint bleak pictures of destruction and disillusionment is characteristic of the album that follows.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>This is immediately followed in segue flow by the second track, &#8220;What&#8217;s Happening Brother&#8221;, a song Gaye dedicated to his brother Frankie, in which Gaye wrote to explain the disillusionment of war veterans who returned to civilian life and their disconnect from pop culture.\u00a0 <sup id=\"cite_ref-slantmagazine_18-4\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup> &#8220;Flyin&#8217; High (In the Friendly Sky)&#8221;, which took its title from a <a title=\"United Airlines\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/United_Airlines\">United Airlines<\/a> tag, &#8220;fly the friendly skies&#8221;, dealt with <a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"Heroin dependence\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Heroin_dependence\">dependence on heroin<\/a>. The lyric, &#8220;I know, I&#8217;m hooked my friend, to the boy, who makes slaves out of men&#8221;, references heroin as &#8220;boy&#8221;, which was slang for the drug. &#8220;<a title=\"Save the Children (song)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Save_the_Children_(song)\">Save the Children<\/a>&#8221; was an emotional plea to help disadvantaged children, warning, &#8220;who really cares\/who&#8217;s willing to try\/to save a world\/that is destined to die?&#8221;, later crying out, &#8220;save the babies&#8221;. A truncated version of &#8220;God Is Love&#8221; follows &#8220;Save the Children&#8221; and makes references to <a title=\"God\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/God\">God<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;<a title=\"Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mercy_Mercy_Me_(The_Ecology)\">Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)<\/a>&#8221; was another emotional plea, this time for the <a title=\"Natural environment\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Natural_environment\">environment<\/a>. According to Motown legend, musician and Funk Brothers leader <a title=\"Earl Van Dyke\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Earl_Van_Dyke\">Earl Van Dyke<\/a> once mentioned that Berry Gordy didn&#8217;t know of the word &#8220;ecology&#8221; and had to be told what it was though Gordy himself claimed otherwise. The song featured a memorable <a title=\"Tenor saxophone\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tenor_saxophone\">tenor saxophone<\/a> riff from Detroit music legend <a title=\"Wild Bill Moore\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wild_Bill_Moore\">Wild Bill Moore<\/a>. &#8220;Right On&#8221; was a lengthy seven-minute jam influenced by <a title=\"Funk rock\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Funk_rock\">funk rock<\/a> and <a title=\"Latin soul\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Latin_soul\">Latin soul<\/a> rhythms that focused on Gaye&#8217;s own divided soul in which Gaye later pleaded in falsetto, &#8220;if you let me, I will take you to live where love is King&#8221; after complying that &#8220;true love can conquer hate every time&#8221;. &#8220;Wholy Holy&#8221; follows &#8220;God Is Love&#8221; as an emotional gospel plea advising people to &#8220;come together&#8221; to &#8220;proclaim love [as our] salvation&#8221;. The final track, &#8220;<a title=\"Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Inner_City_Blues_(Make_Me_Wanna_Holler)\">Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)<\/a>&#8220;, focuses on <a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"Urban poverty\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Urban_poverty\">urban poverty<\/a>, backed by a minimalist, dark <a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"Blues music\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Blues_music\">blues<\/a>-oriented funk vibe, with its bass riffs composed and performed by <a title=\"Bob Babbitt\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bob_Babbitt\">Bob Babbitt<\/a>, who also performed on &#8220;Mercy Mercy Me&#8221; (Jamerson played on the rest of the album). The entire album&#8217;s stylistic use of a song cycle gave it a cohesive feel and was one of R&amp;B&#8217;s first concept albums, described as &#8220;a groundbreaking experiment in collating a pseudo-classical suite of free-flowing songs.&#8221;<sup id=\"cite_ref-slantmagazine_18-5\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a title=\"David Hepworth\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/David_Hepworth\">David Hepworth<\/a> described the album as &#8220;like a jazz record not merely because it had jazz manners and was slathered in strings and employed congas and triangle as its most prominent form of percussion&#8230;But it&#8217;s also jazz in the sense that&#8230;[i]t plays like one long single.&#8221;<sup id=\"cite_ref-Hepworth_21-0\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a title=\"The Absolute Sound\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Absolute_Sound\">The Absolute Sound<\/a> described the album as \u201ca brilliant <a title=\"Psychedelic soul\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Psychedelic_soul\">psychedelic soul<\/a> song-cycle.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 id=\"firstHeading\" class=\"firstHeading\">Marvin Gaye, THE GOAT OF MUSIC<\/h1>\n<div id=\"bodyContent\" class=\"vector-body\">\n<div id=\"mw-content-text\" class=\"mw-body-content mw-content-ltr\" dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">\n<div class=\"mw-parser-output\">\n<table class=\"infobox biography vcard\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th class=\"infobox-above\" colspan=\"2\">\n<div class=\"fn\"><strong>Marvin Gaye<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"infobox-image\" colspan=\"2\"><strong><a class=\"image\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File:Marvin_Gaye_(1973_publicity_photo).jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/0\/03\/Marvin_Gaye_%281973_publicity_photo%29.jpg\/220px-Marvin_Gaye_%281973_publicity_photo%29.jpg\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/0\/03\/Marvin_Gaye_%281973_publicity_photo%29.jpg\/330px-Marvin_Gaye_%281973_publicity_photo%29.jpg 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/0\/03\/Marvin_Gaye_%281973_publicity_photo%29.jpg\/440px-Marvin_Gaye_%281973_publicity_photo%29.jpg 2x\" alt=\"Marvin Gaye (1973 publicity photo).jpg\" width=\"220\" height=\"254\" data-file-width=\"1776\" data-file-height=\"2048\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"infobox-caption\"><strong>Gaye in 1973<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th class=\"infobox-label\" scope=\"row\"><strong>Born<\/strong><\/th>\n<td class=\"infobox-data\">\n<div class=\"nickname\"><strong>Marvin Pentz Gay Jr.<\/strong><\/div>\n<p><strong>April 2, 1939<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"birthplace\"><strong><a title=\"Washington, D.C.\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Washington,_D.C.\">Washington, D.C.<\/a>, U.S.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th class=\"infobox-label\" scope=\"row\"><strong>Died<\/strong><\/th>\n<td class=\"infobox-data\"><strong>April 1, 1984 (aged\u00a044)<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"deathplace\"><strong><a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"Los Angeles, California\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Los_Angeles,_California\">Los Angeles, California<\/a>, U.S.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th class=\"infobox-label\" scope=\"row\"><strong>Cause\u00a0of death<\/strong><\/th>\n<td class=\"infobox-data\"><strong><a title=\"Gunshot wound\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gunshot_wound\">Gunshot wound<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th class=\"infobox-label\" scope=\"row\"><strong>Resting place<\/strong><\/th>\n<td class=\"infobox-data label\"><strong>[Cremated &#8211; Ashes scattered (Pacific Ocean)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th class=\"infobox-label\" scope=\"row\"><strong>Occupation<\/strong><\/th>\n<td class=\"infobox-data role\">\n<div class=\"hlist hlist-separated\">\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Singer<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>songwriter<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>record producer<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th class=\"infobox-label\" scope=\"row\"><strong>Years\u00a0active<\/strong><\/th>\n<td class=\"infobox-data\"><strong>1957\u20131984<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th class=\"infobox-label\" scope=\"row\"><strong><span class=\"nowrap\">Spouse(s)<\/span><\/strong><\/th>\n<td class=\"infobox-data\">\n<div>\n<div><strong><a title=\"Anna Gordy Gaye\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Anna_Gordy_Gaye\">Anna Gordy<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong>\u200b<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong>\u200b<\/strong><\/div>\n<p><strong>(<abbr title=\"married\">m.<\/abbr>\u00a01963; <abbr title=\"divorced\">div.<\/abbr>\u00a01977)<wbr \/>\u200b<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><strong>Janis Hunter<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong>\u200b<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong>\u200b<\/strong><\/div>\n<p><strong>(<abbr title=\"married\">m.<\/abbr>\u00a01977; <abbr title=\"divorced\">div.