Songfacts®:

• We have Charlie Puth to thank for turning Marvin Gaye into a verb. Definition: To get it on.
  
  Signed to Motown Records, Gaye was one of the most famous soul singers of the '60s and '70s. He released some incisive political songs like "What's Going On," but made a lot of baby-making music as well, including his 1973 chart-topper "Let's Get It On." That's Puth's reference in this song, where he makes his pitch: "Let's Marvin Gaye and get it on."
  
  Puth describes the song as "soulful pop with a little bit of hip-hop undertone."
• The song finds Puth duetting with Meghan Trainor, who at the time was All About That Bass. Asked by Billboard how the collaboration came about, Puth replied: "Meghan and I were at a party one night, and we were exchanging the new music, and she heard 'Marvin Gaye; and asked, 'Who else is singing on this? It should be a duet. Let me sing on it!' So I'm like... OK, Meghan Trainor just asked me to sing on my song, absolutely! In one day, she knew the whole thing. We did it all in one take."
• "Marvin Gaye" was Charlie Puth's debut single, released in February 2015 when he was 23. Puth went the college route, graduating from Berklee College of Music in 2013. It didn't take him long to earn a record deal and make his mark as both a singer and songwriter.
• Asked if Marvin Gaye inspires his music, Puth replied: "I listened to a lot of Marvin Gaye and Motown records. When I was making my record, I just wanted to make this soulful sound. When Marvin Gaye made his music, he evoked this feeling that would reach everybody."
  
  He says some of his favorite Marvin Gaye songs are "Heaven Must Have Sent You," "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," "Sexual Healing" and "Heard It Through the Grapevine."
• "Marvin Gaye" made a strong showing in America, where it went to #21, but his next single was huge: the Wiz Khalifa collaboration "See You Again," used in the movie Furious 7. That song went to #1 and was a global smash.
  
  In the UK, "See You Again" was released first and went to #1. "Marvin Gaye" followed and also topped the chart.
• Charlie Puth had quite a productive few days when he first moved to Los Angeles. His first day in the city, he was at a coffee shop on Cahuenga Boulevard when the melody for "Marvin Gaye" struck - he found himself tapping his foot and clapping out the beat. The next day, he came up with the chorus for "See You Again."
  
  "I was trying to prove myself as a songwriter," Puth he told Billboard magazine. "I was just having fun, and I was surrounded by all these pretty women - in general in LA, there's a lot of pretty women. I don't know why I said it like that. Pure human emotion is how 'Marvin Gaye' happened. I just said the line 'let's Marvin Gaye and get it on' - I don't know where it came from."
• We don't see many big hits with the full name of a singer in the title, and "Marvin Gaye" is probably the biggest, edging out "Dua Lipa" by Jack Harlow. Barenaked Ladies charted with "Brian Wilson" in 1992, and Van Morrison with "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)" in 1972. The only other chart hit that comes to mind is the 2010 techno song "Barbra Streisand" by Duck Sauce. "Luther" (Kendrick Lamar) and "Moves Like Jagger" (Maroon 5) were huge but didn't use the full names.