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The artistry of Marvin Gaye was indelibly wrapped up in a web of contradictions. A deeply spiritual man, he wrote and sang umbelievably erotic music. Am extraordinarily gifted vocalist who placed over sixty singles on the Bilboard charts, he was deeply ambivalent and insecure about live performances...

... as that day I lost a friend. Every so often God lets a creative force like a Marvin Gaye, a Luther Vandrossa Jack Wilson or a Sam Cooke come along. Marvin will always in my estimation be a yardstick to measure what it is to be a consummate singer, stylist, performer and writer.

They were all through the What`s Going On album. When you listen to those songs with those chord structures, you realise that Marvin Gale was a musical genius. The Four Tops and Temptations were on tour in Australia when we heard about Marvin`s death. It was a very dark day that I will never forget...

Years later I remember driving down the freeway and I heard "What's Going On" for the first time on the radio. I pulled my car off to the shoulder. I sat there and I said "Oh my God!" It was typical Marvin with his unique way of phrasing and interpreting a song. It made me think back to when he had me sit down next to him at the piano and he played those progressive jazz chords.

... I came in and said, "Hey Marvin, what`s up?" With that soft, genteel voice of his he sad, "Otis , come here. Sit down for a minute, let me test your ear?" So I sat down on the bench right next to him and he started playing these very progressive chord changes. He whanted to see if I could find the root note of each chord that he laid down.

I will never forget during the time when we were all at Motown and Marvin was in the "snake pit" as they referred to Studio A at 2648 West Grand Boulevard. He was sitting down at the keyboard playing different progressive chord changes. Marvin was that kind of artist. He wasn't just relegated to a regular r&b kind of thing.

...That is one song that you do not get fancy with, but Marvin was the kind of person who would do things that would go against the grain. When he did that with the "Star Spangled Banner," it just let me know that Marvin was truly a very creative, innovative artist.

Marvin has got to be rated as one of the most innovative artists that God ever created. I say that not only because of songs such as "What's Goin On", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Can I Get A Witness". When I saw Marvin Gaye performance his very unique treatment of the national anthem at the NBA all-star game, I stood there and I just welled up with emotion.

Marvin Gaye was more than a singer. He was more than a writer. He was a man able to take emotion and passion and all kings of feeling and sculpt then with music until they became more than just records. They became artistic statements.Marvin Gaye was a poet. He was a genius. There`s never gonna be anybody like him. Dick Clark