Marvin Gaye Trivia
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60 free Marvin Gaye trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Marvin Gaye trivia quiz follows the Prince of Motown from a Washington, D.C. housing project to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The early questions cover the doo-wop years with Harvey Fuqua, his session-drumming days at Motown, and the string of 1960s hits written for him by Holland-Dozier-Holland and Smokey Robinson. From there it moves through the Tammi Terrell duets, the seven-week reign of I Heard It Through the Grapevine, and the fight with Berry Gordy that produced What's Going On. The back half of the quiz covers the 1970s concept albums, the alimony album Here, My Dear, the tax exile that ended in a seaside apartment in Ostend, Belgium, and the comeback of Sexual Healing and Midnight Love. It finishes with the national anthem at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game, his death at his father's hands the day before his 45th birthday, and the awards, stamps, lawsuits and biopics that followed. Difficulty ranges from questions any soul fan can answer to details only a devoted collector will know. Every answer was checked against the Wikipedia article on Marvin Gaye, and each explanation adds one more detail worth remembering.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which U.S. city was Marvin Gaye born and raised?
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.: he was born at Freedman's Hospital and grew up in public housing in the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood, which he and his friends nicknamed 'Simple City'.
Q 02Which Motown subsidiary label released Marvin Gaye's music?
Tamla
Tamla signed a singer who wanted to be a crooner in the Nat King Cole mould; only when those early records flopped did he turn to R&B.
Q 03Marvin Gaye's first Billboard Hot 100 number one, in December 1968, was his recording of which song?
I Heard It Through the Grapevine
I Heard It Through the Grapevine had been held back by Berry Gordy, who preferred another single; released at last in 1968, it stayed at number one for seven weeks.
Q 04Which duet partner collapsed in Marvin Gaye's arms on stage in October 1967?
Tammi Terrell
Tammi Terrell collapsed into Gaye's arms mid-show on October 14, 1967; doctors found a brain tumor, and she died in March 1970 aged 24 after several operations.
Q 05Renaldo 'Obie' Benson, who brought Marvin Gaye the song 'What's Going On', sang with which Motown group?
The Four Tops
The Four Tops' bass singer wrote it with Al Cleveland and pressed Gaye to sing it himself; Motown boss Berry Gordy at first refused to release what became a No. 2 hit.
Q 06Which studio band did Marvin Gaye credit on the What's Going On cover?
The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers had played on Motown's hits without public credit until Gaye listed their names on the What's Going On cover in 1971; Motown's move to Los Angeles a year later broke the band up.
Q 07Which two pro football players sang harmony vocals on 'What's Going On'?
Mel Farr and Lem Barney
Mel Farr and Lem Barney, friends from Gaye's 1970 bid for a pro football tryout, joined the mock party chatter that opens the song and sang backing harmonies.
Q 08Which sister of Motown founder Berry Gordy became Marvin Gaye's first wife?
Anna
Anna Gordy and Gaye had a stormy marriage that ended in a drawn-out divorce, and the settlement became the subject of his 1978 double album.
Q 09Which 1978 Marvin Gaye album was made so its royalties could go toward his divorce settlement?
Here, My Dear
Here, My Dear: with the proceeds pledged to his ex-wife, Gaye made their failed marriage the album's subject; it stalled at No. 26 on the pop chart but is now counted among his finest work.
Q 10In which Belgian city did Marvin Gaye live in 1981-82 and write 'Sexual Healing'?
Ostend
Ostend: Gaye went to the North Sea resort in 1981 to recover from his drug problems, stayed about 18 months and wrote 'Sexual Healing' there.
Q 11Marvin Gaye left Motown in 1982 and signed with which company?
CBS Records
CBS Records: Gaye quit Motown after it issued an album without his consent, and CBS placed him on its Columbia label, where Midnight Love became his comeback.
Q 12Which first did 'Sexual Healing' bring Marvin Gaye?
A Grammy
A Grammy Award: after two decades of hits without a win, Gaye took home two in February 1983 for 'Sexual Healing', which itself peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100.
Q 13At which 1983 sporting event did Marvin Gaye sing his slowed-down, soulful national anthem?
The NBA All-Star Game
The NBA All-Star Game: after a shaky rehearsal worried organizers, Gaye sang over a drum-machine tape at The Forum in Inglewood, and his anthem became the game's best-remembered moment.
Q 21Which Marvelettes hit did Marvin Gaye co-write in 1962?
