Editing Marvin Gaye (section)

===Last Motown recordings and European exile===
{{Main|Here, My Dear|In Our Lifetime (Marvin Gaye album)}}
In December 1978, Gaye released ''[[Here, My Dear]]'', inspired by the fallout from his first marriage to [[Anna Gordy Gaye|Anna Gordy]]. Recorded with the intention of remitting a portion of its royalties to her as [[alimony]] payments, it performed poorly on the charts.<ref name=snopes>{{cite web |url=http://www.snopes.com/music/hidden/heredear.asp |title=Marvin Gaye Here, My Dear |work=snopes.com |date=September 16, 1994 |access-date=November 28, 2012}}</ref> During that period, Gaye's [[cocaine]] addiction intensified while he was dealing with several financial issues with the [[Internal Revenue Service|IRS]]. These issues led him to move to [[Maui]], where he struggled to record a [[disco]]-influenced album titled ''Love Man'', with a probable release date for February 1980, though he would later shelve the project.{{sfn|Ritz|1991|p=265}} That year, Gaye went on a European tour, his first in four years.{{sfn|Ritz|1991|p=267}} By the time the tour stopped, he had relocated to London when he feared [[imprisonment]] for failure to pay [[back taxes]], which had now reached upwards of $4.5&nbsp;million (US${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|4500000|1980}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}}{{inflation-fn|US}}).{{sfn|Ritz|1991|p=267}}{{sfn|Gates|2004|p=333}}

Gaye then reworked ''Love Man'' from its original disco concept to another socially-conscious album invoking religion and the possible [[Eschatology|end time]] from a chapter in the [[Book of Revelation]].{{sfn|Ritz|1991|pp=266–267}} Titling the album ''[[In Our Lifetime (Marvin Gaye album)|In Our Lifetime?]]'', Gaye worked on the album for much of 1980 in London studios such as [[AIR Oxford Circus|AIR]] and [[Odyssey Studios]].{{sfn|Ritz|1991|pp=270–275}}

In the fall of that year, a master tape of a rough draft of the album was stolen from one of Gaye's traveling musicians, Frank Blair, and taken to Motown's Hollywood headquarters.{{sfn|Ritz|1991|p=279}} Motown remixed the album and released it on January 15, 1981.{{sfn|Ritz|1991|p=280}} When Gaye learned of its release, he accused Motown of editing and remixing the album without his consent, allowing the release of an unfinished production ([[Far Cry (Marvin Gaye song)|"Far Cry"]]), altering the cover art and removing the album title's question mark, muting its irony.{{sfn|Ritz|1991|pp=280–281}} He also accused the label of rush-releasing the album, comparing his unfinished album to an unfinished [[Pablo Picasso]] painting.{{sfn|Ritz|1991|pp=280–281}} Gaye then vowed not to record any more music for Motown.{{sfn|Ritz|1991|p=281}}

On February 14, 1981, under the advice of music promoter [[Freddy Cousaert]], Gaye relocated to Cousaert's apartment in [[Ostend]], Belgium.{{sfn|Ritz|1991|p=282}} While there, Gaye shied away from heavy drug use and began exercising and attending a local Ostend church, regaining personal confidence.{{sfn|Gaye|2003|p=320}}{{sfn|Ritz|1991|p=283}} In this period, Gaye lived in the home of Belgian musician {{interlanguage link|Charles Dumolin|nl}}. In March 2024, it was revealed that when he moved on, Gaye had given the family a large collection of unreleased recordings made during his stay in the country.<ref name="Connolly">{{cite news |last1=Connolly |first1=Kevin |last2=Crook |first2=Richard |last3=Boelpaep |first3=Bruno |name-list-style=amp |date=March 30, 2024 |title=Marvin Gaye: Never-before heard music resurfaces in Belgium |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68674814 |website=[[BBC News]] |location=London |access-date=March 30, 2024}}</ref>

Following several months of recovery, Gaye sought a comeback onstage, starting the short-lived ''Heavy Love Affair'' tour in England and Ostend in June–July 1981.{{sfn|Ritz|1991|p=284}} Gaye's personal attorney Curtis Shaw would later describe Gaye's Ostend period as "the best thing that ever happened to Marvin". When word got around that Gaye was planning a musical comeback and an exit from Motown, [[Sony Music|CBS Urban]] president Larkin Arnold eventually convinced Gaye to sign with [[Sony Music|CBS Records]]. On March&nbsp;23, 1982, Motown and CBS negotiated Gaye's release from Motown. The details of the contract were not revealed due to a possible negative effect on Gaye's settlement to creditors from the IRS and to stop a possible bidding war by competing labels.{{sfn|Jet|1982|p=59}}