What's Going On (song)

For other songs, see What's Going On.
"What's Going On"
Single by Marvin Gaye
from the album What's Going On
B-side"God Is Love"
ReleasedJanuary 20, 1971[1]
RecordedJune 1, July 6, 7 and 10, September 21, 1970[2]
StudioHitsville USA Studio A (main tracks), Studio B (supporting tracks), Motown Center (mixdown)[3]
Genre
Length3:53
3:40 (7-inch version)
LabelTamla (T 54201)
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye singles chronology
"The End of Our Road"
(1970) 		"What's Going On"
(1971) 		"Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)"
(1971)

"What's Going On" is a song by American singer-songwriter Marvin Gaye, released in 1971 on the Motown subsidiary Tamla. It is the opening track of Gaye's studio album of the same name. Originally inspired by a police brutality incident witnessed by Renaldo "Obie" Benson, the song was composed by Benson, Al Cleveland, and Gaye and produced by Gaye himself. The song marked Gaye's departure from the Motown Sound towards more personal material. Later topping the Hot Soul Singles chart for five weeks and crossing over to number two on the Billboard Hot 100, it would sell over two million copies, becoming Gaye's second-most successful Motown song to date.[4] It was ranked at number 4 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of all Time in 2004 and 2010.[5][6]

  1. ^ "Marvin Gaye - 45 years ago! Marvin Gaye's "What's Going..." Facebook. 2016-01-20. Archived from the original on 2022-02-26. Retrieved 2016-06-03.
  2. ^ Classic Tracks Back To Back Singles. Thunder Bay Press. 2008. p. 125.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference soundonsound was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 225.
  5. ^ "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2003-12-11. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
  6. ^ "500 Greatest Songs of All Time: Marvin Gaye, 'What's Going On'". Rolling Stone. April 7, 2011. Retrieved September 8, 2012.