The late Motown singer was honored in the event ceremonially renaming a stretch of Outer Drive, becoming the latest Detroit music star with a street.<\/b>
\nOn a gray and rainy day that added a fitting, cinematic touch to a celebratory occasion, Marvin Gaye got his own stretch of street in Detroit. Marvin Gaye Drive was unveiled Saturday at the corner of Outer Drive at Monica Street by a group of Detroit and Michigan dignitaries, along with members of the late Motown star\u2019s family. A couple of hundred onlookers gathered for the dedication at the corner, where Gaye\u2019s onetime home sat as a backdrop. The backyard of the property, which had been given to Gaye and his wife, Anna Gordy, by Berry Gordy Jr., was the scene of the photo shoot 50 years ago that produced the iconic portrait for Gaye\u2019s \u201cWhat\u2019s Going On\u201d album cover. The ceremonial naming was spearheaded by Detroit City Councilman Roy McAlister and approved earlier this year by the council. It\u2019s the latest area road to get a musical designation, following street dedications for Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Glenn Frey, David Ruffin and others. Gaye\u2019s groundbreaking \u201cWhat\u2019s Going On\u201d was the dominant theme at the Juneteenth event, which included speeches by McAlister, Mayor Mike Duggan, U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence, Motown Museum head Robin Terry and former Motown exec Miller London. Gaye\u2019s younger brother Antwaun Gay \u2014 the original family surname \u2014 was gracious and grateful as he addressed the crowd. \u201cTo be here on this day is just a beautiful thing,\u201d said Gay, who was just a year old when \u201cWhat\u2019s Going On\u201d was released in 1971. He recalled hearing the album\u2019s title track later in his childhood. \u201cI remember it moved me to tears,\u201d Gay said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t understand what was happening to me. I don\u2019t know if I even realized it was Marvin.\u201d Terry read a letter from Marvin Gaye\u2019s youngest sister, Zeola Gaye, who wrote, \u201cI\u2019m elated and touched by the love shown to my brother Marvin.\u201d As the soon-to-be-revealed blue street sign stood draped behind him, Duggan recounted traveling this stretch of Outer Drive frequently in his teens, when he attended nearby Catholic Central High School. He didn\u2019t know then that the ranch house on the corner was home to Gaye. For Detroiters four years after the \u201967 riots, \u201cWhat\u2019s Going On\u201d had a special resonance, Duggan said, and its calls for peace connected with young people concerned about war in Vietnam. Like other speakers, he said the album\u2019s messages and meaning are still relevant today. \u201cThis street will forever be Marvin Gaye Drive,\u201d the mayor declared. Lawrence marveled that just 48 hours earlier, she\u2019d been in the White House for the signing ceremony that enacted Juneteenth as a federal holiday. Describing herself as \u201ca little fired up\u201d Saturday \u2014 but ready to celebrate the occasion with later that day \u2014she argued that much had been stolen from Black Americans by slavery. \u201cToday was the beginning of taking back what was taken from us,\u201d she said. Saturday\u2019s street-naming ceremony, organized by the Motown Museum, was the latest in an ongoing 50th-anniversary commemoration of Gaye\u2019s 1971 classic, which kicked off with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer\u2019s recognition of Jan.20 as \u201cWhat\u2019s Going On\u201d Day. And Saturday\u2019s timing was fitting, said Terry, the museum\u2019s chairwoman and CEO. \u201cJuneteenth is about telling your stories, and that\u2019s what Motown is about,\u201d she said. Gaye\u2019s family members \u2014 including grandson Dylan Holley, son of Marvin Gaye III \u2014 were scheduled to head to West Grand Boulevard on Saturday afternoon for a private tour of the Motown Museum. They also planned to tour the newly installed outdoor exhibit, \u201cStill Going On,\u201d incorporating vintage photos with Gaye\u2019s music along a mile-long stretch of the boulevard. Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.<\/p>\n