"What's Going On" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

, released in 1971 on the Motown subsidiary Tamla. Originally inspired by a

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...

incident witnessed by Renaldo "Obie" Benson, the song was composed by Benson, Al Cleveland, and Gaye and produced by Gaye himself. The song marked Gaye's departure from the Motown Sound towards more personal material. Later topping the Hot Soul Singles chart for five weeks and crossing over to number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, it would sell over two million copies, becoming Gaye's second-most successful Motown song to date. It was ranked at number 4 in '' Rolling Stone's''

500 Greatest Songs of all Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...

in 2004 and 2010.

Inspiration and writing

The song's inspiration came from Renaldo "Obie" Benson, a member of the Motown vocal group the

Four Tops The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet from Detroit who helped to define the city's Motown sound of the 1960s. The group's repertoire has included soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes. Founded as the ...

, after he and the group's tour bus arrived at

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

on May 15, 1969. While there, Benson witnessed

and violence in the city's People's Park during a protest held by

anti-war An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...

activists in what was hailed later as "Bloody Thursday". Upset by the situation, Benson said to author Ben Edmonds that as he saw this, he asked, "'What is happening here?' One question led to another. Why are they sending kids so far away from their families overseas? Why are they attacking their own children in the streets?" Upset, he discussed what he witnessed with friend and songwriter Al Cleveland, who in turn wrote and composed a song to reflect Benson's concerns. Benson wanted to give the song to his group but the other Four Tops turned down the request. "My partners told me it was a protest song", Benson said later, "I said 'no man, it's a love song, about love and understanding. I'm not protesting, I want to know what's going on.'" In 1970, Benson presented the untitled song to Marvin Gaye, who added a new melody and revised the song to his liking, adding in his own lyrics. Benson later said Gaye tweaked and enriched the song, "added some things that were more ghetto, more natural, which made it seem like a story than a song... we measured him for the suit and he tailored the hell out of it." Gaye titled it "What's Going On". When Gaye initially thought the song's moody feel would be appropriate to be recorded by The Originals, Benson convinced Gaye to record it as his own song. Gaye, himself, had been inspired by social ills committed in the United States, citing the 1965 Watts Riot as a turning point in his life in which he asked himself, "'With the world exploding around me, how am I supposed to keep singing love songs?'" Gaye was also influenced by emotional conversations shared between him and his brother Frankie, who had returned from three years of service at the Vietnam War and his namesake cousin's death while serving troops. During phone conversations with Berry Gordy, who was vacationing in the Bahamas at the time, Gaye had told Gordy that he wanted to record a protest record, to which Gordy said in response, "Marvin, don't be ridiculous. That's taking things too far."

Recording

Gaye entered the recording studio,

Hitsville USA "Hitsville U.S.A." is the nickname given to Motown's first headquarters and recording studio. The house (formerly a photographers' studio) is located at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan, near the New Center area. The house was purch ...

, on June 1, 1970, to record "What's Going On". Instead of relying on other producers to help him with the song, Gaye, inspired by recent successes of his productions for the vocal act, the Originals, decided to produce the song himself, mixing up original Motown in-house studio musicians such as James Jamerson and Eddie Brown with musicians he recruited himself. The opening

soprano saxophone The soprano saxophone is a higher-register variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument invented in the 1840s. The soprano is the third-smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists (from smallest to largest) of the soprillo, sop ...

line, provided by musician Eli Fontaine, was not originally intended. Once Gaye heard Fontaine's riff, he told Fontaine to go home. When Fontaine protested that he was just "goofing around", Gaye replied "you goof off exquisitely, thank you." The laid-back atmosphere in the studio was brought on by constant

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

smoking by Gaye and other musicians. Jamerson was pulled into the session after Gaye located him playing with a band at a local bar. Respected Motown

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...

