Marvin Pentz Gaye, the Motown star, was shot to death at age 44 on April 1, 1984, at the family home in the Western Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. The shooting followed a heated argument between Gaye and his parents; his father, Marvin Gay Sr., intervened and fired a .38 Special revolver, striking Gaye twice. The first shot hit Gaye in the heart and proved fatal. Gaye was pronounced dead on arrival at California Hospital Medical Center.

Marvin Gay Sr., a Christian minister, and his son had a long, turbulent relationship marked by strict and abusive disciplinary methods and public tensions. After the killing, Gay Sr. was arrested and initially charged with first-degree murder; he later pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter, citing self-defense and diminished capacity related to a brain tumor, and received a six-year suspended sentence and five years probation. Gaye was cremated and his ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean; he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.