Anna Ruby Gaye (née Gordy; January 28, 1922 – January 31, 2014) was an American businesswoman,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

. An elder sister of

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

founder

Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record l ...

, she became a record executive in the mid-to-late 1950s distributing records released on Checker and Gone Records before forming the

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...

label with Billy Davis and her sister

Gwen Gordy Fuqua Gwen Fuqua (born Gwendolyn Gordy; November 26, 1927 – November 8, 1999) was an American businesswoman, songwriter and composer, most notably writing hit songs such as " Lonely Teardrops", " All I Could Do Was Cry" and "Distant Lover". She acq ...

. Gordy later became known as a songwriter for several hits including the Originals' "

Baby, I'm for Real "Baby, I'm for Real" is a soul ballad written by Marvin Gaye and Anna Gordy Gaye, produced by Marvin and recorded and released by American Motown vocal group The Originals for the Soul label issued in 1969. History The Originals version By the ...

", and at least two songs on

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

's '' What's Going On'' album. The first wife of Gaye, their turbulent marriage later served as inspiration for Gaye's 15th studio album, '' Here, My Dear''.

Biography

Life and career

Born Anna Ruby Gordy on January 28, 1922, in Oconee, Georgia, she was the third-eldest child of Berry Gordy Sr. (Berry Gordy II) and Bertha Ida (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Fuller) Gordy's eight children. Into her first year, Gordy's family relocated to Detroit. Following graduation from high school in 1940, Gordy relocated to California, which is where Gordy's younger brother Berry moved after he dropped out of high school to form a boxing career. Returning to Detroit in the mid-1950s, she and younger sister Gwen became operators of the photo concession at Detroit's Flame Show Bar. By the late 1950s, members of the Gordy clan were getting involved with the music business. In 1956, Anna began her career distributing records for

Checker Records Checker Records is an inactive record label that was started in 1952 as a subsidiary of Chess Records in Chicago, Illinois. The label was founded by the Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil, who ran the label until they sold it to General Record ...

. In about 1957, she distributed a few recordings for Gone Records. In 1958, Anna and Gordy's younger sister Gwen founded the label Anna Records with musician Billy Davis, a year before Berry launched Tamla Records. Anna distributed Tamla's first national hit, Barrett Strong's "

Money (That's What I Want) "Money (That's What I Want)" is a rhythm and blues song written by Tamla founder Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford, which was the first hit record for Gordy's Motown enterprise. Barrett Strong recorded it in 1959 as a single for the Tamla label, ...

". Artists such as David Ruffin and

Joe Tex Yusuf Hazziez (born Joseph Arrington Jr.; August 8, 1935 – August 13, 1982), known professionally as Joe Tex, was an American singer and musician who gained success in the 1960s and 1970s with his brand of Southern soul, which mixed the styl ...

also recorded for the label, and

became a session musician with the company. After the label was absorbed as a subsidiary of Motown in 1961, Gordy joined Motown as a songwriter. Some of her early compositions were recorded by Gaye and

Mary Wells Mary Esther Wells (May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992) was an American singer, who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s. Along with The Supremes, The Miracles, The Temptations, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and the F ...

. In 1965, Gordy co-wrote

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, s ...

's "What Christmas Means to Me". Gordy later co-composed the Originals' hits "

" and " The Bells" with Marvin Gaye. Gordy's name was included as a co-songwriter on two songs on Gaye's 1971 album, '' What's Going On'', including " Flyin' High (In the Friendly Sky)" and " God Is Love". In 1973, Gordy's name was included in the credits to the song " Just to Keep You Satisfied", which was originally recorded in 1969 by the Monitors, and recorded by the Originals two years later. Gaye's version was overdubbed from the Originals recording and reversed the song's romantic lyrics for a more solemn view of the end of a marriage. Gordy left Motown at the end of the 1970s and retired from the music industry.

Personal life

Gordy met Marvin Gaye in 1959 when he was 20 years old and singing with Harvey and the New Moonglows. Gaye soon began working at Anna Records and soon developed an attraction to Gordy. They eventually began dating in 1960. After a three-year courtship, they married in June 1963. Inspired by their romance, Marvin penned hit singles about Anna including " Stubborn Kind of Fellow" and " Pride & Joy." Of "Pride and Joy", Gaye said, "When I composed 'Pride and Joy', I was head over heels in love with Anna. I just wrote what I felt about her, and what she did for me. She was my pride and joy." The marriage between Marvin and Anna was reportedly turbulent, including two public spats. In order to bring some stability to their home life, Anna and Marvin adopted a boy born on November 17, 1966, who was named Marvin Pentz Gaye III, after his adoptive father. The boy was said to have been naturally conceived by Anna and Marvin in Motown's

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

stories of the couple, but Marvin confirmed his adoption in David Ritz's biography, '' Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye''. In later years, the identity of the mother was revealed to be Denise Gordy, Anna's niece. In 1971, the couple moved to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

. Two years later, they filed for

legal separation Legal separation (sometimes judicial separation, separate maintenance, divorce ', or divorce from bed-and-board) is a legal process by which a married couple may formalize a separation while remaining legally married. A legal separation is gra ...

. Gaye settled in with a young woman named Janis Hunter, with whom he had two children. In November 1975, Gordy filed for divorce. After nearly two years, the case was settled in Gordy's favor after Gaye agreed to remit a portion of his royalties from his next album to her. The resulting album, '' Here, My Dear'', gave audiences a view of the marriage from Marvin's point of view. After its release in December 1978, Gordy threatened to sue Marvin for $5 million for the invasion of privacy. Nothing came of her threat. In the 1980s, Marvin and Anna reconciled as friends, and Anna accompanied Marvin to industry events following the release of his comeback album '' Midnight Love'', in 1982. Anna attended the Grammy Awards in 1983, at which Marvin was awarded two trophies. Marvin's

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

in 1984 devastated Anna; later she and Marvin's three children scattered most of his ashes near the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

, while she kept a portion. When Marvin was honored with induction into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and ...

, Anna and Marvin Gaye III accepted on his behalf. Gordy never remarried. Her last public appearance was in June 2008. She attended a

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over ...

Heart Foundation event at which her brother Berry was honored.

Death

Gordy died on January 31, 2014, three days after her 92nd birthday. She is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Hollywood Hills, Courts of Remembrance, Sanctuary of Enduring Protection.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gordy Gaye, Anna 1922 births 2014 deaths American women songwriters American women in business African-American businesspeople American businesspeople African-American composers African-American women composers African-American songwriters American women composers American composers Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)

Gordy family Motown Musicians from Detroit People from Washington County, Georgia Songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state) Songwriters from Michigan African-American women musicians