<\/abbr>\u00a01981)<wbr \/>\u200b<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"infobox-full-data\" colspan=\"2\"><strong>Musical career<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th class=\"infobox-label\" scope=\"row\"><strong>Genres<\/strong><\/th>\n<td class=\"infobox-data\">\n<div class=\"hlist hlist-separated\">\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a title=\"Soul music\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Soul_music\">Soul<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"R&amp;B\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/R%26B\">R&amp;B<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a title=\"Psychedelic soul\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Psychedelic_soul\">psychedelic soul<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a title=\"Pop music\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pop_music\">pop<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a title=\"Funk\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Funk\">funk<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a title=\"Jazz\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jazz\">jazz<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a title=\"Progressive soul\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Progressive_soul\">progressive soul<\/a><sup id=\"cite_ref-1\" class=\"reference\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Marvin_Gaye#cite_note-1\">[1]<\/a><\/sup><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th class=\"infobox-label\" scope=\"row\"><strong>Instruments<\/strong><\/th>\n<td class=\"infobox-data note\">\n<div class=\"hlist hlist-separated\">\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Vocals<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>keyboards<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>drums<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th class=\"infobox-label\" scope=\"row\"><strong>Labels<\/strong><\/th>\n<td class=\"infobox-data\">\n<div class=\"hlist hlist-separated\">\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a title=\"Motown\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Motown\">Tamla<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a title=\"Motown\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Motown\">Tamla-Motown<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a title=\"Columbia Records\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Columbia_Records\">Columbia<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th class=\"infobox-label\" scope=\"row\"><strong><span class=\"nowrap\">Associated acts<\/span><\/strong><\/th>\n<td class=\"infobox-data\">\n<div class=\"hlist hlist-separated\">\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a title=\"Harvey Fuqua\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Harvey_Fuqua\">Harvey Fuqua<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a title=\"Mary Wells\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mary_Wells\">Mary Wells<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a title=\"Kim Weston\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kim_Weston\">Kim Weston<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a title=\"Tammi Terrell\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tammi_Terrell\">Tammi Terrell<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a title=\"Diana Ross\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Diana_Ross\">Diana Ross<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-20777\" src=\"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Marvin_Gaye_1973_publicity_photo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"220\" height=\"254\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Marvin Gaye (born Marvin Pentz Gay Jr.; April 2, 1939 \u2013 April 1, 1984)<sup id=\"cite_ref-FOOTNOTESimmonds2008190\u2013192_2-0\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup> was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He helped to shape the sound of <a title=\"Motown (music style)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Motown_(music_style)\">Motown<\/a> in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo artist with a string of hits, earning him the nicknames &#8220;Prince of Motown&#8221; and &#8220;Prince of Soul&#8221;.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Gaye&#8217;s Motown hits include &#8220;<a title=\"Ain't That Peculiar\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ain%27t_That_Peculiar\">Ain&#8217;t That Peculiar<\/a>&#8220;, &#8220;<a title=\"How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/How_Sweet_It_Is_(To_Be_Loved_by_You)\">How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)<\/a>&#8220;, and &#8220;<a title=\"I Heard It Through the Grapevine\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/I_Heard_It_Through_the_Grapevine\">I Heard It Through the Grapevine<\/a>&#8220;. Gaye also recorded duets with <a title=\"Mary Wells\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mary_Wells\">Mary Wells<\/a>, <a title=\"Kim Weston\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kim_Weston\">Kim Weston<\/a>, <a title=\"Tammi Terrell\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tammi_Terrell\">Tammi Terrell<\/a>, and <a title=\"Diana Ross\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Diana_Ross\">Diana Ross<\/a>. During the 1970s, Gaye recorded the albums <i><a title=\"What's Going On (Marvin Gaye album)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/What%27s_Going_On_(Marvin_Gaye_album)\">What&#8217;s Going On<\/a><\/i> and <i><a title=\"Let's Get It On\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Let%27s_Get_It_On\">Let&#8217;s Get It On<\/a><\/i> and became one of the first artists in Motown to break away from the reins of a production company. His later recordings influenced several contemporary R&amp;B subgenres, such as <a title=\"Quiet storm\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Quiet_storm\">quiet storm<\/a> and <a title=\"Neo soul\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Neo_soul\">neo soul<\/a>.<sup id=\"cite_ref-spin_3-0\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup> He was a tax exile in Europe in the early 1980s; he released &#8220;<a title=\"Sexual Healing\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sexual_Healing\">Sexual Healing<\/a>&#8221; the 1982 hit which won his first two <a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"Grammy Award\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Grammy_Award\">Grammy Awards<\/a> on the album <i><a title=\"Midnight Love\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Midnight_Love\">Midnight Love<\/a><\/i>. Gaye&#8217;s last televised appearances were at the <a title=\"1983 NBA All-Star Game\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/1983_NBA_All-Star_Game\">1983 NBA All-Star Game<\/a>, where he sang &#8220;<a title=\"The Star-Spangled Banner\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Star-Spangled_Banner\">The Star-Spangled Banner<\/a>&#8220;; <i><a title=\"Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Motown_25:_Yesterday,_Today,_Forever\">Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever<\/a><\/i>; and <i><a title=\"Soul Train\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Soul_Train\">Soul Train<\/a><\/i>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>On April 1, 1984, the eve of his 45th birthday, Gaye was shot dead by his father, <a title=\"Marvin Gay Sr.\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Marvin_Gay_Sr.\">Marvin Gay Sr.<\/a> at their house in <a title=\"West Adams, Los Angeles\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/West_Adams,_Los_Angeles\">West Adams<\/a>, Los Angeles, after an argument.\u00a0 <sup id=\"cite_ref-6\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup> Gay Sr. later pleaded <a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"No contest\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/No_contest\">no contest<\/a> to <a title=\"Voluntary manslaughter\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Voluntary_manslaughter\">voluntary manslaughter<\/a>, and received a six-year suspended sentence and five years of probation. Many institutions have posthumously bestowed Gaye with awards and other honors including the <a title=\"Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Grammy_Lifetime_Achievement_Award\">Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award<\/a>, and inductions into the <a title=\"Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rhythm_and_Blues_Music_Hall_of_Fame\">Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame<\/a>, the <a title=\"Songwriters Hall of Fame\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Songwriters_Hall_of_Fame\">Songwriters Hall of Fame<\/a>, and the <a title=\"Rock and Roll Hall of Fame\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rock_and_Roll_Hall_of_Fame\">Rock and Roll Hall of Fame<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"gallery\" data-aop=\"galleryflex_slide\" data-click-behavior=\"GoToNextSlide\" data-tbl-ad=\"interstitialgallery:3\">\n<ul class=\"slideshow loaded normalslide\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"list\" data-next-url=\"\/en-us\/music\/news\/the-20-best-instrumental-songs-of-all-time\/ss-BB1biaf4?li=BBnb2gh\">\n<li class=\"show\">\n<div class=\"imgcontainer\" data-image-size=\"2500,1902\" data-id=\"59\" data-m=\"{&quot;i&quot;:59,&quot;p&quot;:52,&quot;n&quot;:&quot;image6&quot;,&quot;y&quot;:14,&quot;o&quot;:7}\"><strong><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"loaded\" title=\"\u201cWhat\u2019s Going On\u201d - Gems\/Redferns\" role=\"presentation\" src=\"https:\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/BB1dklre.img?h=416&amp;w=799&amp;m=6&amp;q=60&amp;u=t&amp;o=f&amp;l=f&amp;x=1154&amp;y=412\" alt=\"Slide 6 of 21: For the title song alone, Marvin Gaye\u2019s album is worth a listen. \u201cWhat\u2019s Going On\u201d is one of the most famous and beloved songs of the \u201870s, but there\u2019s plenty more where that comes from on the album. The soul singer\u2019s career and life were cut short, but he still had an incredible run.