Frankie Gaye was a popular American recording artist. Frankie Gaye is also famous as the celebrity brother of Marvin Gaye, who was also a recording artist.

Early Life

Frankie Gaye was born on November 15, 1941. Moreover, his birth name is Frances Gay and his birthplace is Washington, D.C. Talking about her family, his parents are Alberta Williams and Marvin Gay, Sr. He has two elder siblings Mable Jeanne and Marvin Pentz, Jr., and one younger sibling Zeola.

On the other hand, his father welcomed another child named Antwaun Carey Gay in 1970 through an extramarital affair without his mother’s knowledge. Initially, both Frankie and elder brother Marvin sang in church and then with local doo-wop groups.

Caption: Frankie Gaye in a photo with his brother Marvin. Source: Pinterest

Death

In the year 1999, this personality worked on his memoir titled Marvin Gaye: My Brother. His memoir was scheduled to be released in the year 2002. Then on 20 December 2001, this personality passed away due to complications following a heart attack. At the time of her demise, Gaye was only 60 years old. His aforementioned memoir was posthumously released in the year 2003. Furthermore, this personality is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills).

Frankie Gaye – Net Worth 2024

This celebrity sibling had earned a decent amount of money throughout his career. Moving on, Gaye had a net worth of around $1 million to $5 million US dollars.

Career

Frankie Gaye was a popular recording artist. Similarly, his brother Marvin Gaye is also a recording artist. This personality’s recollections of his tenure in the Vietnam War inspired his brother’s song What’s Happening, Brother. This song is from his brother’s album What’s Going On.

Moreover, Gaye had several jobs in Washington, D.C. before he answered the draft to serve his country during the Vietnam War at the young age of 25. Gaye served as a radio disk jockey in the army back then. Then in the year 1970, this personality returned to civilian life in D.C.

In the mid-1970s, this personality started to work with his brother and joined him on the road during Gaye’s concert tours. Sometimes, he also joined his brother to test audience reactions. To do this, his brother Marvin would send Frankie onstage first before he arrived.

Just like his brother, this personality also added an ‘e’ to their surname. Just like the brother, their sister Zeola also did the same with her surname later on. Similarly, in the year 1977, this personality participated in background vocals for Marvin’s hit Got to Give It Up, Pt. 1.

Further, Gaye also contributed co-composition rights for music for the 1979 film Penitentiary. Moreover, in the year 1989, this personality was signed with Motorcity Records and recorded two singles namely Extraordinary Girl and My Brother. The latter was featured in the 1990 album of the same name.

Caption: Frankie Gaye’s memoir was posted posthumously. Source: Discogs

Personal Life

Frankie Gaye married his 1st wife Judy Tench after he relocated to Los Angeles in 1972. Judy, this personality has two daughters namely Christy and Denise. Following their divorce, Gaye dated Irene Duncan. The two met each other in London. He tied the knot with Irene in 1978. Together, Gaye and Duncan have three children namely April born in 1983, Fiona born in 1993, and Frankie, Jr. born in 1992.

Brother’s Death

This personality along with his 2nd wife – Irene – were next door to his parent’s house on 1 April 1984. This was the day this personality found’s father – Marvin Sr. – shot his brother – Marvin Jr. after an argument. The bullets his father fired hit his brother in the lungs, heart, diaphragm, stomach, liver, and left kidney.

After hearing the gunshots from the outside, Gaye rushed inside and found his brother on his bedroom floor. At the time, his brother was conscious despite losing a lot of blood. On the other hand, his wife – Irene – went to his father’s room and found him still sitting on the bed – staring into space. His wife then found the gun under the pillow and threw it out of the window. She did this because she was scared that Marvin Sr. would continue on a rampage. Following this, Gaye’s wife called the police.

Body Measurements

Frankie Gaye had a height of 5 feet 8 inches or 1.73 meters and his weight was around 158 lbs or 72 kg. Similarly, Gaye had dark brown eyes and hair of the same color. This personality often sported a short beard.

Frankie Gaye – Social Media

Moving on, Gaye doesn’t have any social media profiles. At the time of Gaye’s demise, there were no active and popular social media platforms like Instagram, Tiktok, YouTube, Facebook, etc.

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