David Van De Pitte said later to Ben Edmonds that Jamerson "always kept a bottle of

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Metaxa in his bass case. He could really put that stuff away, and then sit down and still be able to play. His tolerance was incredible. It took a hell a lot to get him smashed." The night Jamerson entered the studio to record the bass lines to the song, Jamerson could not sit properly in his seat and, according to one of the members of the Funk Brothers, lay on the floor playing his bass riffs. De Pitte recalled that it was a track that Jamerson greatly respected: "On 'What's Going On' though, he just read the

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part down like I wrote it. He loved it because I had written Jamerson licks for Jamerson." Annie Jamerson recalls that when he returned home that night, he declared that the song they had been working on was a "masterpiece", one of the few occasions where he had discussed his work so passionately with her. Gaye also added his own instrumentation, playing piano and keyboards while also playing a

box drum A box (plural: boxes) is a container used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides. Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or very large (like a shipping box for furniture), and can ...

to help accentuate Chet Forest's drumming. To add more to the song's laid-back approach, Gaye invited the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

players Mel Farr and Lem Barney to Motown Studio B and, along with Gaye and the Funk Brothers, added in vocal chatter, engaging in a mock conversation. Musician and songwriter Elgie Stover, who later served as a caterer for Bill Clinton and was then a Motown staffer and confidante of Gaye's, was the man who opened the song's track with the words, "hey, man, what's happening?" and "everything is everything". Later Gaye brought Lem Barney and Mel Farr as well as Bobby Rogers of the Miracles to record the song's background vocal track. The rhythm tracks and the song's overdubs were done at Hitsville, while strings, horns, lead and background vocals were recorded at Studio B. The song was mixed in stereo at Motown Center studio on Woodward Avenue. On hearing a playback of the song, Gaye asked his engineer Kenneth Sands to give him his two vocal leads to compare what he wanted to use for the song's release. Sands ended up mixing the leads together, by accident. However, when he heard it, Gaye was so impressed with the double-lead feel that he kept it, influencing his later recordings in which he mastered vocal multi-layering adding in three different vocal parts. Before presenting the song to Gordy, he produced a false fade to the song, bringing the song back for a few seconds after it was initially to have ended. The song was also notable for its use of major seventh and minor seventh chords, which was uncommon at the time. Gaye recorded the song's B-side, " God Is Love", on the same day. After Gordy heard the song when Gaye presented it to him in California, he turned down Gaye's request to release it, telling Gaye that he felt it was "the worst thing I ever heard in my life." When Harry Balk requested the song to be released, Gordy told him the song featured "that

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...

stuff in the middle, that scatting, it's old." Gaye responded to this rejection by refusing to record further unless the song was released, going on strike until, he felt, Gordy saw sense in releasing it.

Commercial performance

Anxious for Marvin Gaye product, Balk got Motown's sales vice president Barney Ales to release the song on January 17,

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

, pressing 100,000 copies and promoting the single to radio stations across the country. The initial success of this led to a further 100,000 to answer demand, selling over 200,000 copies within a week. Though it was issued without Gordy's knowledge, he was satisfied with the high-volume sales. The song eventually became a huge success, reaching the top of the charts within a month in March of the year, staying at number one for five weeks on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

R&B charts and one week at number one on the ''Cashbox'' pop chart. On the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, it reached number two, behind both " Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)" by the Temptations and " Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the No. 21 song for 1971. The song eventually sold more than two million copies, becoming the fastest-selling Motown

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

at the time. The song's success forced Gordy to allow Gaye to produce his own music, giving him an ultimatum to complete an album by the end of March, later resulting in the '' What's Going On'' album itself.

Critical reception and legacy

The song was reviewed by

Slant magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

as a song that presented a contradictory sound, with the song's mournful tone going in contrast to the party atmosphere of the vocal chatter. In reviewing the ''What's Going On'' album, ''Rolling Stone'' critic Vince Aletti stated that while the song's lyrics were "hardly brilliant", the song itself helped to set the mood for the rest of the album, and that "without overreaching they capture a certain aching dissatisfaction that is part of the album's mood." "What's Going On" was nominated for two

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

in 1972 including

Best Male R&B Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance was awarded between 1968 and 2011. The award has had several minor name changes: *In 1968 it was awarded as Best R&B Solo Vocal Performance, Male *From 1969 to 1994 it was awarded as Best R&B V ...

and

Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by ma ...

