"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American music magazine Rolling Stone. It is based on weighted vo
Cover of the oversize companion book to the 2020 list
The Beatles (pictured in 1964) had nine albums on the most recent list.
What's Going On (album)
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What's Going On is the eleventh studio album by the American soul singer Marvin Gaye. It was released on May 21, 1971, by the Motown Records subsidiary label Tamla. Recorded between 1970 and 1971 in s
Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
…consider the surveys conducted for the 2003 and 2012 lists. The 2020 list featured more artists of color and female artists, topped by Marvin Gaye's What's Going On (1971). It received similar criticisms as the previous lists. Another revision was published in 2023. Since 2020 Rolling Stone has also produced a…
Marvin Gaye What's Going Onalbumcover
Gaye experienced personal and professional turmoil in the late 1960s and part of his refocusing on music was attending concerts from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra at Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center (pictured 2008).
Fellow soul singer Renaldo Benson (pictured c. 1967) inspired Gaye to write about political themes and social change in his music.
Gaye recorded the album in Detroit at Motown's in-house studio, Hitsville U.S.A. (since converted into a museum, pictured 2006).