\" data-record-deferred-loadtime=\"true\" data-src=\"{&quot;default&quot;:{&quot;load&quot;:&quot;wait&quot;,&quot;src&quot;:&quot;\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/BB1dklre.img?h=416&amp;w=799&amp;m=6&amp;q=60&amp;u=t&amp;o=f&amp;l=f&amp;x=1154&amp;y=412&quot;},&quot;size3column&quot;:{&quot;load&quot;:&quot;wait&quot;,&quot;src&quot;:&quot;\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/BB1dklre.img?h=416&amp;w=624&amp;m=6&amp;q=60&amp;u=t&amp;o=f&amp;l=f&amp;x=1154&amp;y=412&quot;},&quot;size2column&quot;:{&quot;load&quot;:&quot;wait&quot;,&quot;src&quot;:&quot;\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/BB1dklre.img?h=416&amp;w=624&amp;m=6&amp;q=60&amp;u=t&amp;o=f&amp;l=f&amp;x=1154&amp;y=412&quot;}}\" data-load-time=\"19970\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"\u201cImagine\u201d - Michael Putland\/Getty Images\" role=\"presentation\" src=\"https:\/\/static-entertainment-eus-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/sc\/9b\/e151e5.gif\" alt=\"Slide 21 of 21: OK, so John Lennon\u2019s song \u201cImagine\u201d is maybe a bit hokey, and Gal Gadot and company did it no favors. It\u2019s also one of the most famous songs of all-time. The album of the same name is Lennon\u2019s best, or at least best-received, work after he left the Beatles. It\u2019s an iconic musician\u2019s iconic solo album led by his iconic song. \u201cImagine\u201d will outlive us all, no matter how many celebrities butcher it.\" data-record-deferred-loadtime=\"true\" data-src=\"{&quot;default&quot;:{&quot;load&quot;:&quot;wait&quot;,&quot;src&quot;:&quot;\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/BB1dktgj.img?h=416&amp;w=799&amp;m=6&amp;q=60&amp;u=t&amp;o=f&amp;l=f&amp;x=924&amp;y=806&quot;},&quot;size3column&quot;:{&quot;load&quot;:&quot;wait&quot;,&quot;src&quot;:&quot;\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/BB1dktgj.img?h=416&amp;w=624&amp;m=6&amp;q=60&amp;u=t&amp;o=f&amp;l=f&amp;x=924&amp;y=806&quot;},&quot;size2column&quot;:{&quot;load&quot;:&quot;wait&quot;,&quot;src&quot;:&quot;\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/BB1dktgj.img?h=416&amp;w=624&amp;m=6&amp;q=60&amp;u=t&amp;o=f&amp;l=f&amp;x=924&amp;y=806&quot;}}\" \/><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<article class=\"flex gallery-container none allowvig loaded\" role=\"application\" data-aop=\"galleryflex\" data-id=\"52\" data-m=\"{&quot;i&quot;:52,&quot;p&quot;:49,&quot;n&quot;:&quot;gallery&quot;,&quot;y&quot;:8,&quot;o&quot;:3}\" data-nativead-placements=\"article_aside:3;singlecard1:1;singlecard2:1;singlecard3:1;singlecard4:1;singlecard5:1;singlecard6:1;singlecard7:1;singlecard8:1;singlecard9:1;singlecard10:1;singlecard11:1;\" data-nativead-2call-placements=\"interstitialgallery:3\" aria-label=\"slideshow\">\n<div class=\"gallerydata update\" data-aop=\"galleryflex_slidedata\">\n<div class=\"show\">\n<div class=\"body-text\">\n<div class=\"expand\">\n<h2 class=\"gallery-title-text\"><strong>\u201cWhat\u2019s Going On\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<aside id=\"aside\" role=\"complementary\" data-region=\"aside\" data-id=\"87\" data-m=\"{&quot;i&quot;:87,&quot;n&quot;:&quot;aside&quot;,&quot;y&quot;:6}\">\n<div class=\"dynamicRRWrapper\">\n<div class=\"drrTopAdWrapper\">\n<div id=\"rectangle1_gallery_457eca5a-a625-41e9-bdf2-c21288d59d11\" class=\"ad non-empty-ad\" tabindex=\"-1\" data-aop=\"ad_ad\" data-id=\"88\" data-m=\"{&quot;i&quot;:88,&quot;p&quot;:87,&quot;n&quot;:&quot;ad&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:&quot;ad&quot;,&quot;o&quot;:1}\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n<div class=\"dynamicRRv2Nav arrows nums\"><strong><i>What&#8217;s Going On<\/i> is the eleventh <a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"Studio album\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Studio_album\">studio album<\/a> by American <a title=\"Soul music\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Soul_music\">soul<\/a> singer, songwriter, and producer <a title=\"Marvin Gaye\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Marvin_Gaye\">Marvin Gaye<\/a>. It was released on May 21, 1971, by the <a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"Motown Records\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Motown_Records\">Motown Records<\/a> subsidiary label Tamla. Recorded between 1970 and 1971 in sessions at <a title=\"Hitsville U.S.A.\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hitsville_U.S.A.\">Hitsville U.S.A.<\/a>, <a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"Golden World\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Golden_World\">Golden World<\/a>, and United Sound Studios in Detroit, and at <a title=\"The Sound Factory\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Sound_Factory\">The Sound Factory<\/a> in West Hollywood, California, it was Gaye&#8217;s first album to credit him as a producer and to credit Motown&#8217;s in-house studio band, the session musicians known as <a title=\"The Funk Brothers\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Funk_Brothers\">the Funk Brothers<\/a>.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p><strong><i>What&#8217;s Going On<\/i> is a <a title=\"Concept album\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Concept_album\">concept album<\/a> with most of its songs segueing into the next and has been categorized as a <a title=\"Song cycle\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Song_cycle\">song cycle<\/a>. The narrative established by the songs is told from the point of view of a <a title=\"Vietnam veteran\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Vietnam_veteran\">Vietnam veteran<\/a> returning to his home country to witness hatred, suffering, and injustice. Gaye&#8217;s introspective lyrics explore themes of drug abuse, poverty, and the <a title=\"Vietnam War\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Vietnam_War\">Vietnam War<\/a>. He has also been credited with promoting awareness of <a title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ecology\">ecological issues<\/a> before the public outcry over them had become prominent.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The album was an immediate commercial and critical success, and came to be viewed by music historians as a classic of 1970s soul. In 2001, a deluxe edition of the album was released, featuring a recording of Gaye&#8217;s May 1972 concert at the <a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"Kennedy Center\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kennedy_Center\">Kennedy Center<\/a> in Washington, D.C. Broad-ranging surveys of critics, musicians, and the general public have shown that <i>What&#8217;s Going On<\/i> is regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time and a landmark recording in popular music.\u00a0 In 2020, it was ranked number one on <i><a title=\"Rolling Stone\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rolling_Stone\">Rolling Stone<\/a><\/i><span class=\"nowrap\">&#8216;<\/span>s list of the <a title=\"Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rolling_Stone%27s_500_Greatest_Albums_of_All_Time\">500 Greatest Albums of All Time<\/a>.<sup id=\"cite_ref-:0_2-0\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong><span id=\"Release_and_promotion\" class=\"mw-headline\">Release and promotion<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Released on May 21, 1971, <i>What&#8217;s Going On<\/i> became Gaye&#8217;s first album to reach the <a title=\"Billboard 200\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Billboard_200\"><i>Billboard<\/i> Top LPs<\/a> top ten, peaking at number six, and staying on the chart for over a year, selling over two million copies, within twelve months after its release, becoming Motown&#8217;s and Gaye&#8217;s best-selling album to that date until he released <i><a title=\"Let's Get It On\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Let%27s_Get_It_On\">Let&#8217;s Get It On<\/a><\/i> in 1973. It also became Gaye&#8217;s second number-one album on <i>Billboard<\/i><span class=\"nowrap\">&#8216;<\/span>s <a title=\"Top R&amp;B\/Hip-Hop Albums\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Top_R%26B\/Hip-Hop_Albums\">Soul LPs<\/a> chart, where it stayed for nine weeks as well as staying inside the Billboard Soul LPs chart for a record breaking 58 weeks throughout 1971 and 1972. The title track, which had been released in January 1971 as the <a title=\"Lead single\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lead_single\">lead single<\/a> to promote the album, sold over 200,000 copies within its first week and eventually two-and-a-half-million units by the end of the year.<sup id=\"cite_ref-soundinsound_16-5\" class=\"reference\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/What%27s_Going_On_(Marvin_Gaye_album)#cite_note-soundinsound-16\">[16]<\/a><\/sup> It spent several weeks at number-two on the <a title=\"Billboard Hot 100\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Billboard_Hot_100\"><i>Billboard<\/i> Hot 100<\/a> behind <a title=\"Three Dog Night\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Three_Dog_Night\">Three Dog Night<\/a>&#8216;s &#8220;<a title=\"Joy to the World (Three Dog Night song)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Joy_to_the_World_(Three_Dog_Night_song)\">Joy to the World<\/a>&#8220;, and spent five weeks at number one on the <a title=\"Hot R&amp;B\/Hip-Hop Songs\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hot_R%26B\/Hip-Hop_Songs\">Soul Singles<\/a> chart between March 27 and April 24, 1971.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The follow-up single, &#8220;<a title=\"Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mercy_Mercy_Me_(The_Ecology)\">Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)<\/a>&#8220;, peaked at number-four on the Hot 100, and also went number-one on the R&amp;B chart. The third, and final, single, &#8220;<a title=\"Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Inner_City_Blues_(Make_Me_Wanna_Holler)\">Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)<\/a>&#8220;, peaked at number-nine on the Hot 100, while also rising to number-one on the R&amp;B chart, thus making Gaye the first male solo artist to place three top ten singles on the Hot 100 off one album, as well as the first artist to place three singles at number-one on any <i>Billboard<\/i> chart (in this case, R&amp;B), off one single album. The album had a modest commercial reception in countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom; &#8220;Save the Children&#8221; reached number 41 on the latter country&#8217;s singles chart, while the album reached number 56 twenty-five years after its original release. In 1984, the album re-entered the <i>Billboard<\/i> 200 following Gaye&#8217;s <a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"Death of Marvin Gaye\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Death_of_Marvin_Gaye\">untimely death<\/a>. In 1994, the album was certified <a title=\"List of music recording certifications\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/List_of_music_recording_certifications\">gold<\/a> by the <a title=\"Recording Industry Association of America\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Recording_Industry_Association_of_America\">Recording Industry Association of America<\/a> in the United States for sales of half a million copies after it was issued on CD. On July 22, 2013. According to Soundscan, it has since sold in excess of 1.6 million copies since sales tracking began in 1991. Furthermore, the album was certified platinum by the <a title=\"British Phonographic Industry\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/British_Phonographic_Industry\">British Phonographic Industry<\/a> for shipments of 300,000 albums.