Kenneth Stover is an American former Motown songwriter, producer and singer, most notably known for contributing background vocals

Backing vocalist

A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...

 on Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye

Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....

's 1971 album, What's Going On

What's Going On

What's Going On is the eleventh studio album by soul musician Marvin Gaye, released May 21, 1971, on the Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records...

, and for writing the first draft of Gaye's 1973 single, "Let's Get It On

Let's Get It On

Let's Get It On is the twelfth studio album by American soul musician Marvin Gaye, released August 28, 1973, on Tamla Records. Recording sessions for the album took place during June 1970 to July 1973 at Hitsville U.S.A. and Golden World Studio in Detroit, and at Hitsville West in Los Angeles...

".

Alongside his brother, Elgie Stover, after living in Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

, for the duration of his childhood and teenage years, he and his brother moved to Detroit, Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

, to work with their cousin, Harvey Fuqua

Harvey Fuqua

Harvey Fuqua, was an African-American rhythm and blues singer, songwriter, record producer, and record label executive.Fuqua founded the seminal R&B/doo-wop group the Moonglows in the 1950s...

, on his Tri-Phi record label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

. They befriended Gaye and members of the Motown family.

In the late 1960s, the Stover brothers signed on to Motown as staff songwriters. Stover contributed background vocals on Marvin's "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)

Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)

"Inner City Blues ", often shortened to "Inner City Blues", is a song by Marvin Gaye, released as the third and final single from and the climactic song of his 1971 landmark album, What's Going On...

", and later co-wrote Gaye's "You're the Man

You're the Man

"You're the Man" is a two-part 1972 funk single released by American soul singer Marvin Gaye on the Tamla label. On this song, Gaye blatantly attacks the policies set by the government which he felt had not giving people in America the benefits to live in society. The song was a blatant attack on...

" (1972). In 1973, Stover wrote the original rough draft of "Let's Get It On", and presented the song to Gaye as a political song.

Stover also co-wrote the Diana Ross

Diana Ross

Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...

 song, "Lovin', Livin' and Givin'" and two songs by Bobby Nunn

Bobby Nunn

Ulysses B. "Bobby" Nunn was an American singer with the musical groups The Robins and The Coasters. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama, U.S., and died of heart failure in Los Angeles, California, U.S.-Biography:...

; "Sexy Sassy" and "Got to Get Up on It". In the mid 1970s, Stover formed the soul group, Leo's Sunship, but canceled the group's upcoming album when one of the members suddenly died. In 1978, Stover was part of a Motown collective called Finished Touch. He left Motown in 1981, and settled in Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

 for a brief time. A song he co-wrote called "Good Combination" was released by Peabo Bryson

Peabo Bryson

Peabo Bryson is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, born in Greenville, South Carolina...

 as a single, and the song went on to be sampled

Sampling (music)

In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...

 giving Stover royalty cheques especially after the song's instrumental was covered by Will Smith

Will Smith

Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...

 and Faith Evans

Faith Evans

Faith Renée Evans is an American singer-songwriter, recording artist, record producer, actress and author. Born in Florida and raised in New Jersey, Evans relocated to Los Angeles during 1993 for a career with the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al B...

.

Stover has stayed in his hometown of Cleveland since 1985, taking care of an ailing sister, but continues to write and produce music.