Dab solver - Anna Gordy Gaye

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The song's musical instrumentation was co-composed by Gordy and was used in another Gaye-Gordy composition, "[[Just to Keep You Satisfied]]", which Gaye produced versions by  and [[The Originals]] before overdubbing the Originals' version for his own version on 1973's [[Let's Get It On]]. However on Gaye's version, the singer completely rewrote the lyrics and based the song on the demise of a marriage. Gordy left Motown in 1979 and retired from the music business.

=== Personal life ===

Gordy met Marvin Gaye around 1960. Seventeen years apart in age, Gaye pursued Gordy for months before the two eventually started dating around 1961. After a two-year courtship, they married around June of 1964. According to Marvin, it was Anna who convinced Motown to allow Marvin to work on a standards album ([[The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye]]). Gordy, herself a songwriter, helped to pen the song, "Never Let You Go (Sha-Lu-Bop)", from the album. Inspired by their romance, Gaye penned hit singles based off Anna including "[[Stubborn Kind of Fellow]]", "" and "[[You Are a Wonderful One]]".

The marriage between Marvin and Anna was reportedly turbulent, leading to public spats. At one time during their marriage ceremony, Anna threw one of her heels at Marvin to stop an argument. In order to bring some stability to their home life, Anna and Marvin adopted a little boy that was born on November 17, 1965. The boy was soon named after his adopted father (Marvin Pentz Gaye III). While the boy was said to have been naturally conceived by Anna and Marvin during Motown's [[public relations]] stories of the couple, Marvin himself would confirm the adoption in [[David Ritz]]'s Marvin biography, [[Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye]]. In later years, the identity of the mother was revealed as [[Denise Gordy]], who was the only Gordy woman that was able to [[fertilisation|naturally conceive]] a child. It was alleged in the same books that Gaye himself took part in the siring (with Anna's permission) but that story hasn't been confirmed. Only Denise Gordy admitted that she helped to deliver a child to help her aunt and in-law have a family. Marvin III later learned of his mother's real identity and Marvin's and Anna's adoption after Marvin's death. Gaye told Ritz that he was afraid of revealing the truth about the adoption due to facing ridicule for not being able to father a child naturally.{{sfn|Ritz|1991|pp=100-101}}

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{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Anna Gordy Gaye
| background = non_performing_personnel
| birth_name = Anna Ruby Gordy
| birth_date = 1921 
| birth_place = [[Milledgeville, Georgia]], [[United States of America|USA]]
| origin = [[Detroit, Michigan]], USA
| genre = [[R&B]], [[Soul music|soul]]
| occupation = [[Songwriter]], [[composer]], [[businesswoman]]
| label = [[Anna Records|Anna]], [[Motown Records|Motown]]
| associated_acts = [[Berry Gordy]], [[Marvin Gaye]], [[The Originals]]
}}

'''Anna Gordy Gaye''' (born 1921), born '''Anna Ruby Gordy''', is an [[United States of America|American]] [[businesswoman]], [[music composer|composer]] and [[songwriter]]. An elder sister of [[Motown Records|Motown]] founder [[Berry Gordy]], she co-founded the photo concession at Detroit's Flame Show Bar, with sister [[Gwen Gordy Fuqua|Gwen]]. In 1958, she co-founded the record label, [[Anna Records]], alongside Gwen and [[Billy Davis (songwriter)|Billy Davis]]. Later the wife of Motown recording artist [[Marvin Gaye]], she co-wrote two tunes on Gaye's ''[[What's Going On (album)|What's Going On]]'' album, and co-wrote hits with Gaye for the Motown group [[The Originals]], including the hit ballad, "[[Baby, I'm for Real]]". The troubled marriage between Anna and Marvin became the focal point of Gaye's 1978 album, ''[[Here, My Dear]]''.<ref name="Ritz2003">{{cite book|last=Ritz|first=David|title=Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=jgYOT-LxgxQC&pg=PR10|accessdate=6 July 2010|date=7 May 2003|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0-306-81191-3|page=x}}</ref>