, but failed to win in any of the categories. Although "What's Going On" does not appear in the 1983 film ''

The Big Chill Big Chill can refer to: *The Big Chill (music festival), an annual music and comedy festival held in England * ''The Big Chill'' (film), a 1983 American film directed by Lawrence Kasdan *The Big Chill at the Big House, a 2010 U.S. college ice hock ...

'' it is included on both the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and More Songs from the Big Chill. In 2004 and 2010, "What's Going On" was ranked number 4 on the ''Rolling Stone'' list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", making it the highest Marvin Gaye song on the list. It was ranked number 6 in ''Rolling Stone's'' 2021 edition of the list. In 2016, it was voted number 2 in "Detroit's 100 Greatest Songs", a project based on voting by music experts and the public, conducted by the '' Detroit Free Press''. In 1999, music writers Paul Gambaccini and Kevin Howlett listed the song number 74 on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

's Songs of the Century. In 2003, '' Q'' magazine placed the song 64th out of its 1001 Best Songs Ever. In 2004, the Detroit publication '' Metro Times'' named it the "Greatest Detroit Song of All Time" out of 100 songs on the list. It also reached number 14 on

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

's 100 Greatest Rock Songs of All Time. In March 2012, ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' named it the number 33 Greatest 1970s song on their list. The song topped Detroit's '' Metro Times'' list of the 100 Greatest Detroit Songs of All Time, and in 2004, '' Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked it the fourth-greatest song of all time; in its updated 2011 list, the song remained at that position. It is included in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's

500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and ...

list, along with two other songs by the singer. It was also listed at number fourteen on VH-1's 100 Greatest Rock Songs.

Charts

Weekly charts

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'') , 20

Year-end charts

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Certifications

Accolades

{, class="wikitable" , - ! List !! Publisher !! Rank !! Year of Publication , - , 500 Greatest Songs of All Time , , Rolling Stone , , 4 , , 2010 , - , Detroit's 100 Greatest Songs , , Detroit Free Press , , 2 , , 2016 , - , 100 Greatest Rock Songs , , VH1 , , 14 , , 2000 , - , 100 Songs That Changed the World , , Q , , 39 , , 2003 , - , 1001 Best Songs Ever , , Q , , 64 , , 2003 , - , 500 Songs That Shaped Rock , , Rock & Roll Hall of Fame , , N/A , , 1995 , - , 365 Songs of the Century , ,

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

, , 65 , , 2001

Personnel

– lead and backing vocals, piano and

* Backing vocals by Marvin Gaye, Mel Farr, Lem Barney, Elgie Stover, Kenneth Stover, Bobby Rogers, and the Funk Brothers * Instrumentation by the Funk Brothers and the

Detroit Symphony Orchestra The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood. Jader Bignamini is the current music d ...

including: **Eli Fountain – alto saxophone ** Robert White – guitar ** James Jamerson – bass **Chet Forest – drums ** Eddie "Bongo" Brown – bongos,

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

s ** Jack Ashford – tambourine, percussion ;Production * Marvin Gaye – producer, composer * Renaldo "Obie" Benson – composer * Al Cleveland – composer * David Van De Pitte – arranger * Steve Smith – recording engineer * Mike McLean – recording engineer * Ken Sands – recording and mix engineer

Cyndi Lauper version

Cyndi Lauper covered "What's Going On" on her second album, '' True Colors'', in 1986. In March 1987, it was released as the third single from the album. On the album version, the song starts off with a series of gunshots in reference to the Vietnam War while the single release is a remix with an alternate vocal used in the intro. It is the single version that most often appears on Lauper compilations. Lauper's cover was a modest hit worldwide. Thanks to club remixes by Shep Pettibone, the song reached number 17 on the U.S.

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

chart. However, the song failed to reach the US top ten unlike Lauper's previous two singles from her ''True Colors'' album including the title track and " Change of Heart", reaching number 12. The video for the song, directed by Andy Morahan, was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award.

