Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. was the eldest son of a Pentecostal minister and the second of four children. His family lived in a mostly African-American community in Washington, D.C. When he was a child, Gaye was abused by his father. He used music to help him cope with the abuse, playing instruments and singing gospel music in his father's church. When he was a teenager, Gaye became a fan of doo-wop and joined several groups before he left high school at the start of his senior year.