Released in 1982, “Sexual Healing” is one of Marvin Gaye’s most popular songs, and his last to reach the top 20 in the US, UK and Australia. It won the Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Perfomance and the instrumental version won Best R&B Instrumental Perfomance. In 2003, Rolling Stone listed it as one of the best songs of all time.

Recorded in Ostend, Belgium in 1982, the song represented a comeback for Marvin to the American music scene. The singer had been living overseas to escape two divorces, tax scandals and to overcome a debilitating cocaine addiction and depression. The song was borne out of a comment made by songwriter David Ritz’s when he visited Gaye and saw he had pornography spread across his coffee table:

Marvin, this is some sick [expletive]. What are you doing? What you really need is sexual healing.

A plaque commemorating Marvin Gaye’s stay in Ostend, Belgium, was placed in front of the apartment where he lived.