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Six months after the release of <i>What&#8217;s Going On<\/i>, <a title=\"Sly and the Family Stone\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sly_and_the_Family_Stone\">Sly and the Family Stone<\/a> released <i><a title=\"There's a Riot Goin' On\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/There%27s_a_Riot_Goin%27_On\">There&#8217;s a Riot Goin&#8217; On<\/a><\/i> (1971), titled in response to Gaye&#8217;s album.<sup id=\"cite_ref-23\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong><span id=\"Critical_reception\" class=\"mw-headline\">Critical reception<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<table class=\"wikitable floatright\">\n<caption><strong>Professional ratings<\/strong><\/caption>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th colspan=\"2\" scope=\"col\"><strong>Review scores<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"col\"><strong>Source<\/strong><\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\"><strong>Rating<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><a title=\"AllMusic\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/AllMusic\">AllMusic<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong><span title=\"5\/5 stars\" role=\"img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"5\/5 stars\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"5\/5 stars\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><\/span><sup id=\"cite_ref-Bush_24-0\" class=\"reference\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/What%27s_Going_On_(Marvin_Gaye_album)#cite_note-Bush-24\">[24]<\/a><\/sup><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a title=\"Chicago Tribune\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chicago_Tribune\">Chicago Tribune<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong><span title=\"4\/4 stars\" role=\"img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"4\/4 stars\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"4\/4 stars\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><\/span><sup id=\"cite_ref-Kot_25-0\" class=\"reference\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/What%27s_Going_On_(Marvin_Gaye_album)#cite_note-Kot-25\">[25]<\/a><\/sup><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a title=\"Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Christgau%27s_Record_Guide:_Rock_Albums_of_the_Seventies\">Christgau&#8217;s Record Guide<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>B+<sup id=\"cite_ref-CG81_26-0\" class=\"reference\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/What%27s_Going_On_(Marvin_Gaye_album)#cite_note-CG81-26\">[26]<\/a><\/sup><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a title=\"MusicHound\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/MusicHound\">MusicHound R&amp;B<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>5\/5<sup id=\"cite_ref-MH_27-0\" class=\"reference\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/What%27s_Going_On_(Marvin_Gaye_album)#cite_note-MH-27\">[27]<\/a><\/sup><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a title=\"The Observer\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Observer\">The Observer<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong><span title=\"5\/5 stars\" role=\"img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"5\/5 stars\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"5\/5 stars\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><\/span><sup id=\"cite_ref-Benson_28-0\" class=\"reference\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/What%27s_Going_On_(Marvin_Gaye_album)#cite_note-Benson-28\">[28]<\/a><\/sup><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a title=\"Rolling Stone\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rolling_Stone\">Rolling Stone<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong><span title=\"4\/5 stars\" role=\"img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"4\/5 stars\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"4\/5 stars\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/4\/49\/Star_empty.svg\/11px-Star_empty.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/4\/49\/Star_empty.svg\/17px-Star_empty.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/4\/49\/Star_empty.svg\/22px-Star_empty.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><\/span><sup id=\"cite_ref-29\" class=\"reference\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/What%27s_Going_On_(Marvin_Gaye_album)#cite_note-29\">[29]<\/a><\/sup><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a title=\"The Rolling Stone Album Guide\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Rolling_Stone_Album_Guide\">The Rolling Stone Album Guide<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong><span title=\"5\/5 stars\" role=\"img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"5\/5 stars\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"5\/5 stars\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><\/span><sup id=\"cite_ref-RS2004_30-0\" class=\"reference\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/What%27s_Going_On_(Marvin_Gaye_album)#cite_note-RS2004-30\">[30]<\/a><\/sup><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a title=\"Slant Magazine\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Slant_Magazine\">Slant Magazine<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong><span title=\"4\/5 stars\" role=\"img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"4\/5 stars\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"4\/5 stars\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/11px-Star_full.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/17px-Star_full.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/51\/Star_full.svg\/22px-Star_full.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/4\/49\/Star_empty.svg\/11px-Star_empty.svg.png\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/4\/49\/Star_empty.svg\/17px-Star_empty.svg.png 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/4\/49\/Star_empty.svg\/22px-Star_empty.svg.png 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"11\" height=\"11\" data-file-width=\"108\" data-file-height=\"110\" \/><\/span><sup id=\"cite_ref-Henderson_31-0\" class=\"reference\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/What%27s_Going_On_(Marvin_Gaye_album)#cite_note-Henderson-31\">[31]<\/a><\/sup><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><a title=\"Sputnikmusic\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sputnikmusic\">Sputnikmusic<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>3\/5<sup id=\"cite_ref-32\" class=\"reference\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/What%27s_Going_On_(Marvin_Gaye_album)#cite_note-32\">[32]<\/a><\/sup><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a title=\"The Village Voice\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Village_Voice\">The Village Voice<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>B<sup id=\"cite_ref-Christgau_33-0\" class=\"reference\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/What%27s_Going_On_(Marvin_Gaye_album)#cite_note-Christgau-33\">[33]<\/a><\/sup><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-20772\" src=\"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gaye.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"216\" height=\"233\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong><i>What&#8217;s Going On<\/i> was generally well received by contemporary critics. Writing for <i><a title=\"Rolling Stone\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rolling_Stone\">Rolling Stone<\/a><\/i> in 1971, <a title=\"Vince Aletti\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Vince_Aletti\">Vince Aletti<\/a> praised Gaye&#8217;s thematic approach towards social and political concerns, while discussing the surprise of Motown releasing such an album. In a joint review of <i>What&#8217;s Going On<\/i> and <a title=\"Stevie Wonder\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Stevie_Wonder\">Stevie Wonder<\/a>&#8216;s <i><a title=\"Where I'm Coming From\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Where_I%27m_Coming_From\">Where I&#8217;m Coming From<\/a><\/i>, Aletti wrote, &#8220;Ambitious, personal albums may be a glut on the market elsewhere, but at Motown they&#8217;re something new &#8230; the album as a whole takes precedence, absorbing its own flaws. There are very few performers who could carry a project like this off. I&#8217;ve always admired Marvin Gaye, but I didn&#8217;t expect that he would be one of them. Guess I seriously underestimated him. It won&#8217;t happen again.