Anna Gordy Gaye

Anna Gordy Gaye (born 1922) is the eldest sister of Motown founder Berry Gordy and was the first wife of soul legend Marvin Gaye.

Born Anna Ruby Gordy in Detroit, Michigan, she was thirty-eight when she first met Marvin Gaye while the two were at a Christmas party at the Motown studios. At the time, Gaye was signed to Motown as a session musician. By the time he signed as a solo act for the label in 1961, he and Anna had started a romantic relationship. Anna was considered Gaye's muse during the early years of his career.

She also was known for co-writing hits for Gaye ("God Is Love" and "Flying High in the Friendly Sky" from his What's Going On album and "Just to Keep You Satisfied" from his Let's Get It On album) and provided some lyrics to Marvin's compositions for The Originals' hits, "Baby I'm For Real" and "The Bells".

After marrying in 1964, the couple adopted a son, Marvin Pentz Gaye, III, in 1965. Rumors circulated that Gaye had been coaxed into producing a child with one of Anna's younger relatives who in turn would be adopted by him and Anna. This unconfirmed story was reported in author Eric Michael Dyson's biography.

The marriage was troubled from the start, with Anna becoming "increasingly jealous" of the female attention Gaye was receiving as his star rose. Both Anna and Gaye suspected each other of adulterous liaisons.

The marriage finally broke apart after Gaye became involved with Janis Hunter in 1973 and fathered two children by her. Anna filed for divorce in 1975. After the divorce was finalized in 1977, Gaye produced the sarcastically-titled album, Here, My Dear, in order to fulfill his court-ordered divorce settlement. Anna considered filing a suit of invasion of privacy against Marvin according to Time magazine but later recanted her decision.

Anna was still close to her former husband until his 1984 death. She currently lives in Los Angeles.

Trivia

• A record label titled Anna Records which distributed Detroit-area and distributed early Motown recordings was named after her.

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Last updated on Monday February 18, 2008 at 18:19:14 PST (GMT -0800)
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