==Biography==
===Life and career===
Anna Ruby Gordy was born in [[Milledgeville, Georgia]], located in [[Baldwin County, Georgia]], the third eldest child of Berry Gordy Sr. (or Berry Gordy II) and Bertha Ida ([[married and maiden names|née]] Fuller) Gordy. Shortly after her birth, Gordy's father moved up to Detroit from Georgia to seek a better life for his family and to escape any hint of racial tension due to a business deal, later sending for his family after settling down. Gordy, like most of her family, became a successful businesswoman, starting out as a co-operator of the photo concession at Detroit's Flame Show Bar in the early fifties with sister Gwen, later starting her own namesake label, [[Anna Records]] with Gwen and [[Billy Davis (songwriter)|Billy Davis]] in 1958, a year before her brother Berry launched Tamla Records, later to be a subsidiary for Motown.

The label would later be noted as the distributor of Tamla's first national hit record, "[[Money (That's What I Want)]]". Other artists such as [[David Ruffin]], [[Marvin Gaye]] and [[Joe Tex]] also recorded for the label, which lasted until 1961, when Berry Gordy absorbed the label and its artists. Gordy then joined her brother's label and started the Artist Development class, becoming its president. Gordy also joined Motown's staff team as a [[songwriter]]. Gordy's biggest success as a songwriter came in the late [[1960s in music|1960s]] and early [[1970s in music|1970s]], co-writing two major hits for Motown group [[The Originals]], alongside her then-husband [[Marvin Gaye]], including "[[Baby, I'm For Real]]" and "[[The Bells (The Originals song)|The Bells]]", which also featured Anna's niece Iris, as a co-writer. In 1971, Gordy's husband released the acclaimed ''[[What's Going On (album)|What's Going On]]'', which featured two songs co-composed by Gordy, including "[[Flyin' High (In the Friendly Sky)]]" and "[[God Is Love (song)|God Is Love]]".

The song's musical instrumentation was co-composed by Gordy and was used in another Gaye-Gordy composition, "[[Just to Keep You Satisfied]]", which Gaye produced versions by <<link:0>> and [[The Originals]] before overdubbing the Originals' version for his own version on 1973's ''[[Let's Get It On]]''. However on Gaye's version, the singer completely rewrote the lyrics and based the song on the demise of a marriage. Gordy left Motown in 1979 and retired from the music business.

===Personal life===
Gordy met Marvin Gaye around 1960. Seventeen years apart in age, Gaye pursued Gordy for months before the two eventually started dating around 1961. After a two-year courtship, they married around June of 1964. According to Marvin, it was Anna who convinced Motown to allow Marvin to work on a standards album (''[[The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye]]''). Gordy, herself a songwriter, helped to pen the song, "Never Let You Go (Sha-Lu-Bop)", from the album. Inspired by their romance, Gaye penned hit singles based off Anna including "[[Stubborn Kind of Fellow]]", "<<link:1>>" and "[[You Are a Wonderful One]]".

The marriage between Marvin and Anna was reportedly turbulent, leading to public spats. At one time during their marriage ceremony, Anna threw one of her heels at Marvin to stop an argument. In order to bring some stability to their home life, Anna and Marvin adopted a little boy that was born on November 17, 1965. The boy was soon named after his adopted father (Marvin Pentz Gaye III). While the boy was said to have been naturally conceived by Anna and Marvin during Motown's [[public relations]] stories of the couple, Marvin himself would confirm the adoption in [[David Ritz]]'s Marvin biography, ''[[Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye]]''. In later years, the identity of the mother was revealed as [[Denise Gordy]], who was the only Gordy woman that was able to [[fertilisation|naturally conceive]] a child. It was alleged in the same books that Gaye himself took part in the siring (with Anna's permission) but that story hasn't been confirmed. Only Denise Gordy admitted that she helped to deliver a child to help her aunt and in-law have a family. Marvin III later learned of his mother's real identity and Marvin's and Anna's adoption after Marvin's death. Gaye told Ritz that he was afraid of revealing the truth about the adoption due to facing ridicule for not being able to father a child naturally.{{sfn|Ritz|1991|pp=100-101}}