&#8221;\u00a0 <sup id=\"cite_ref-rs71_34-0\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup> <i><a title=\"Billboard (magazine)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Billboard_(magazine)\">Billboard<\/a><\/i> described the record as &#8220;a cross between <a title=\"Curtis Mayfield\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Curtis_Mayfield\">Curtis Mayfield<\/a> and that old <a title=\"Motown\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Motown#Motown_Sound\">Motown spell<\/a> and outdoes anything Gaye&#8217;s ever done&#8221;. <i><a title=\"Time (magazine)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Time_(magazine)\">Time<\/a><\/i> magazine hailed it as a &#8220;vast, melodically deft symphonic pop suite&#8221;.<sup id=\"cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMcKeen2000532_36-0\" class=\"reference\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/What%27s_Going_On_(Marvin_Gaye_album)#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMcKeen2000532-36\">[36]<\/a><\/sup> <i><a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"Village Voice\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Village_Voice\">Village Voice<\/a><\/i> critic <a title=\"Robert Christgau\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Robert_Christgau\">Robert Christgau<\/a> was less impressed. Writing in <i><a title=\"Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Christgau%27s_Record_Guide:_Rock_Albums_of_the_Seventies\">Christgau&#8217;s Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies<\/a><\/i> (1981), he deemed it both a &#8220;groundbreaking personal statement&#8221; and a Berry Gordy product, baited by three highly original singles but marred elsewhere by indistinct music and indulgent use of David Van De Pitte&#8217;s strings, which Christgau called &#8220;the lowest kind of movie-background dreck&#8221;.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>According to <a title=\"Paul Gambaccini\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Paul_Gambaccini\">Paul Gambaccini<\/a>, Gaye&#8217;s death in 1984 prompted a critical re-evaluation of the album, and most reviewers have since regarded it as an important masterpiece of popular music. In <i><a title=\"MusicHound\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/MusicHound\">MusicHound R&amp;B<\/a><\/i> (1998), <a title=\"Gary Graff\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gary_Graff\">Gary Graff<\/a> said <i>What&#8217;s Going On<\/i> was &#8220;not just a great Gaye album but is one of the great pop albums of all time&#8221;, and <i>Rolling Stone<\/i> later credited the album for having &#8220;revolutionized black music&#8221;.\u00a0 <i><a title=\"The Washington Post\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Washington_Post\">The Washington Post<\/a><\/i> critic <a title=\"Geoffrey Himes\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Geoffrey_Himes\">Geoffrey Himes<\/a> names it an exemplary release of the <a title=\"Progressive soul\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Progressive_soul\">progressive soul<\/a> development from 1968 to 1973,\u00a0 and <i><a title=\"Pitchfork (website)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pitchfork_(website)\">Pitchfork<\/a><\/i><span class=\"nowrap\">&#8216;<\/span>s Tom Breihan calls it a prog-soul masterpiece.\u00a0 <a title=\"BBC Music\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/BBC_Music\">BBC Music<\/a>&#8216;s David Katz described the album as &#8220;one of the greatest albums of all time, and nothing short of a masterpiece&#8221; and compared it to <a title=\"Miles Davis\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Miles_Davis\">Miles Davis<\/a>&#8216; <i><a title=\"Kind of Blue\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kind_of_Blue\">Kind of Blue<\/a><\/i> by saying &#8220;its non-standard musical arrangements, which heralded a new sound at the time, gives it a chilling edge that ultimately underscores its gravity, with subtle orchestral enhancements offset by percolating congas, expertly layered above James Jamerson&#8217;s bubbling bass&#8221;.\u00a0 In his 1994 review of Gaye&#8217;s re-issues, <i><a title=\"Chicago Tribune\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chicago_Tribune\">Chicago Tribune<\/a><\/i> reviewer <a title=\"Greg Kot\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Greg_Kot\">Greg Kot<\/a> described the album as &#8220;soul music&#8217;s first &#8216;art&#8217; album, an inner-city response to the Celtic mysticism of <a title=\"Van Morrison\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Van_Morrison\">Van Morrison<\/a>&#8216;s <i><a title=\"Astral Weeks\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Astral_Weeks\">Astral Weeks<\/a><\/i>, the <a title=\"Psychedelic pop\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Psychedelic_pop\">psychedelic pop<\/a> of <a title=\"The Beatles\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Beatles\">The Beatles<\/a>&#8216; <i><a title=\"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sgt._Pepper%27s_Lonely_Hearts_Club_Band\">Sgt. Pepper&#8217;s Lonely Hearts Club Band<\/a><\/i> [and] the rewired blues of <a title=\"Bob Dylan\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bob_Dylan\">Bob Dylan<\/a>&#8216;s <i><a title=\"Highway 61 Revisited\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Highway_61_Revisited\">Highway 61 Revisited<\/a><\/i>.&#8221; <a title=\"Richie Unterberger\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Richie_Unterberger\">Richie Unterberger<\/a> found the album somewhat overrated, writing in <i><a title=\"Rough Guides\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rough_Guides\">The Rough Guide to Rock<\/a><\/i> (2003) that much of its &#8220;meandering introspection&#8221; paled in comparison to its three singles.<sup id=\"cite_ref-40\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A remastered deluxe edition with 28 additional tracks was released on May 31, 2011, to similar acclaim. At <a title=\"Metacritic\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Metacritic\">Metacritic<\/a>, which assigns a <a title=\"Standard score\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Standard_score\">normalized<\/a> rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an <a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"Weighted mean\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Weighted_mean\">average<\/a> score of 100, based on ten reviews.<sup id=\"cite_ref-Metacritic_41-0\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong><span id=\"Accolades\" class=\"mw-headline\">Accolades<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>In 1985, writers on British music weekly the <i><a title=\"NME\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/NME\">NME<\/a><\/i> voted it best album of all time.\u00a0 In 2004, the album&#8217;s title track was ranked number four on <i>Rolling Stone<\/i><span class=\"nowrap\">&#8216;<\/span>s list of the <a title=\"Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rolling_Stone%27s_500_Greatest_Songs_of_All_Time\">500 Greatest Songs of All Time<\/a>.\u00a0 <sup id=\"cite_ref-43\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup> A 1999 critics&#8217; poll conducted by British newspaper <i><a title=\"The Guardian\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Guardian\">The Guardian<\/a><\/i> named it the &#8220;Greatest Album of the 20th Century&#8221;. In 1997, <i>What&#8217;s Going On<\/i> was named the 17th greatest album of all time in a <a title=\"Opinion poll\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Opinion_poll\">poll<\/a> conducted in the United Kingdom by <a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"HMV Group\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/HMV_Group\">HMV Group<\/a>, <a title=\"Channel 4\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Channel_4\">Channel 4<\/a>, <i><a title=\"The Guardian\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Guardian\">The Guardian<\/a><\/i> and <a title=\"Classic FM (UK)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Classic_FM_(UK)\">Classic FM<\/a>. In 1997, <i>The Guardian<\/i> ranked the album number one on its list of the 100 Best Albums Ever. In 1998 <a title=\"Q (magazine)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Q_(magazine)\"><i>Q<\/i> magazine<\/a> readers placed it at number 97, while in 2001 the <a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"TV network\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/TV_network\">TV network<\/a> <a title=\"VH1\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/VH1\">VH1<\/a> placed it at number 4. In 2003, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the <a title=\"Library of Congress\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Library_of_Congress\">Library of Congress<\/a> to be added to the <a title=\"National Recording Registry\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/National_Recording_Registry\">National Recording Registry<\/a>. <i>What&#8217;s Going On<\/i> was ranked number 6 on <i>Rolling Stone<\/i> magazine&#8217;s 2003 list of the <a title=\"Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rolling_Stone%27s_500_Greatest_Albums_of_All_Time\">500 Greatest Albums of All Time<\/a>, one of three Gaye albums to be included, succeeded by 1973&#8217;s <i><a title=\"Let's Get It On\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Let%27s_Get_It_On\">Let&#8217;s Get It On<\/a><\/i> (number 165) and 1978&#8217;s <i><a title=\"Here, My Dear\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Here,_My_Dear\">Here, My Dear<\/a><\/i> (number 462). The album is Gaye&#8217;s highest-ranking entry on the list, as well as several other publications&#8217; lists. In a revised 2020 list, this time voted on by musicians instead of music critics, the album moved up to the top spot, replacing The Beatles&#8217; <i>Sgt. Pepper&#8217;s Lonely Hearts Club Band<\/i>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<table class=\"wikitable\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th><strong>Publication<\/strong><\/th>\n<th><strong>Country<\/strong><\/th>\n<th><strong>Accolade<sup id=\"cite_ref-acclaimed_47-0\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup><\/strong><\/th>\n<th><strong>Year<\/strong><\/th>\n<th><strong>Rank<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Bill