"Sexual Healing" is a song recorded by American singer Marvin Gaye from his seventeenth and final studio album, Midnight Love (1982).

[1] "Sexual Healing" is written and composed in the key of E-flat major and is set in time signature of 4/4 with a tempo of 94 beats per minute.

Struggling with depression and cocaine addiction, Gaye had agreed to move to Ostend on the advice of longtime resident Freddy Cousaert.

Gaye also began cutting ties with his longtime recording label, Motown, following the release of In Our Lifetime, an album he did not consider finished.

In the meantime, Gaye needed spending money, so Cousaert set him up with a month-long England tour between June 13 and July 1, 1981.

[7] With Brown and Banks, Gaye created and composed an instrumental track that featured reggae overtones, recorded in October 1981.

[citation needed] In an interview with HUMO in 1994, Cousaert claimed the only songwriters were Gaye and Brown and stated Ritz's contribution was the title.

[14] Though Ritz was eventually credited after settling with Gaye's estate following his death, his case was dropped due to insufficient evidence in 1983.

[18] The first vocal sounds are of whispers, recorded by singer Harvey Fuqua, an early mentor of Gaye who assisted him in production of the song and its parent album, Midnight Love.

"[19] In his review of Midnight Love for Rolling Stone, Dave Marsh described "Sexual Healing" as a track that was "sort of a polemic for the power of rampant humping.

[21] An AllMusic reviewer stated Gaye had "concocted a pioneering percussive sound that was balladic in taste but stimulating in feel.

"Sexual Healing" sold over two million units in its standard 45 RPM single format and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Credits sourced from The Atlantic, Electronic Sound, and the original album liner notes[29][30] "Sexual Healing" reached number one on Billboard's Hot R&B Singles chart, staying at the top spot for ten weeks.

"Sexual Healing" was covered in 1993 by Minneapolis rock band Soul Asylum for the charity compilation No Alternative.

Despite not being promoted as a single, the song managed to peak at number ten on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks.

Apart from the original film, this video is one of the few visual works that repeat the proem to the sex scene on the stairs in the rain.

[77] Norwegian DJ and record producer Kygo released a remix of "Sexual Healing" on SoundCloud on 21 November 2013.

[90] Kate Bush and Davy Spillane's version of 'Sexual Healing' appeared as a non-album bonus track on her King of the Mountain single in 2005.

[91] In 2005, "Sexual Healing" was sampled by Japanese singer-songwriter Miliyah Kato in her song "Dear Lonely Girl".

[93] In 2007, this song was remixed by Alibi vs. Rockefeller with a music video featuring three female dancers dressed as nurses (Lauren Ridealgh, Bayley Darling, and Stephanie Fitzpatrick).

[95] In 2017, R&B singer, Miguel, used a sampled portion & interpolations of "Sexual Healing" in the song, "Pineapple Skies", from his 2017 studio album, "War & Leisure".