Beechwood 4-5789
Beechwood 4-5789: Gaye wrote it with Mickey Stevenson and George Gordy, it climbed to No. 17 on the Hot 100, and the Carpenters put it back on the chart with a 1982 cover.
Q 22Who wrote 'I'll Be Doggone' and 'Ain't That Peculiar', Marvin Gaye's first two R&B number ones?
Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson wrote both 1965 singles with fellow Miracles, and the group sang the backing vocals on 'I'll Be Doggone', Gaye's first million-seller.
Q 23With which singer did Marvin Gaye record the hit duet 'It Takes Two'?
Kim Weston
Q 14Marvin Gaye was shot dead on April 1, 1984, one day before which occasion?
His 45th birthday
His 45th birthday: Gaye, born April 2, 1939, was shot at his parents' Los Angeles home with a revolver he himself had given his father.
Q 15To what charge did Marvin Gay Sr. plead no contest after the original first-degree murder charge was reduced?
Voluntary manslaughter
Voluntary manslaughter: Gay Sr. entered the plea in September 1984 and walked free on a six-year suspended sentence with five years' probation; he died in a nursing home in 1998.
Q 16Under which name did Marvin Gaye's group the Marquees record for Chess after moving to Chicago in the late 1950s?
Harvey and the New Moonglows
Harvey and the New Moonglows: Harvey Fuqua drafted the Marquees to replace his original Moonglows, then took Gaye on to Detroit, the road that led him to Motown.
Q 17Which U.S. military branch did a teenage Marvin Gaye join after dropping out of high school?
Air Force
Air Force: he served only briefly before a discharge whose paperwork noted that he could not adjust to regimentation or authority.
Q 18Which rock and roll pioneer helped Marvin Gaye's group the Marquees make their only single, 'Wyatt Earp'?
Bo Diddley
Bo Diddley took the Marquees to OKeh after failing to get them signed to his own label, Chess, and produced the single, which sold poorly.
Q 19What instrument did Marvin Gaye play as a Motown session musician on 'Dancing in the Street' and 'Fingertips'?
Drums
Drums: before his own hits, Gaye earned his keep as a Motown session drummer and went out on the road as the Miracles' drummer.
Q 20What was Marvin Gaye's first hit single as a solo artist, released in 1962?
Stubborn Kind of Fellow
Stubborn Kind of Fellow: Gaye wanted to croon standards, but after those records failed he reluctantly cut this R&B dance tune, and it reached No. 8 on the R&B chart.
Kim Weston left Motown for MGM around the time 'It Takes Two' became a No. 14 hit, and the label soon paired Gaye with a new duet partner.
Q 24Which duet earned Marvin Gaye his first Grammy nomination?
Ain't No Mountain High Enough
Ain't No Mountain High Enough peaked at only No. 19 on the pop chart, yet it brought the nomination, for Best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance, before any of his solo hits had earned one.
Q 25At which ballpark did Marvin Gaye sing the national anthem before Game 4 of the 1968 World Series?
Tiger Stadium
Tiger Stadium: in Motown's home city, Gaye kept the anthem simple as the Tigers hosted the St. Louis Cardinals, who won that day before Detroit took the Series in seven games.
Q 26For which 1972 blaxploitation film did Marvin Gaye produce the soundtrack and score?
Trouble Man
Trouble Man: Gaye wrote and produced the score instead of repeating What's Going On, and in Captain America: The Winter Soldier the Falcon tells Cap the album is essential catching-up.
Q 27Which Marvin Gaye single became his second Hot 100 number one, in September 1973?
Let's Get It On
Let's Get It On topped the Hot 100 in September 1973; while he was making the record Gaye met Janis Hunter, who would become his second wife.
Q 28Which Motown star was Marvin Gaye's partner on his final duet album?
Diana Ross
Diana Ross, then pregnant, objected to Gaye smoking in the studio, and by their engineer's account the two recorded most of Diana & Marvin apart.
Q 29Marvin Gaye persuaded Frankie Beverly to rename his band from Raw Soul to what?
Maze
Maze: after his sister-in-law pointed the band out, Gaye took Frankie Beverly's group on the road as his opening act and urged them to find a better name than Raw Soul.
Q 30Which Marvin Gaye number one was a studio track on 1977's Live at the London Palladium?
Got to Give It Up
Got to Give It Up: pressed by Motown for a disco record, Gaye answered with a parody of the genre, tucked onto the live album's last side, and it topped the pop, R&B and dance charts.