Jan Gaye, Wife of Motown Legend Marvin Gaye, Dead at 66

Jan Gaye is no more with us.

Janis Hunter Gaye, the second wife of Motown icon Marvin Gaye and the model for several of his songs, passed away on Saturday at her home in Rhode Island from an unidentified illness, according to her family. She was 66.

During a 1973 recording session at Hitsville West in Los Angeles for his album Let's Get It On, the singer was introduced to Hunter Gaye by producer Ed Townsend. At the time, Gaye was married to Berry Gordy's sister Anna Gordy; Hunter Gaye was 17, and he was 34.

For his 1974 album, Marvin Gaye Live!, Gaye recorded the song "Jan" for his future wife. I Want You, his album from 1976, has been called "a sentimental and sensual ode" to her.

She sang backup vocals on his 1977 disco single "Got to Give It Up," which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. That year, they got hitched.