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.
He was born at Freedman's Hospital in 1939 and grew up in public housing in the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood, an area he and his friends nicknamed 'Simple City'.
Q 02Which Motown subsidiary label released Marvin Gaye's music?
Tamla
Harvey Fuqua brought him to Berry Gordy, and he reportedly signed on September 19, 1960, selling Fuqua's half-interest in him to the label.
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
It stayed on top for seven consecutive weeks and sold more than four million copies, but lost the Grammy to Otis Redding's '(Sittin' On) the Dock of the Bay'.
Q 04Which duet partner collapsed in Marvin Gaye's arms on stage in October 1967?
Tammi Terrell
Doctors found a malignant brain tumor; she died in March 1970 after seven operations, and Gaye was devastated.
Q 05Which Four Tops member brought Marvin Gaye the idea for 'What's Going On' after a Berkeley rally?
Renaldo 'Obie' Benson
Berry Gordy refused to release the song at first, calling it too political for radio, so Gaye refused to record anything else until it came out.
Q 06How many days did Marvin Gaye spend recording the What's Going On album in March 1971?
Ten
He had won creative control by giving Motown an ultimatum, and remixed the album in Hollywood before its May release.
Q 07Which two Detroit Lions players sang harmony vocals on 'What's Going On'?
Mel Farr and Lem Barney
Gaye had tried to join the Lions after Tammi Terrell's death; the team declined a tryout but the friendships stuck, and both men later received gold records.
Q 08Which sister of Berry Gordy did Marvin Gaye marry in June 1963?
Anna
The contentious marriage ended in 1977 after a two-year divorce trial, and later inspired an entire album.
Q 09Which 1978 Marvin Gaye album was recorded so part of its royalties could go to his first wife as alimony?
Here, My Dear
It performed poorly at the time but was later ranked among Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Q 10In which Belgian seaside town did Marvin Gaye live in 1981-82 and write 'Sexual Healing'?
Ostend
He moved into promoter Freddy Cousaert's apartment, cut back on drugs, took up exercise and started attending a local church.
Q 11Marvin Gaye left Motown in 1982 and signed with which company?
CBS Records
He was assigned to the Columbia subsidiary, and the contract terms were kept secret to avoid affecting his settlement with the IRS.
Q 12How many consecutive weeks did 'Sexual Healing' spend at number one on the Hot Black Singles chart?
Ten
That set an R&B chart record that stood until Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You' broke it in February 1993.
Q 13At which event on February 13, 1983, did Marvin Gaye give his slowed-down national anthem?
The NBA All-Star Game
Guitarist Gordon Banks played the backing tape from the stands at The Forum in Inglewood, and the slow, soulful rendition is still regarded as one of the greatest ever.
Q 21Which Marvelettes hit did Marvin Gaye co-write and play drums on in 1962?
Beechwood 4-5789
It was his first success as a songwriter, arriving the same year as his first solo hit.
Q 22Who wrote 'I'll Be Doggone' and 'Ain't That Peculiar', Marvin Gaye's first two R&B number ones?
Smokey Robinson
Both 1965 singles sold a million copies each and reached the Billboard Hot 100 top ten.
Q 23With which singer did Marvin Gaye record the 1966 top-20 duet 'It Takes Two'?
Kim Weston
It came during a chart lull when Gaye could not land a solo top-ten follow-up, and it revived his duet career.
Q 14Marvin Gaye was shot dead on April 1, 1984, the day before which birthday?
His 45th
He was pronounced dead at 1:01 p.m. at California Hospital Medical Center; his father was later given a suspended sentence for voluntary manslaughter.
Q 15To what charge did Marvin Gay Sr. plead no contest after the original first-degree murder charge was reduced?
Voluntary manslaughter
The reduction followed a diagnosis of a brain tumor; he received a six-year suspended sentence and five years of probation, and died in a nursing home in 1998.
Q 16Under which name did Marvin Gaye's group the Marquees record for Chess in 1959 after moving to Chicago?
Harvey and the New Moonglows
Fuqua hired Gaye's quartet the Marquees and renamed them; the group also sang backing vocals on Chuck Berry's 'Back in the U.S.A.' and 'Almost Grown'.
Q 17Which U.S. military branch did 17-year-old Marvin Gaye join after dropping out of school in 1956?
Air Force
He hated the menial labor, feigned mental illness and got a general discharge; his sergeant wrote that 'Airman Gay cannot adjust to regimentation nor authority'.
Q 18Which rock and roll pioneer co-wrote the Marquees' only single, 'Wyatt Earp'?
Bo Diddley
He tried to get the group signed to Chess, then sent them to OKeh instead; the single flopped and the group was dropped.
Q 19What instrument did Marvin Gaye play as a Motown session musician on 'Dancing in the Street' and 'Fingertips'?
Drums
He was paid about $5 a week for session work in 1961 and also toured as the Miracles' drummer that year.
Q 20What was Marvin Gaye's first solo hit, released in September 1962?
Stubborn Kind of Fellow
It reached No. 8 on the R&B chart, and he sang it in the raspy gospel tone he adopted for his early dance records.
Q 24Which duet earned Marvin Gaye his first Grammy nomination?
Ain't No Mountain High Enough
He was nominated for Best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance, Vocal or Instrumental; the other three duets all reached the pop top ten.
Q 25At which ballpark did Marvin Gaye first sing the national anthem live, during Game 4 of the 1968 World Series?
Tiger Stadium
The Detroit Tigers were playing the St. Louis Cardinals, fifteen years before his more famous anthem at the NBA All-Star Game.
Q 26For which 1972 blaxploitation film did Marvin Gaye produce the soundtrack and score?
Trouble Man
The title track became his fifteenth Hot 100 top-ten hit, and the soundtrack was where he began leaning heavily on synthesizers.
Q 27Which Marvin Gaye single became his second Hot 100 number one, in September 1973?
Let's Get It On
Its parent album was later hailed as 'a record unparalleled in its sheer sensuality and carnal energy'.
Q 28Which Motown star was Marvin Gaye's partner on his final duet album, released in 1973?
Diana Ross
Much of Diana & Marvin was written for them by Ashford and Simpson, and it sold internationally despite the pair's contrasting styles.
Q 29Marvin Gaye persuaded Frankie Beverly to rename his band from Raw Soul to what?
Maze
Gaye took the group on tour as his opening act after his sister-in-law drew his attention to them.
Q 30Which Marvin Gaye number one was a studio track on 1977's Live at the London Palladium?
Got to Give It Up
The album sold over two million copies, and the song became one of the first to top the pop, R&B and dance charts.