Midnight Love

Released in the United States on 8 November 1982 and on 12 November in the United Kingdom. Gaye began recording in Brussels in December 1981, before the deal with CBS was signed, and the album took more than nine months, with mixing in Belgium, Germany and the United States. Columbia sent him a Roland TR-808 drum machine and a Jupiter 8 synthesizer, and the guitarist Gordon Banks said it was mostly the two of them in the studio. Harvey Fuqua added horn sections and helped with mixing. Gaye said he feared being so introspective that no one would listen, and that he needed a hit. Third World Girl is a tribute to Bob Marley, whom Gaye would not name, and Joy honors his father's ministry.

The album reached number one on the Top Black Albums chart and the top ten of the Billboard 200. It was his first album to be certified, platinum in December 1982, and it went triple platinum in 2000. It reached number one in Canada and number seven in the United Kingdom. Dave Marsh of Rolling Stone called the comeback remarkably arrogant but successful, and Robert Christgau said its concentration on the carnal is one reason it is his best ever. NME named it album of the year for 1982, and Rolling Stone ranked it 37th among the albums of the 1980s. It was nominated for the 1984 Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, which went to Michael Jackson's Billie Jean.