Shapiro<\/strong><\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"21\"><strong>United States<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The Top 100 Rock Compact Discs<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1991<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>*<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Jimmy Guteman<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The Best Rock &#8216;n&#8217; Roll Records of All Time<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1992<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>*<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Chris Smith<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>101 Albums That Changed Popular Music<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2009<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>*<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><a title=\"Elvis Costello\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Elvis_Costello\">Elvis Costello<\/a> (<i><a title=\"Vanity Fair (magazine)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Vanity_Fair_(magazine)\">Vanity Fair<\/a><\/i>, Issue No. 483)<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>500 Albums You Need<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2005<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>*<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Chuck Eddy<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The Accidental Evolution of Rock&#8217;n&#8217;Roll<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1997<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>*<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Consequence of Sound<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Top 100 Albums Ever<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2010<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>19<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a title=\"Vibe (magazine)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Vibe_(magazine)\">Vibe<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1999<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>*<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><a title=\"Ecology\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Dave_Marsh\">Dave Marsh<\/a> &amp; Kevin Stein<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The 40 Best of Album Chartmakers by Year<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1981<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>7<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/USA_Today\">USA Today<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Top 40 Albums of All Time<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2003<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>*<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a title=\"Gear (magazine)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gear_(magazine)\">Gear<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The 100 Greatest Albums of the Century<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1999<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>2<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a title=\"Life (magazine)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Life_(magazine)\">Life<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Dozen Discs That Shook the World<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2005<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>*<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"Pitchfork Media\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pitchfork_Media\">Pitchfork<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Top 100 Albums of the 1970s<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2004<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>49<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i>Rolling Stone<\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The Essential 200 Rock Records<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1997<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>*<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i>Rolling Stone<\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong><a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_500_Greatest_Albums_of_All_Time\">The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2003<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>6<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i>Rolling Stone<\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2020<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>1<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a title=\"Spin (magazine)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Spin_(magazine)\">Spin<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong><i>15 Most Influential Albums Not By Beatles, Stones, Dylan or Elvis<\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2003<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>*<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><a title=\"USA Today\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Recording_Academy\">The Recording Academy<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong><a title=\"Grammy Hall of Fame\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Grammy_Hall_of_Fame\">Grammy Hall of Fame Albums and Songs<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1998<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>*<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><a title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kitsap_Sun\">Kitsap Sun<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Top 200 Albums of the Last 40 Years<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2005<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>32<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Robert Dimery<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2005<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>*<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a title=\"Time (magazine)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Time_(magazine)\">Time<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Top 100 Albums of All Time<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2006<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>*<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Paul Gambaccini<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The World Critics Best Albums of All Time<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1987<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>4<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><a title=\"Kitsap Sun\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gary_Pig_Gold\">Gary Pig Gold<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"\"><strong>Canada<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The 40 Most Influential Records of the 20th Century<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1999<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>*<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Guardian\">The Guardian<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"18\"><strong>United Kingdom<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2007<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>*<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i>The Guardian<\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The 100 Best Albums Ever<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1997<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>1<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a title=\"Melody Maker\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Melody_Maker\">Melody Maker<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>All Time Top 100 Albums<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2000<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>24<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a title=\"Mojo (magazine)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mojo_(magazine)\">Mojo<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The 100 Greatest Albums Ever Made<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1995<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>6<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i>Mojo<\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong><i>The 100 Records That Changed the World<\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2007<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>63<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"New Musical Express\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/New_Musical_Express\">NME<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>All Times Top 100 Albums<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1985<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>1<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i>NME<\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>All Times Top 100 Albums + Top 50 by Decade<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1993<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>4<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i>NME<\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Top 100 Albums of All Time<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2003<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>27<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a title=\"Q (magazine)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Q_(magazine)\">Q<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The 50 Best Albums of the 70s<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1998<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>20<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i>Q<\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The Ultimate Music Collection<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2005<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>*<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a title=\"Sounds (magazine)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sounds_(magazine)\">Sounds<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The 