View Larger Map

Today, the 5200 block of Foote Street NE in Deanwood will become Marvin Gaye Way. The street will serve as an entrance to Marvin Gaye Park, formally known as the Watts Branch Park, where the musician wrote songs by the stream when he was younger. He grew up in the neighborhood.

Today is the 25th anniversary of Gaye’s death; He was shot and killed by his pastor father in 1984. According to a press release sent out by Yvette Alexander’s office, today’s celebration “will feature members of the Motown Ambassadors, Marvin Gaye’s niece Iris Gordy, Temptations member Joe Herndon, Scooter McGruder, and Motown recording artist Rene Dickerson.”