During the mid-1960s, Marvin and Anna lived at a comfortable home outside [[Outer Drive]] in Detroit until 1972 when the couple relocated to [[Hollywood Hills, California|Hollywood]]. Shortly after the move, however, the Gayes' marriage fell apart. By 1973, Gaye had moved out of their Hollywood Hills home, filed for [[legal separation]] from Anna and settled with a young woman, Janis Hunter, who ironically was seventeen years younger than Marvin. Following the births of their children, [[Nona Gaye|Nona]] and Frankie, an upset Anna Gordy filed for [[divorce]]. The ensuing divorce case lasted for a year and a half, with the matters settled by March of 1977. The divorce court was extensive due to Gaye's absence in court as Gordy's attorneys discussed matters of payments for spousal support and alimony for their son, the few times Gaye did show up to court, he would leave angered enough to compose music. To settle Gaye's financial difficulties in the divorce settlement, Gaye's attorney Curtis Shaw worked out a deal in which Gordy would be paid off from the royalties of Gaye's next album.<ref name=snopes>{{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/music/hidden/heredear.asp|title=snopes.com: Marvin Gaye Here, My Dear|accessdate=September 21, 2012}}</ref>

The resulting album, ''[[Here, My Dear]]'', gave audiences a view of the marriage through Marvin's point of view. Released in December of 1978, Gordy heard the album and threatened to sue Marvin for $5 million for invasion of privacy. Nothing came of this threat.<ref name="snopes"/> Despite the divorce, by the early 1980s, Marvin and Anna had reconciled their friendship and Anna began attending events with Marvin following the release of his ''[[Midnight Love]]'' album and was present at the [[25th Grammy Awards|Grammy Awards in 1983]] when Marvin won his only two Grammy Awards. When rumors escalated that the exes had considered remarriage, Gaye would tell reporters that he and Anna were happy enough to "remain friends". Gaye's [[Death of Marvin Gaye|death]] in 1984 devastated Gordy; later she and Marvin's three children disposed of most of Gaye's ashes near the [[Pacific Ocean]] following his [[cremation]] after his funeral while Anna herself kept a portion of Marvin's ashes following his funeral. When Gaye was honored with induction to the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] and the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]], Gordy attended and accepted Gaye's induction to the Hall of Fame on his behalf with Marvin Gaye III.

Anna is now 92 years old.  She is said to be suffering from severe [[dementia]], [[heart disease]], [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] and is given round-the-round care at her niece Denise Gordy's Westwood condominium, having moved there from the Hollywood Hills home where she resided with her husband.<ref name=order>{{cite web|url=http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/entertainment&id=5269605|title=Marvin Gaye's Adopted Son Ordered Out of Home|accessdate=September 21, 2012}}</ref> Gordy had moved out of the home in March 2005, allegedly due to son Marvin III's [[drug addiction]].<ref name="order" /> Gordy made her last public appearance with her famous brother Berry at a red carpet event where Berry was honored, in 2008.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|1435505}}

{{Persondata 
| NAME              = Gordy Gaye, Anna
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH     = 1921
| PLACE OF BIRTH    = Milledgeville, Georgia
| DATE OF DEATH     =
| PLACE OF DEATH    =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordy Gaye, Anna}}
[[Category:1921 births]]
[[Category:African-American businesspeople]]
[[Category:African-American businesswomen]]
[[Category:African-American composers]]
[[Category:African-American songwriters]]
[[Category:American businesspeople]]
[[Category:American composers]]
[[Category:Gordy family]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Marvin Gaye]]
[[Category:Motown]]
[[Category:Musicians from Detroit, Michigan]]
[[Category:People from Baldwin County, Georgia]]
[[Category:People with dementia]]
[[Category:Songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Songwriters from Michigan]]

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Dab solver - Anna Gordy Gaye

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