Dream of a Lifetime was the first posthumously released album by the American recording artist Marvin Gaye. It included the top five R&B single, "Sanctified Lady".

In 1982, Marvin Gaye signed a three-album deal with Columbia Records after final negotiations to leave Motown Records were completed. During the recording of his Midnight Love album, Gaye and his frequent collaborator Gordon Banks worked on a series of recordings, several of which made it to Midnight Love; recording continued into 1983 after Gaye returned to Los Angeles even while Gaye was promoting his album. Following the end of Gaye's final grueling U.S. tour, Gaye remained secluded in the home he shared with his parents at the West Adams district of Los Angeles. Prior to his death, Gaye had planned to work on a duet with Barry White, but White said on the day they were to record in the studio, Gaye was shot and killed by his father. With two albums left from his Columbia contract, Columbia and Gaye's former label, Motown, began to work together to complete the singer's original contract to alleviate any debts left over by the singer after his death.

In the summer of 1984, Harvey Fuqua and Gordon Banks worked on finishing or "modernizing" several of Gaye's songs left over from both Columbia and Motown recording sessions. Of the Columbia material, Banks brought in several tracks he and Gaye worked on together between 1982 and 1983 including a song that Gaye had mentioned to interviewers titled, "Sanctified Pussy". Reworked, with vocals from several session background singers including The Waters, the song was renamed "Sanctified Lady". Gaye had warned that Columbia wouldn't release it due to the song's offensive title and its lyrics. Another controversial song Gaye and Banks composed was "Masochistic Beauty", a song dedicated to S&M which Gaye played the role of a dominatrix in a faux British accent where he rapped throughout the track. Banks provided vocoder in both "Sanctified Pussy" and "Masochistic Beauty", giving both songs an electro-funk flavor.

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