Early recordings In 1960, Terrell signed under the Wand subsidiary of Scepter Records after being discovered by
Luther Dixon. She recorded the ballad "If You See Bill" under the name Tammy Montgomery and did demos for
the Shirelles. After another single, Terrell left the label. Having been introduced to
James Brown, she signed a contract with him and began singing backup for his Revue concert tours. In 1961, Terrell created the group
the Sherrys. In late 1962, Terrell was kicked out due to multiple disputes and after suffering violent abuse at the hands of Brown. Eventually, they went their separate ways, with the Sherrys moving on without Terrell. In 1963, she recorded the song "
I Cried". Released on Brown's
Try Me Records, it became her first charting
single, reaching No. 99 on the
Billboard Hot 100. Terrell later signed with Checker Records and released the
Bert Berns-produced "If I Would Marry You", a duet with
Jimmy Radcliffe, which Terrell co-composed. Following this relative failure, Terrell announced a semi-retirement from the music business. Terrell enrolled in the
University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in pre-med, staying at the school for two years. Motown remixed the vocals and edited out the background vocals, giving just Gaye and Terrell vocal dominance. The song became a crossover pop hit in the summer of 1967, reaching No. 19 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and No. 3 on the R&B charts and making Terrell a star. Their follow-up, "
Your Precious Love", became an even bigger hit, reaching No. 5 on the pop chart and No. 2 on the R&B chart. At the end of 1967, the duo scored another top-ten single with "
If I Could Build My Whole World Around You", which peaked at No. 10 on the pop chart and No. 2 on the R&B chart. The song's
B-side, the Marvin Gaye composition "
If This World Were Mine", became a modest hit on both charts, No. 68 pop, No. 27 R&B. Gaye later cited the song as "one of Tammi's favorites". All four songs were included on Gaye and Terrell's first duet album,
United, released in the late summer of 1967. Throughout 1967, Gaye and Terrell began performing together, and Terrell became a vocal and performance inspiration for the shy and laid-back Gaye, who hated live performing. The duo also performed together on television shows to their hits. They were voted the No. 1 R&B duo in
Cash Box magazine's Annual Year-End Survey in 1970. In 1967
the Funk Brothers supported
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell's live show as backing band.
Cancer diagnosis While Terrell was being established as a star, the migraines and headaches she had suffered from since childhood were becoming more constant. While Terrell complained of pain, she insisted to people close to her that she was well enough to perform. However, on October 14, 1967, while performing "Your Precious Love" with Gaye at
Hampden–Sydney College, just outside the town of
Farmville, Virginia, Terrell collapsed into Gaye's arms onstage. Shortly after returning from Virginia, doctors diagnosed a malignant
tumor on the right side of Terrell's brain. She underwent brain surgery at
Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia on January 13, 1968. After recovering from her first surgery, Terrell returned to Hitsville studios in Detroit and recorded "
You're All I Need to Get By". Both that song and "
Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" reached No. 1 on the R&B charts. Despite Terrell's optimism, her tumor worsened, requiring more surgeries. By 1969, Terrell had retired from live performances as doctors had ordered her not to perform due to her tumors. In early 1969, Motown issued Terrell's first and only solo album,
Irresistible. She was too ill to promote the recordings. The album had no new repertoire, and all tracks had been recorded earlier and shelved for some time. Marvin Gaye and Valerie Simpson gave different stories on how the production of Terrell's and Gaye's third and final album together,
Easy, went about. According to reports, Terrell had become so ill due to her operations that she could not record, and Motown opted to have Simpson sub in for Terrell. This report was repeated in the book ''Marvin Gaye: What's Going On and the Last Days of the Motown Sound''. Gaye would later say the move was "another moneymaking scheme on B.G.'s
Berry Gordy's] part." Simpson, on the other hand, stated that the ailing Terrell was brought into the studio when she was strong enough to record over Simpson's guide vocals, insisting Terrell had sung on the album.
Easy produced the singles "Good Lovin' Ain't Easy to Come By", "What You Gave Me", "California Soul", and the U.K. top-10 hit "
The Onion Song". Late in 1969, Terrell made her final public appearance at the
Apollo Theater, where Marvin Gaye performed. As soon as Gaye spotted Terrell, he rushed to her side, and they began singing "You're All I Need to Get By" together. The public gave them a standing ovation. == Personal life ==