New Musical Express
Tammi Terrell died 16 March 1970. She had been ill since at least 1967, when a brain tumour was diagnosed, and had endured multiple surgeries. She was 24.
Tammi was best known for a string of hit duets with Marvin Gaye, mostly recorded over a single year before she collapsed on stage into Gaye’s arms in October 1967. It’s said that, throughout her illness, material was released by Motown without acknowledgement of how seriously ill she was. In some cases, it is said, Gaye’s voice was overdubbed onto recordings Terrell had already made. Whatever the truth of that, Gaye was pointedly the only representative of Motown invited to her funeral, where he delivered a eulogy.
Her life prior to the partnership with Gaye was difficult, and the success with Gaye to some degree occludes her own career. I don’t want her to be defined here either by the men who abused her or by reference to Gaye, as though she only exists in relation to a man. So I’ve put a couple of videos below, one of her solo (He’s the One I Love), the other with Gaye (Ain’t No Mountain High Enough).
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