Meet Marvin Gaye's 3 Children, Marvin III, Nona and Frankie
Meet Marvin Gaye's 3 Children, Marvin III, Nona and Frankie
Emy LaCroix, Caroline BlairThu, April 2, 2026 at 10:00 AM UTC
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Marvin Gaye with children Frankie and Nona at the 25th Grammy Awards.Credit: Betty Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty -
Marvin Gaye, who was killed on April 1, 1984, was a father to three children
The Prince of Soul became a father when he and his first wife, Anna Gordy, welcomed Marvin III via adoption
He later welcomed daughter Nona and son Frankie with his second wife, Janis Hunter
Marvin Gaye was known as the Prince of Soul to many, but he was a father to three children.
The "Let's Get It On" singer became a father with his first wife, Anna Gordy, whom he was married to from 1963 to 1977. The couple welcomed their son, Marvin III, via adoption in the late 1960s.
After his divorce from Gordy, Gaye married Janis Hunter in October 1977. Gaye and Gordy welcomed two children together, daughter Nona in 1974 and son Frankie in 1975, before they divorced in 1982.
Just a few years after welcoming his children, Gaye was tragically shot by his father, Marvin Gay Sr., in the midst of a heated argument on April 1, 1984. Gay Sr. was charged with voluntary manslaughter and served a suspended six-year sentence.
While Marvin III was a teenager, the singer's younger children were under 10 years old. Although all of his kids had different relationships with their father, they have defended his legacy. Hunter, who died in December 2022, also dedicated her life to keeping her children's memories of their father intact.
"From the time she met my father, she was exposed to the way he saw this world was aching, and she did her best to preserve his legacy as he was taken from us far too early," Nona said in a statement in 2022, per The Hollywood Reporter. "She took every moment to speak about every word and every note of his music, and she wanted to make sure everyone knew the man she fell in love with."
Here’s everything to know about Marvin Gaye’s children: Marvin III, Nona and Frankie.
Marvin Gaye III
Marvin Gaye attends the 25th Annual Grammy Awards on February 23, 1983 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California ; Marvin Gaye III in-studio to shoot the video for the recording of song "What's Going On".Credit: Ron Galella Collection via Getty ; L. Cohen/WireImage
Gaye and Gordy welcomed their son Marvin III via adoption in the late '60s.
With both parents heavily involved in the music business, he grew up surrounded by the industry. The family home even included its own music studio.
Gaye's reputation remains a top priority for Marvin III, who proudly stood beside his mom to accept his father’s posthumous induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, according to The Guardian.
In 2013, he was thrust more into the public eye when the family estate sued Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams for their song “Blurred Lines” due to its similarities to Gaye's song "Got to Give It Up.” In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Marvin III said that he just wanted to “see my father get credit for his work.”
In the same interview, Marvin III’s attorney, David Rudich, revealed that his client was also dealing with serious health problems. “Marvin is suffering from diabetes and he needs a kidney,” he said. “So if the publicity that comes out of this causes someone to come forward to help save the life of the son of the famous Marvin Gaye, then that will be a good thing.”
Marvin Gaye III attends the Ryan Gordy Foundation "60 Years of Motown" Celebration at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on November 11, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California.Credit: Jesse Grant/Getty
The estate won the lawsuit in 2018 and was awarded $5 million, per Billboard. Marvin III also successfully found a kidney donor, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. After seven potential people were not a match for the younger Marvin, Rick Greene saw his plea on Entertainment Tonight and decided to get in contact. In May 2014, Greene successfully gave his kidney to Marvin III.
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The eldest Gaye sibling married Wendy Gaye in March 2010. Three years later, he released an EDM song called “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” and the music video featured his then-wife. The relationship reached a breaking point in January 2023 when Marvin III was arrested on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge after an alleged physical altercation with his wife and her cousin. The status of this case is unknown.
The former couple officially divorced in 2024, per documents obtained by RadarOnline.com. Around the same time, a Jane Doe sued Marvin III for assault, battery and false imprisonment surrounding the events of January 2023. In response to the lawsuit, he told Us Weekly, “No way did that happen. It’s all bulls---. I wouldn’t do that. These are false claims.”
According to court documents, Marvin III is the father of two sons from a previous relationship: Marvin Gaye IV, born in 1995, and Dylan Gaye, born in 2000.
Nona Aisha Gaye
Nona Gaye performs a video duet with her late father Marvin Gaye during the NBA All-Star Saturday Night festivities on February 14, 2004 in Los Angeles, California.Credit: Vince Bucci/Getty
Gaye and Hunter welcomed their first child together, daughter Nona, on Sept. 4, 1974.
She was just 9 years old when her father died, so she learned more about him from her mother and from listening to his music.
“I didn’t understand the work, I was too young,” she told Entertainment Tonight in the '90s. “[When] I got older, and I started listening to it and listening to how troubled he was about the way the world was, and the way his life was ... It made me cry, once I got old enough to understand.”
Nona followed her father into the music industry, releasing her debut album, Love for the Future, with Atlantic Records in October 1992 when she was just 18. The album featured songs "I'm Overjoyed” and "The Things That We All Do for Love."
Nona Gaye and Marvin Gaye in-studio to shoot the video for the recording of song "What's Going On".Credit: L. Cohen/WireImage
To keep her dad's memory alive, Nona released an album called Inner City Blues in 1995, which reimagined Gaye's songs and featured major artists like Madonna, Stevie Wonder and Bono. She used her platform to honor her father, telling ET, “It just makes me really happy that people still love him as much as they always have — more, I think, now that he’s gone.”
Nona also collaborated with and dated music legend Prince — the pair recorded four songs together before going their separate ways. She then had an acting career, starring in films like Ali and Crash, and playing the character Zee in two films of the Matrix series.
In her personal life, Nona is the mother of at least one child, a son named Nolan Pentz, whose middle name is shared with his famous grandfather.
Frankie Christian Gaye
Marvin Gaye holds his son Frankie at Heathrow airport in London, UK.Credit: PA Images via Getty
Gaye and Hunter welcomed their son Frankie Christian in 1975 and named him after Marvin’s brother, who was also a musician.
Though Frankie leads a private life, he did participate alongside his siblings in sharing an open letter about the "Blurred Lines" lawsuit in 2013.
Marvin Gaye with children Frankie and Nona at the 25th Grammy Awards.Credit: Betty Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty
“We will celebrate what would have been our dad’s 76th birthday next month, and though we miss him every day, it is through his music that we find our compass and our paths moving forward," Marvin III, Nona and Frankie wrote, per Rolling Stone. "We are his children, but we too are his fans and we hold his music dear.”
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