Latest news with #MidnightLove
Forbes
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Marvin Gaye Earns A Long Overdue Music Industry Award
Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' is certified seven-times platinum by ... More the RIAA, making it Gaye's most awarded single to date. American Soul musician Marvin Gaye (1939 - 1984) performs onstage at the Holiday Star Theater, Merrillville, Indiana, June 10, 1983. (Photo by) Getty Images Throughout his storied career, Marvin Gaye scored many successful singles. He changed the sound of popular music in America. The multi-talented musician made pop music much more thoughtful and soulful, imbuing his work with a depth of meaning many other superstars couldn't muster, and he's remembered not just as a hitmaker, but as a true artist. Decades after his passing and long after many of his most successful tracks were released, Gaye collects a very special award and sees one of his most familiar tunes reach new heights. 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' Becomes Marvin Gaye's Biggest Hit The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has finally certified Gaye's 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough,' his collaboration with Tammi Terrell. Before May 2025, the song had never earned any gold or platinum plaques. But now, in one fell swoop, it has become a certified smash — not that it needed plaques to confirm its status as one of the more successful tunes of the late 1960s. The collaboration went from no honors to becoming a seven-times platinum success story in one leap. That means the music industry organization has certified that it has moved at least seven million equivalent units between pure sales and streaming activity. 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' Is Marvin Gaye's Third RIAA-Certified Track 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' is just the third title from Gaye's discography to earn any kind of certification from the RIAA. Both 'Let's Get It On' and 'Sexual Healing' have been named platinum successes — although in multiple different iterations. So, the total number of units moved may actually be greater than just one million each. Thanks to its new awards, 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' has outperformed all of Gaye's other certified tunes combined. Marvin Gaye's Album Also Earns an Award Seven of Gaye's albums have also been certified by the RIAA. The most successful among them, Midnight Love, is up to triple platinum status, with at least three million equivalent units moved. A duet project with Terrell — his partner on 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' — titled United was also certified gold at the same time that the song earned its seven platinum plaques. Terrell has only scored her two wins years after she landed her biggest hit, but she finally collects RIAA honors. Multiple Versions of the Song Have Found Success Multiple versions of 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' became hits in America. While Gaye and Terrell turned the composition into a smash originally, and peaked at No. 19 on the Hot 100, it lifted even higher later on. The Supremes and The Temptations teamed up for a rendition, and Diana Ross eventually turned it into her first solo No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 1970.
The Guardian
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘If I kissed some man, I would cut my lips off': Terrence Howard explains why he declined Marvin Gaye biopic
The actor Terrence Howard has said that he declined the role of Marvin Gaye in a film, because he didn't want to kiss another man. Speaking to Bill Maher on his Club Random podcast, the actor said the 'biggest mistake' of his career was turning down the leading role in a separate biopic of the singer Smokey Robinson – which Robinson had personally asked him to play. That decision was made because he was already in talks with the director Lee Daniels to play Gaye in a film, but became alarmed when he began to learn of rumours about the Let's Get It On singer's sexuality. 'I was over at Quincy Jones's house,' Howard told Maher, 'and I'm asking Quincy, 'I'm hearing rumours that Marvin was gay' and I'm like, 'Was he gay?' And Quincy's like, 'Yes.'' Howard said that this meant he could no longer star in the film. 'They would've wanted to do that, and I wouldn't have been able to do that.' Maher clarified: 'You mean you couldn't kiss a guy on screen in a movie?' to which Howard replied: 'No. Because I don't fake it.' 'That would fuck me,' he added. 'I would cut my lips off. If I kissed some man, I would cut my lips off.' Howard went on to say that 'it does not make me homophobic to not want to kiss a man,' and sought to clarify that he would have felt unable to sufficiently commit to the role. 'I can't play that character 100%. I can't surrender myself to a place that I don't understand.' Gaye was shot dead by his father in 1984, when the singer was 44. He did not publicly comment on his sexuality, was married twice, and had three children (one by adoption). He won a Grammy for his 1982 hit Sexual Healing, taken from the album Midnight Love. Other landmark LPs include What's Going On (1971) and Let's Get It On (1973). Howard, 56, was Oscar-nominated for his role as a pimp in the 2005 film Hustle & Flow and starred for five years in the TV show Empire. He announced his retirement in 2022 but has since appeared in a number of other projects on the big and small screen. Maher was the target of an essay written by Larry David in the New York Times last week, spoofing his fawning account of a dinner party at the White House with Donald Trump.