Chart performance

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) N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between 1983 and 19 June 1988. , style="text-align:center;", 52 , - , align="left", Belgium ( Ultratop 50 Flanders) , style="text-align:center;", 27 , - , align="left", Canadian Singles Chart (''

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'') , style="text-align:center;", 30 , - , align="left", Chilean Singles Chart , style="text-align:center;", 19 , - , - , - , New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart , style="text-align:center;", 30 , - , UK Singles Chart , style="text-align:center;", 57 , - , U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 , style="text-align:center;", 12 , - , U.S. ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary , style="text-align:center;", 29 , - , U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Music Maxi Single Sales , style="text-align:center;", 7 , - , U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Club Play , style="text-align:center;", 17 , - , U.S. ''Cash Box'' Top 100 Singles , style="text-align:center;", 15

Track listing

;7" #"What's Going On" (Single Version) - 3:51 #"One Track Mind" - 3:39 ;12" #"What's Going On" (club version) – 6:20 #"What's Going On" (long version) – 6:22 #"What's Going On" (instrumental) – 6:25 #"One Track Mind" – 3:39

Official versions

#Album version – 4:39 #Club version – 6:30 #Instrumental – 6:25 #Long version – 6:22 #Special version – 3:51

Charity versions

Live Aid Armenia cover

The remake of "What's Going On" was the first of the Rock Aid Armenia releases in aid of those suffering from the

1988 Armenian earthquake The 1988 Armenian earthquake, also known as the Spitak earthquake ( hy, Սպիտակի երկրաշարժ, ), occurred on December 7 at with a surface wave magnitude of 6.8 and a maximum MSK intensity of X (''Devastating''). The shock occurre ...

. The version credited to Live Aid Armenia featured

Aswad Aswad are a British reggae group, noted for adding strong R&B and soul influences to the reggae sound. They have been performing since the mid-1970s, having released a total of 21 albums. Their UK hit singles include the number one "Don't Tur ...

, Errol Brown,

Richard Darbyshire Richard Simon Darbyshire (born 8 March 1960) is an English singer, songwriter, producer, and songwriting coach. Richard Darbyshire is best known as the frontman for the 1980s synthpop group Living in a Box. Biography Early years Richard Darbys ...

, Gail Ann Dorsey, Boy George,

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...

, Nick Heyward, Mykaell S. Riley, Labi Siffre, Helen Terry, Ruby Turner, Elizabeth Westwood and the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra. The B-side was "A Cool Wind Is Blowing", Armenian

duduk The duduk ( ; hy, դուդուկ ) or tsiranapogh ( hy, ծիրանափող, meaning “apricot-made wind instrument”), is an ancient Armenian double reed woodwind instrument made of apricot wood. It is indigenous to Armenia. Variations of th ...

music played by

Djivan Gasparyan Djivan Gasparyan (var. Jivan Gasparyan; hy, Ջիվան Գասպարյան, ; October 12, 1928 – July 6, 2021) was an Armenian musician and composer. He played the duduk, a double reed woodwind instrument related to the orchestral oboe. Gaspary ...

. The record was produced by

Steve Levine Steve LeVine (born in New York) is a journalist. He writes The Electric, new publicationon batteries, electric vehicles, and their impact on society, cities and geopolitics. He is a senior fellow on the Foresight, Strategy and Risk Initiative at ...

and the executive producers were Fraser Kennedy and Jon Dee. This was released as a single on

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

Track listings

7" Single # What's Going On - 8:48 12" Single # What's Going On - 8:48

Music Relief '94

In 1994, the song was covered in the Music Relief '94. This cover was released as a benefit single released in memory of the Rwandan genocide and is also on the album Now That's What I Call Music! 29 to find. All singers who participated in the project are: C. J. Lewis, Andrew Roachford, Yazz,

, Edwin Starr, Peter Cunnah of

D Ream D:Ream is a Northern Irish/English pop rock and dance group. They had a UK No. 1 hit with " Things Can Only Get Better" in 1994. Eight more top 40 hits followed, including " U R the Best Thing" and " Shoot Me with Your Love". They released ...

, Kim Appleby, MAD Jones of BAD,

Rozalla Rozalla Miller (born 18 March 1964), better known as simply Rozalla, is a Zimbabwean electronic music performer who was born in what was then Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). At the age of 18, she moved with her parents to her father's country o ...