100 Best Albums of All Time<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1986<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>15<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i>The New Nation<\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Top 100 Albums by Black Artists<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2005<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>1<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><a title=\"Paul Gambaccini\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Paul_Gambaccini\">Paul Gambaccini<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The World Critics Best Albums of All Time<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1977<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>106<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Paul Gambaccini<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The World Critics Best Albums of All Time<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1987<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>4<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a title=\"The Guardian\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Observer\">The Observer<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>50 Albums That Changed Music 1956\u20132006<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2006<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>6<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Times\">The Times<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The 100 Best Albums of All Time<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1993<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>49<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Times Online<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The 20 Most Influential Albums<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2008<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>17<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Vox<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>100 Records that Shook the World<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1991<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>*<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i>Hot Press<\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"2\"><strong>Ireland<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The 100 Best Albums of All Time<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1989<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>23<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i>Hot Press<\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The 100 Best Albums Ever<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2003<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>41<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i>Adresseavisen<\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"7\"><strong>Norway<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The 100 (+23) Best Albums of All Time<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1995<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>4<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i>Aftenposten<\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Top 50 Albums of All Time<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1999<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>3<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i>Dagbladet<\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The Best Albums of the Century<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1999<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>*<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Eggen &amp; Kartvedt<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The Guide to the 100 Important Rock Albums<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1999<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>*<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Panorama<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The 30 Best Albums of the Year 1970\u201398<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1999<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>2<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Platekompaniet<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Top 100 Albums of All Time<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2001<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>12<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Tor Milde<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The 100 Best Pop and Rock Albums of All Time<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2004<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>2<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Expressen<\/strong><\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"3\"><strong>Sweden<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The 100 Best Records Ever<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1999<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>8<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Slitz<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The 50 Best Albums of All Time<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1990<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>13<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Pop<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The World&#8217;s 100 Best Albums + 300 Complements<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1994<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>14<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Soundi<\/strong><\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"\"><strong>Finland<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The 50 Best Albums of All Time + Top 10 by Decade<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1995<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>4<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a title=\"OOR\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/OOR\">OOR<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"3\"><strong>Netherlands<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The Best Albums of the 70s<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1979<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>19<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>OOR<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The 100 Best Albums of All Time<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2007<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>5<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><a title=\"VPRO\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/VPRO\">VPRO<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>299 Nominations of the Best Album of All Time<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2006<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>*<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Musik Express\/Sounds<\/strong><\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"3\"><strong>Germany<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The 100 Masterpieces<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1993<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>22<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Spex<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The 100 Albums of the Century<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1999<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>6<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Sounds<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The 50 Best Albums of the 1970s<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2009<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>1<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Volume<\/strong><\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"\"><strong>France<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>200 Records that Changed the World<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2008<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>*<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i>RockDelux<\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"2\"><strong>Spain<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The 100 Best Albums of the 1970s<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1988<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>1<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i>RockDelux<\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The 200 Best Albums of All Time<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2002<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>2<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Alternative Melbourne<\/strong><\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"2\"><strong>Australia<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>The Top 100 Rock\/Pop Albums<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1996<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>67<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><i><a title=\"The Courier-Mail\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Courier-Mail\">The Courier-Mail<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>50 Defining Rock Albums<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>2005<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>5<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"7\" align=\"center\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<table class=\"wikitable\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"7\" align=\"center\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2><span id=\"Awards_and_honors\" class=\"mw-headline\">Awards and honors<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>The <a title=\"Rock and Roll Hall of Fame\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rock_and_Roll_Hall_of_Fame\">Rock and Roll Hall of Fame<\/a> inducted him in 1987, declaring that Gaye &#8220;made a huge contribution to soul music in general and the Motown Sound in particular&#8221;. The page stated that Gaye &#8220;possessed a classic <a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"R&amp;B\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/R%26B\">R&amp;B<\/a> voice that was edged with grit yet tempered with sweetness&#8221;. The page further states that Gaye &#8220;projected an air of soulful authority driven by fervid conviction and heartbroken vulnerability&#8221;.