On a gray and rainy day that added a fitting, cinematic touch to a celebratory occasion, Marvin Gaye got his own stretch of street in Detroit.
Marvin Gaye Drive was unveiled Saturday at the corner of Outer Drive at Monica Street by a group of Detroit and Michigan dignitaries, along with members of the late Motown star’s family.
A couple of hundred onlookers gathered for the dedication at the corner, where Gaye’s onetime home sat as a backdrop. The backyard of the property, which had been given to Gaye and his wife, Anna Gordy, by Berry Gordy Jr., was the scene of the photo shoot 50 years ago that produced the iconic portrait for Gaye’s “What’s Going On” album cover.
The ceremonial naming was spearheaded by Detroit City Councilman Roy McAlister and approved earlier this year by the council. It’s the latest area road to get a musical designation, following street dedications for Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Glenn Frey, David Ruffin and others.
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Gaye’s groundbreaking “What’s Going On” was the dominant theme at the Juneteenth event, which included speeches by McAlister, Mayor Mike Duggan, U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence, Motown Museum head Robin Terry and former Motown exec Miller London.
Gaye’s younger brother Antwaun Gay — the original family surname — was gracious and grateful as he addressed the crowd.
“To be here on this day is just a beautiful thing,” said Gay, who was just a year old when “What’s Going On” was released in 1971. He recalled hearing the album’s title track later in his childhood.
“I remember it moved me to tears,” Gay said. “I couldn’t understand what was happening to me. I don’t know if I even realized it was Marvin.”
Terry read a letter from Marvin Gaye’s youngest sister, Zeola Gaye, who wrote, “I’m elated and touched by the love shown to my brother Marvin.”
As the soon-to-be-revealed blue street sign stood draped behind him, Duggan recounted traveling this stretch of Outer Drive frequently in his teens, when he attended nearby Catholic Central High School. He didn’t know then that the ranch house on the corner was home to Gaye.
For Detroiters four years after the ’67 riots, “What’s Going On” had a special resonance, Duggan said, and its calls for peace connected with young people concerned about war in Vietnam. Like other speakers, he said the album’s messages and meaning are still relevant today.
“This street will forever be Marvin Gaye Drive,” the mayor declared.
Lawrence marveled that just 48 hours earlier, she’d been in the White House for the signing ceremony that enacted Juneteenth as a federal holiday. Describing herself as “a little fired up” Saturday — but ready to celebrate the occasion with later that day — she argued that much had been stolen from Black Americans by slavery.
“Today was the beginning of taking back what was taken from us,” she said.
Saturday’s street-naming ceremony, organized by the Motown Museum, was the latest in an ongoing 50th-anniversary commemoration of Gaye’s 1971 classic, which kicked off with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s recognition of Jan. 20 as “What’s Going On” Day.
And Saturday’s timing was fitting, said Terry, the museum’s chairwoman and CEO.
“Juneteenth is about telling your stories, and that’s what Motown is about,” she said.
For Gaye’s three visiting family members, the corner event was just the start of a busy Motown day: They soon headed to West Grand Boulevard for a private tour of the Motown Museum, their first-ever visit to the site where their famous relative made his name.
Their tour included an emotional, soul-stirring finale. Standing in Motown’s famed Studio A, they listened with lights dimmed as Gaye’s isolated “What’s Going On” vocal was played in the very spot he had recorded it.
“We want to connect you with a loved one in a new way,” said Paul Barker, the museum’s director of development and community activation.
Just like last month when public visitors were treated to the same thrill as part of a 50th anniversary event, the moment was hushed and solemn. Gay, the singer’s brother, stood with head bowed alongside his wife, Carolyn. He later described the experience as surreal.
Gaye’s 21-year-old grandson Dylan Holley, son of Marvin Gaye III, said afterward that the studio is “a part of me.”
“Not only is it part of American history, it’s my history — my family’s lineage,” he said.
The group then headed down the West Grand Boulevard sidewalk for a look at the museum’s new mile-long walking installation, “Still Going On,” a series of stations with historical and timely photographs, along with messages tied to Gaye’s 1971 album. The installation, which launched this week, includes scannable mobile codes to activate songs from the record.
Gay, visiting from Fredericksburg, Virginia, said it had been a powerful day in Detroit.
“I’m so honored to see all the support for ‘What’s Going On’ and for the loving man who sacrificed for others,” he said of his older brother.
The earlier street ceremony — quite literally a neighborhood event — had radiated a sense of community that once again showed how deeply embedded Motown remains in the heart of Detroit.
“They made me feel right at home when I started talking up there,” Gay said. “There were lots of smiles and lots of love.”
Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.