, Tony Di Bart, Paul Young,

Paul Carrack Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

, Angie Brown of Ramona 55, Jimmy Ruffin,

Omar Lye-Fook Omar Christopher Lye-Fook MBE (born 14 October 1968), known professionally as Omar, is an English singer, songwriter and actor. He grew up in Canterbury, Kent and learned his craft classically, playing the trumpet, piano and percussion. He als ...

, Apache Indian,

Worlds Apart Worlds Apart may refer to: Film and television Films * ''Worlds Apart'' (1921 film), an American silent film starring Eugene O'Brien * ''Worlds Apart'' (2008 film), a Danish film by Niels Arden Oplev * ''Worlds Apart'', a 2008 Israeli film by Amo ...

, Kaos, The Pasadenas, Gus Isidore,

Jools Holland Julian Miles Holland, (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer and television presenter. He was an original member of the band Squeeze and has worked with many artists including Jayne County, Sting, Eric C ...

, Mark King of Level 42, Nik Kershaw,

Larry Adler Lawrence Cecil Adler (February 10, 1914 – August 6, 2001) was an American harmonica player. Known for playing major works, he played compositions by George Gershwin, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Malcolm Arnold, Darius Milhaud and Arthur Benjamin. ...

and

Dannii Minogue Danielle Jane Minogue () is an Australian singer, television personality, and actress. She initially gained recognition for her appearances on the television show ''Young Talent Time'' (1982–1988) and for her role as Emma Jackson on th ...

Track listings

CD-Maxi # What's Going On - 3:52

Charts

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position , - , align="left", UK Singles Chart , align="center", 70 , - , align="left", German Singles Chart , align="center", 72 , -

Artists Against AIDS Worldwide cover

On October 30, 2001, a group of popular recording artists under the name "Artists Against AIDS Worldwide" released a single containing multiple versions of "What's Going On" to benefit AIDS programs in Africa and other impoverished regions. The single contains "What's Going On" along with eight additional remixes. The song was recorded shortly before the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

, and it was decided afterwards that a portion of the song's proceeds would benefit the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

' September 11 fund as well. Jermaine Dupri and

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Born and raised in Dublin, he attended M ...

produced the radio single version, whose performers included

Destiny's Child Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final line-up comprised Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Houston, Texas. After years of limited ...

, Backstreet Boys,

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

, Christina Aguilera,

NSYNC NSYNC (, ; also stylized as *NSYNC or 'N Sync) was an American boy band formed by Chris Kirkpatrick in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich. Their self-titled debut album was successfully released to European ...

, Darren Hayes of Savage Garden,

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...

, Ja Rule,

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

Lil' Kim Kimberly Denise Jones (born July 11, 1974), Those giving 1974 include: * * * * * better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper and reality television personality. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, she lived much of he ...

, Sean Combs, Mary J Blige, Alicia Keys, Eve,

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs ...

, Nelly Furtado, Fred Durst of

Limp Bizkit Limp Bizkit is an American rap rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. Its lineup consists of lead vocalist Fred Durst, drummer John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland, turntablist DJ Lethal and bassist Sam Rivers. The band's music is marked by D ...

, Aaron Lewis of

Staind Staind ( ) is an American rock band from Springfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The original lineup consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Aaron Lewis, lead guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist and backing vocalist Johnny April, and dr ...

, Michael Stipe of R.E.M., Wyclef Jean and Gaye's own daughter Nona, among other artists. The collaboration was a success worldwide, peaking within the top 10 on the charts of Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom and the top 20 on the charts of Flanders, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden and Switzerland. In New Zealand, it went Gold for selling over 5,000 units. On the US ''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, the cover peaked at number 27, and it additionally reached number 24 on both the ''Billboard''

Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

and Rhythmic charts. A music video was directed by

Jake Scott Jacob E. Scott III (July 20, 1945 – November 19, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a free safety and punt returner from 1970 to 1978 for the Miami Dolphins and Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NF ...

Track listings

US maxi-CD single # "What's Going On" (Dupri original mix) # "What's Going On" (The London version) # "What's Going On" (

Moby Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, singer, producer, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "among the ...