<sup id=\"cite_ref-Marvin_Gaye_Biography_111-1\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup> A year after his death, then-mayor of D.C., <a title=\"Marion Barry\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Marion_Barry\">Marion Barry<\/a> declared April 2 as &#8220;Marvin Gaye Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund Day&#8221; in the city. Since then, a non-profit organization has helped to organize annual Marvin Gaye Day Celebrations in the city of Washington.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A year later, Gaye&#8217;s mother founded the Marvin P. Gaye Jr. Memorial Foundation in dedication to her son to help those suffering from <a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"Drug abuse\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Drug_abuse\">drug abuse<\/a> and alcoholism; however she died a day before the memorial was set to open in 1987.<sup id=\"cite_ref-FOOTNOTEJet198757_137-0\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup> Gaye&#8217;s sister Jeanne once served as the foundation&#8217;s chairperson. In 1988, a year after his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, Gaye was inducted posthumously to the <a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"NAACP Image Award - Hall of Fame Award\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/NAACP_Image_Award_-_Hall_of_Fame_Award\">NAACP Hall of Fame<\/a>. In 1990, Gaye received a star on the <a title=\"Hollywood Walk of Fame\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hollywood_Walk_of_Fame\">Hollywood Walk of Fame<\/a>. In 1996, Gaye posthumously received the <a title=\"Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Grammy_Lifetime_Achievement_Award\">Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award<\/a>. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed three Gaye recordings, &#8220;I Heard It Through the Grapevine&#8221;, &#8220;What&#8217;s Going On&#8221; and &#8220;Sexual Healing&#8221;, among its list of the <i>500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll<\/i>. American music magazine <i><a title=\"Rolling Stone\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rolling_Stone\">Rolling Stone<\/a><\/i> ranked Gaye No. 18 on their <a title=\"Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rolling_Stone%27s_100_Greatest_Artists_of_All_Time\">list of the &#8220;100 Greatest Artists of All Time&#8221;<\/a>, sixth on their list of &#8220;100 Greatest Singers of All Time&#8221; and number 82 on their list of <a title=\"Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rolling_Stone%27s_100_Greatest_Songwriters_of_All_Time\">the &#8220;100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time&#8221;<\/a>.<sup id=\"cite_ref-songwriters_144-0\" class=\"reference\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Marvin_Gaye#cite_note-songwriters-144\">[140]<\/a><\/sup> <i><a title=\"Q (magazine)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Q_(magazine)\">Q<\/a><\/i> magazine ranked Gaye sixth on their list of the &#8220;100 Greatest Singers&#8221;.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Three of Gaye&#8217;s albums \u2013 <i><a title=\"What's Going On (Marvin Gaye album)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/What%27s_Going_On_(Marvin_Gaye_album)\">What&#8217;s Going On<\/a><\/i> (1971), <i><a title=\"Let's Get It On\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Let%27s_Get_It_On\">Let&#8217;s Get It On<\/a><\/i> (1973), and <i><a title=\"Here, My Dear\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Here,_My_Dear\">Here, My Dear<\/a><\/i> (1978) \u2013 were ranked by <i><a title=\"Rolling Stone\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rolling_Stone\">Rolling Stone<\/a><\/i> on their list of the <a title=\"Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rolling_Stone%27s_500_Greatest_Albums_of_All_Time\">500 Greatest Albums of All Time<\/a>. <i>What&#8217;s Going On<\/i> remains his largest-ranked album, reaching No. 6 on the <i>Rolling Stone<\/i> list and topped the <a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"New Musical Express\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/New_Musical_Express\">NME<\/a> list of the <i>Top 100 Albums of All Time<\/i> in 1985<sup id=\"cite_ref-146\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup> and was later chosen in 2003 for inclusion by the <a title=\"Library of Congress\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Library_of_Congress\">Library of Congress<\/a> to its <a title=\"National Recording Registry\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/National_Recording_Registry\">National Recording Registry<\/a>. In a revised 2020 <i>Rolling Stone<\/i> list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, <i>What&#8217;s Going On<\/i> was listed as the greatest album of all time. In addition, four of his songs \u2013 &#8220;I Heard It Through the Grapevine&#8221;, &#8220;What&#8217;s Going On&#8221;, &#8220;Let&#8217;s Get It On&#8221; and &#8220;Sexual Healing&#8221; \u2013 made it on the <i>Rolling Stone<\/i> list of the <i><a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"500 Greatest Songs of All Time\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/500_Greatest_Songs_of_All_Time\">500 Greatest Songs of All Time<\/a><\/i>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>In 2005, Marvin Gaye was voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame.<sup id=\"cite_ref-148\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"thumb tright\">\n<div class=\"thumbinner\">\n<p><strong><a class=\"image\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File:Marvin_Gaye_post_office_dedication.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumbimage\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/5a\/Marvin_Gaye_post_office_dedication.jpg\/220px-Marvin_Gaye_post_office_dedication.jpg\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/5a\/Marvin_Gaye_post_office_dedication.jpg\/330px-Marvin_Gaye_post_office_dedication.jpg 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/5a\/Marvin_Gaye_post_office_dedication.jpg\/440px-Marvin_Gaye_post_office_dedication.jpg 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"220\" height=\"147\" data-file-width=\"2048\" data-file-height=\"1365\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"thumbcaption\">\n<div class=\"magnify\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"thumb tright\">\n<div class=\"thumbinner\">\n<div class=\"thumbcaption\"><strong><a title=\"Karen Bass\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Karen_Bass\">Karen Bass<\/a> and Gaye&#8217;s family at the dedication of the Marvin Gaye Post Office in Los Angeles in 2019.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>In 2006, Watts Branch Park, a park in Washington that Gaye frequented as a teenager, was renamed Marvin Gaye Park.<sup id=\"cite_ref-149\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup> Three years later, the 5200 block of Foote Street NE in <a title=\"Deanwood\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Deanwood\">Deanwood<\/a>, Washington, D.C., was renamed Marvin Gaye Way. In August 2014, Gaye was inducted to the official <a title=\"Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rhythm_and_Blues_Music_Hall_of_Fame\">Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame<\/a> in its second class. In October 2015, the <a title=\"Songwriters Hall of Fame\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Songwriters_Hall_of_Fame\">Songwriters Hall of Fame<\/a> announced Gaye as a nominee for induction to the Hall&#8217;s 2016 class after posthumous nominations were included.\u00a0 Gaye was named as a posthumous inductee to that hall on March 2, 2016.<sup id=\"cite_ref-154\" class=\"reference\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Marvin_Gaye#cite_note-154\">[150]<\/a><\/sup><sup id=\"cite_ref-155\" class=\"reference\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Marvin_Gaye#cite_note-155\">[151]<\/a><\/sup> Gaye was subsequently inducted to the Songwriters Hall on June 9, 2016.\u00a0 In July 2018, a bill by California politician <a title=\"Karen Bass\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Karen_Bass\">Karen Bass<\/a> to rename a post office in <a title=\"South Los Angeles\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/South_Los_Angeles\">South Los Angeles<\/a> after Gaye was signed into law by President <a title=\"Donald Trump\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Donald_Trump\">Donald Trump<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Album that turns 50 in 2021 that everyone should listen to, What&#8217;s Going On, By Marvin Gaye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 4 Music and lyrics &#8220;What&#8217;s Going On,&#8221; the title track, features soulful, passionate vocals and multi-tracked background singing, both by Gaye. The song had strong jazz, gospel, classical music orchestration, and arrangements. Reviewer Eric Henderson of Slant [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2405,11,8,1314,1456,1156,2416,13,14,1,9,10],"tags":[4242,4245,3066,4243,4241,4244],"class_list":["post-20770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-business","category-entertainment","category-global-business-entrepreneurs","category-global-news-updates-and-more","category-global-sports","category-hall-of-fame","category-health","category-most-commented","category-news","category-us","category-world","tag-1939-washington","tag-1984-aged-44-los-angeles","tag-california","tag-d-c","tag-marvin-gaye-marvin-gaye-1973-publicity-photo-jpg-gaye-in-1973-born-marvin-pentz-gay-jr-april-2","tag-u-s-died-april-1","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}