I was raised on Marvin Gaye. Before I knew Babyface or anyone else, I knew Marvin Gaye. My mother played Marvin Gaye.
Marvin Gaye is an inspiration to me. He was one of the first Motown musicians that my mom and dad introduced me to, and I always thought it would be a good idea if I was ever an artist, and now I am, to make a record called 'Marvin Gaye.'
I was a big fan of Marvin Gaye, and when my parents were at work, I would get in front of the mirror, put my father's clothes on and pretend I was singing Marvin Gaye songs.
Marvin Gaye was a friend of mine, and he used to say, 'Man, I wish I could sing like you - if I could have that growl in my voice.' And I said, 'Man, are you kidding me? I want to sing like you. Everybody wants to sing like you.'
I actually get a lot of messages with people saying, 'What's a Marvin Gaye?' and, I mean... Oh, wow. I must be getting old, because someone who was born in 2004 just asked me what a Marvin Gaye was.
I remember Marvin Gaye used to sing to me,
He had me feelin' like black was the thing to be.
I would love to play Janis Gaye in the Marvin Gaye story. If they ever do the Marvin Gaye story, I would love to play Janis - just throwing that out there.
I never took singing lessons. I guess, I feel comfortable with it, but I do not feel like a singer. I never want to sing without a guitar in my hand. I consider myself more of a songwriter, rather than a singer. I could never be in a wedding band and just sing Marvin Gaye songs.
I've always been a firm believer that soul music never dies. The artists we still listen to today, years after their music was first heard are mostly soul artists; Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Chaka Khan. We still sing along to all of them with our hearts.
I spread love wherever I'm at. I'm like Marvin Gaye.
I love Marvin Gaye. I like jazz and all that stuff.
People like to compartmentalise music, especially African-American music, but it's really one thing. One very wide thing. I mean, it's like all those great records by Marvin Gaye and James Brown back in the day - there are tonnes of jazz musicians playing on them.
I'm in L.A., I'm in my early 20s, and I'm like, 'There are so many pretty girls here! Let's Marvin Gaye and get it on!'
I still like the stuff from the old days: Marvin Gaye, Donnie Hathaway.
My pops and my mom started playing Marvin Gaye and the Isley Brothers and all these people, but at the same time, they always had Snoop on right behind it in the same mix.
I listen to a lot of old stuff like Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, and The Temptations.