Motown Pioneer And Gaye Collaborator Fuqua Dies

Singer/songwriter-turned-music mogul HARVEY FUQUA has died after suffering a heart attack.

The 80-year-old star, whose nephew is director Antoine Fuqua, passed away in a hospital in Detroit, Michigan on Tuesday (06Jul10).

Fuqua began his career in the music industry as a singer and songwriter with the 1950s doo-wop group the Moonglows.

He quit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame group in 1958 and went on to become a key player in the development and success of the Motown record label in Detroit, helping his then-brother-in-law Berry Gordy set up the company by helping to distribute its first hit single, Barrett Strong’s Money (That’s What I Want), through his own Anna Records.

Fuqua later sold the label to Gordy and accepted a position as a songwriter and executive at Motown.

He also worked with blues icon Etta James during a stint at Chess Records and went on to serve as Smokey Robinson’s road manager.

Throughout his career Fuqua was linked to soul legend Marvin Gaye - he discovered the young singer when he was part of Washington, D.C. group the Marquees and reunited with him to produce the Sexual Healing singer’s acclaimed final album Midnight Love.