Jesse L. Martin will play Marvin Gaye in biopic

He will be replacing Lenny Kravitz, who was previously set to play the part.

In November it was announced that Kravitz would play the lead in the film. The singer's son, Marvin Gaye III, then made it clear that he was not keen on the singer/actor.

The part will now be played by Jesse L. Martin, who was previously linked to a similar project in 2008.

Martin's acting dreams will come true in this movie by musical documentary specialist Julien Temple that will look back on Marvin Gaye's time in Europe at the beginning of the 1980s.

Brendan Gleeson ("The Guard") will also feature in this musical drama.

Gaye's European exile allowed him to get away from drugs and compose the album "Midnight Love" (1982), which includes "Sexual Healing," a song that he wrote in Ostend, Belgium.

On his return to the United States, he started taking drugs again before he was assassinated by his father on April 1, 1984.