's version) # "What's Going On" (Fred Durst's Reality Check Mix) # "What's Going On" ( Mangini/Pop Rox Mix) # "What's Going On" (

Mick Guzauski Nathan "Mick" Guzauski is an American multi-platinum mixing engineer and sound engineer. His work spans a wide range of styles, including jazz, R&B, Latin, rock, pop, easy listening, funk and hip hop. He won a 2002 Latin Grammy for Thalía's ...

's Pop Mix) # "What's Going On" (Dupri R&B Mix) # "What's Going On" (The Neptunes This One's for You Mix) # "What's Going On" ( Junior Vasquez's Club Mix) UK CD single # "What's Going On" (Dupri original mix) – 4:19 # "What's Going On" (Fred Durst's Reality Check Mix) – 5:14 # "What's Going On" (The London version) – 3:55 UK cassette single # "What's Going On" (Dupri original mix) – 4:19 # "What's Going On" (Moby's version) – 4:36 European CD single # "What's Going On" (Dupri original mix) # "What's Going On" (Fred Durst's Reality Check Mix)

Charts

Weekly charts

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align:center" , +Weekly chart performance for "What's Going On" !Chart (2001–02) !Peak
position , - , - , - , - , - , - !scope="row", Europe (

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...

) , 13 , - , - , - , - ! scope="row", Italy (

FIMI The Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI) is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy. It was established in 1992, when major corporate labels left the previously exist ...

) , 5 , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , -

Year-end charts

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" , +Year-end chart performance for "What's Going On" !Chart (2001) !Position , - !scope="row", Ireland (IRMA) , align="center", 96 , - !scope="row", UK Singles (OCC) , align="center", 161

Certifications

Release history

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" !scope="col", Region !scope="col", Date !scope="col", Format(s) !scope="col", Label(s) !scope="col", , - !scope="row", United States , , CD , , , - !scope="row", United Kingdom , , , Columbia ,

Other notable cover versions

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (), is an American singer. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the " Qu ...

performed a version of the song with the Funk Brothers on the documentary, '' Standing in the Shadows of Motown'', in 2002. The performance resulted in a win at the

45th annual Grammy awards The 45th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 23, 2003 at Madison Square Garden in New York City honoring the best in music for the recording of the year beginning from October 1, 2001 through September 30, 2002. Musicians accomplishments ...

for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. * U2 performed a version of the song on their release ''Spotify Singles'', in 2017, as a promotion for their just released album, ''

Songs of Experience ''Songs of Innocence and of Experience'' is a collection of illustrated poems by William Blake. It appeared in two phases: a few first copies were printed and illuminated by Blake himself in 1789; five years later, he bound these poems with a ...

''.

References

External links

Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On": Songs We Love
at NPR
List of cover versions of "What's Going On"
at SecondHandSongs.com {{Authority control 1970 songs 1971 singles 1987 singles 1989 singles 1994 singles 2001 singles Anti-war songs A Perfect Circle songs Cashbox number-one singles Charity singles Charity singles following the September 11 attacks Christina Aguilera songs Civil rights movement in popular culture Columbia Records singles Cyndi Lauper songs Darren Hayes songs Destiny's Child songs Epic Records singles Eve (rapper) songs Funk ballads Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance Gwen Stefani songs Lil' Kim songs Marvin Gaye songs Motown singles Music videos directed by Andy Morahan Music videos directed by Jake Scott (director) Nas songs Nelly Furtado songs Protest songs Sean Combs songs Songs against racism and xenophobia Songs of the Vietnam War Songs written by Al Cleveland Songs written by Marvin Gaye Songs written by Renaldo Benson Soul ballads Song recordings produced by Marvin Gaye Song recordings produced by Steve Levine Tamla Records singles Virgin Records singles

Inspiration and writing

Recording

Commercial performance

Critical reception and legacy

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Accolades

Personnel

Cyndi Lauper version

Chart performance

Track listing

Official versions

Charity versions

Live Aid Armenia cover

Track listings

Music Relief '94

Track listings

Charts

Artists Against AIDS Worldwide cover

Track listings

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Other notable cover versions

See also

References

External links