The first 100,000 copies sold immediately. A second pressing of 100,000 was ordered. It climbed to No. 2 on the Hot 100—held out of the top spot by the Temptations’ “Just My Imagination” and Three Dog Night’s “Joy to the World”—and spent five weeks at No. 1 on the R&B chart. It became the fastest-selling Motown single at that point in the label’s history.
Gordy was persuaded.
Gaye had won the argument. Now he was given latitude to make the album.
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He recorded what would become the *What’s Going On* album in March 1971—completing it in approximately ten days. The album was released in May 1971 and remains one of the most consequential recordings in the history of American popular music.
It was a concept album—an innovation for R&B—with segued tracks that flowed into one another, creating a continuous meditation on war, poverty, environmental destruction, police brutality, and spiritual yearning. It was political without being didactic. It was sorrowful without being resigned. It was an act of witness.
“Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” became a top ten single. “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)” followed. All three singles from the album made the top ten of the Hot 100. It was the first time a male artist had achieved this from a single album.
The album reached No. 6 on the pop album chart and became Gaye’s first million-selling album.
*Rolling Stone* named it the best album of the year. In subsequent decades, it would consistently rank among the greatest albums ever recorded. In *Rolling Stone*’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, published in multiple editions, *What’s Going On* has consistently held a position at or near the very top—No. 1 in the 2020 revision.