The Peculiar Truth about Motown’s Tragic Princess

• October 14, 1967: A small college in Virginia welcomed two of Motown’s biggest recording stars to perform live in concert: Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. They took the stage and the band kicked in. Midway into singing one of their hit songs, ‘Your Precious Love’, Tammi fainted into Gaye’s arms. The show abruptly ended, and she was rushed to a hospital.

• Doctors determined the cause of her collapse, and the young singer would never be the same. She was only 22 years old, but her whirlwind life was already filled with drama.

• She was born Thomasina Montgomery in Philadelphia in 1945. Her father owned a barbershop and her mother suffered mental illness. She disliked being called Tommy and after seeing a bobbysoxer movie she changed her name to Tammi.

• According to her sister’s biography, Tammi was a rape victim at age 11. From that experience, she developed life-long migraines.

• 1960: She recorded her first song at age 15 on an obscure label. After another single that failed to make waves, she left that record producer.

• Tammi then went on tour as a singer in James Brown’s revue. She was just 17 when she and James Brown, then 29, began a relationship. He abused Tammi more than once, and one night Brown beat her up for not watching his show. She wisely left him immediately rather than suffer any more abuse.

• After coming off the road, Tammi formed the girl group the Sherrys in Philadelphia. She clashed with the other members and they forced her out - from the group she had created.

• 1963: Tammi released a few singles. Some were minor successes. Some were not. Fed up with the music business, she left for college.

• For two years, Tammi attended the University of Pennsylvania where she studied medicine. But even during her school years she kept getting drawn back into music. Jimmy Butler hired her to tour with him as a singer while she still attended college.

• But by 1965, Berry Gordy, the Detroit music producing legend, offered her a recording contract. She left the university and joined the Motown label on her 20th birthday.

• Tammi recorded a few singles that did well on the charts, and she toured with the Temptations. That’s when she got into another troubled relationship, this time with Temptations’ troubled and talented singer David Ruffin. She was 19. He was 24.

• Tammi announced to an audience one night that she and Ruffin were engaged. Then she learned that he was already married, had three kids, and had another girlfriend on the side. Ruffin, who was hooked on drugs at the time, beat Tammi over the head with a motorcycle helmet. She left him, too.

• Thereafter, Tammi’s headaches, which she’d had since childhood, grew worse. Regardless, she kept performing.

• 1967: Tammi was paired up with Marvin Gaye. They recorded their vocals separately, but Gaye was instantly taken with her voice. Their single “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” became a smash hit. That led to a full album of duets.

• Gaye enjoyed performing with Tammi because he had stage fright. They seemed to be a perfect vocal match. But then, while onstage during that fateful college show in Virginia, he caught her as she collapsed.

• The diagnosis was a brain tumor. Surgery was performed. The cancerous growth was removed, and she began recuperating.

• Tammi did not quit. She and Marvin Gaye recorded more hit songs, including “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing” and “You’re All I Need to Get By.”

• But her brain cancer worsened. The tumor grew. She needed more surgeries. At her doctor’s insistence Tammi could no longer go out on tour.

• Marvin Gaye was displeased when Berry Gordy had Valerie Simpson (of the duo Ashford & Simpson) perform with him in Tammi’s place. But Tammi found the strength to go to the studio to record at least a few vocals.

• 1969: Her final public appearance was at the Apollo Theater in New York City. Marvin Gaye brought her onstage to sing a duet, and the audience gave them a standing ovation.

• January 1970: Tammi could no longer walk and had to remain in a wheelchair. She lost weight and went blind. After eight brain operations, she fell into a coma and died - one month shy of her 25th birthday.

• Her memorial service was held in Philadelphia. Tammi’s mother didn’t permit any Motown stars to attend - except Marvin Gaye.

• Her death troubled him for the rest of his life, contributed to his eventual drug abuse, and inspired his classic album What’s Going On.

• Although she has been eligible for many years, Tammi Terrell is not yet in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.