If reality TV would have existed back in the day, Marvin Gaye and his then-wife, Janis Gaye would have garnered ratings that were through the roof. Their colorful escapades -and in this case, their sexscapades- make today’s reality shows look like Sesame Street in comparison.
In case you missed it, Jan released a memoir in May 2015, titled “After the Dance: My Life With Marvin Gaye” and a lot of the details she revealed are mind blowing! One of the things Jan disclosed was her alleged affair with R&B legends, Frankie Beverly and Teddy Pendergrass; Lawd…she told it all.
That Time Frankie Beverly Crawled Away From Her…Literally
According to Janis, Marvin loved to see her get busy with other men and/or couples in the bedroom. He was 15 years her senior and was the dominating factor within their relationship. Then along came her fling with Frankie Beverly that had both and odd beginning and ending. Marvin apparently arranged a hotel hookup between his wife and Frankie:
Via DailyMail- Noting a chemistry between Janis and Maze singer, Frankie Beverly, Gaye did everything he could to set up an illicit liaison between the two. When Beverly came for a visit, Gaye not only booked him a room at a local motel but booked the adjoining room for Janis, saying he needed her out of the house so he could focus on music.
As Janis and Beverly smoked a joint in Janis’ hotel room, well aware of the awkwardness, there was a loud bang at the door. It was Gaye, seemingly hoping to catch them in the act. Beverly crawled back to his room on his hands and knees, and Gaye found Janis alone.
Wife Explains Why She Cheated With Frankie & Teddy P.
The visual of the cool-calm-collected Frankie Beverly, crawling outta that hotel room is entertaining, I must admit. Anywho, that hookup didn’t go as apparently planned, but Janis said she began having a sexual affair with Frankie Beverly AND Teddy Pendergrass at the SAME time behind Marvin Gaye’s back! Here’s what she said:
Via NYPost: Soon after Jan and Marvin married in October 1977, he was once again telling her that he loved her but was not in love with her. Gaye — now almost 40 — complained to his 22-year-old wife about her sagging breasts and her stretch marks, explaining, “There’s a big difference between pleasure and excitement. As a man, I can’t help but seek excitement.”
“I was barely 22,” she writes, “yet was convinced that I had lost my youth forever.”
They had vicious fights, including one time when Gaye, behind the wheel with both kids in the car, began to swerve and threatened to “drive this thing off the road!” […]
In time, torn by Gaye’s cruel treatment, Jan slept with [Frankie] Beverly and also hooked up with Teddy Pendergrass, Gaye’s main musical rival.
[Jan revealed she snorted cocaine with Teddy P. and one night when they were out on a date, a jealous Marvin sat outside the restaurant they were in and stalked them. Jan believes she was sleeping with Teddy and Frankie Beverly because she was acting out of anger at Marvin.]
The Violence
Then things turned violent, according to Jan:
Via NYPost: Gaye’s jealousy turned violent. One day, high on a blend of psychedelic mushrooms and cocaine, he started to talk about Jan’s betrayals and became “enraged.”
“He took a kitchen knife and put it to my throat,” she writes. “I was petrified, paralyzed. I thought it was all over.”
Gaye told her, “I’ve loved you too much. This love is killing me. I beg you to provoke me. Provoke me right now so I can take us both out of our misery.”
It’s clear to see that Marvin Gaye had his flaws and so did his wife, Jan Gaye. They are perfect examples of children who were broken, growing up and becoming broken adults. When Marvin sang, he sang from a place that sounded much like his life – painful and passionate.
Marvin Gaye was also a good example of what we always say here at ILOSM: Celebrities have accomplished great things, but that doesn’t make them perfect people, it simply makes them perfectly flawed human beings- just like the rest of us. Respect to Janis Gaye for letting the world have a sneak peak into their lives.
