Marvin Pentz Gay Jr. was born on April 2, 1939, at Freedman’s Hospital in Washington, D.C., to domestic worker Alberta Gay (née Cooper) and church preacher Marvin Gay Sr. His initial residence was at the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood’s Fairfax Apartments, a public housing complex that is now gone, at 1617 1st Street SW.
Even though it was one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods and had a lot of beautiful Federal-style residences, the majority of the structures were small, in terrible condition, and had no running water or electricity. One- and two-story shacks lined the lanes, and practically every home was crammed to capacity. Gaye and his pals gave the region the moniker “Simple City” since it was “half-city, half country.”
Marvin Gaye parents: Meet Marvin Gay Sr., Alberta Gay
Gaye was one of the couple’s four kids, and she was the second oldest. He had a brother named Frankie Gaye and two sisters named Jeanne and Zeola.
Additionally, he has two half-brothers: Michael Cooper, a child from a prior relationship with his mother, and Antwaun Carey Gay, a child from his father’s extramarital escapades.
