# Who plays guitar on Marvin Gaye’s 1971 hit ‘What’s Going On’?

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/who-plays-guitar-on-marvin-gayes-1971-hit-whats-going-on/
- Published: 2026-10-28T22:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-28T22:19:34+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/who-plays-guitar-marvin-gaye-whats-going-on/
- Topics: Music

## Key points

- Robert White played acoustic guitar on the track.
- Joe Messina played electric guitar.
- Gaye pressed Motown to credit the session musicians.

## Summary

Robert White and Joe Messina played guitar on Marvin Gaye’s 1971 song “What’s Going On”. The article highlights their understated contributions to the track, which helped shape its sound alongside the famous bass part by James Jamerson.

Both guitarists were members of Motown’s Funk Brothers: White played acoustic guitar and Messina electric. Gaye reportedly pushed Motown to credit the session musicians on the album sleeve, including Jamerson, percussionist Jack Ashford, White and Messina, despite the label’s usual practice of leaving studio players unnamed.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.