Smokey Robinson

Singer

Male

Born Feb 19, 1940

Age 73

Hometown United States

Genres R&B + Soul + Pop ...

Instruments Singing + Piano

Performed With The Temptations +...

Record Label Motown

William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is most notable for being the founder and front man of the popular Motown vocal group, The Miracles, for which he also served… Read More

Photos

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Romance

Check out the latest love interests for Smokey Robinson.

Frances Glandney

Married 2002
Claudette Rogers Robinson
Married 1959 - 1986
Susan Morrow
Married 1956 - 1959
Linda Ronstadt
Fling
Diana Ross
Dated

Places

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News + Updates

Browse recent news and stories about Smokey Robinson.

James Moore: The Little Red Heart Of Soul Track Mind
Huffington Post - May 04, 2013

It's an odd little spot, really, sitting between the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and Highway 90 as it runs through Alpine, Texas. Not much bigger than a convenience store parking lot, the location is flat and sometimes dusty when summer hovers relentlessly over the Davis Mountains. The great freight trains rumbling through toward California often rattle the bones of people arriving to hear a night of music at a venue known as Railroad Blues. When Soul Track Mind performs, the ...
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Michael Giltz: Theater: "Motown: The Musical" A Missed Opportunity
Huffington Post - Apr 18, 2013

MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL ** out of **** LUNT FONTANNE THEATRE This musical begins in the home of Motown founder Berry Gordy in Los Angeles in 1983. Gordy debates whether or not to show up for the taping of a TV special honoring the 25th anniversary of his iconic label. (As if.) We see Gordy grumbling in a shabby little wood-paneled living room even though Gordy would sell the label for $61 million just five years later. In the set design by David Korins, a color TV is downstage, its b...
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Related Articles
Michael Giltz: Theater: Motown: The Musical A Missed Opportunity - Huffington Post
Motown's Unsung Heroes Finally Get Their Due
Huffington Post - Apr 04, 2013

DETROIT — More than 40 years have passed since the recording of Marvin Gaye's "Save the Children," but a replay of the song in the studio where it was recorded compressed time and brought tears to the eyes of Louvain Demps. Demps was no mere fan visiting what's now the Motown Historical Museum. She was one of the women singing the angelic, high harmonies on the recording – and hearing it in Hitsville USA's Studio A was too much. "It's my heart, it's my heart," she said....
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American Idol Down To Top 7: Who Was Eliminated?
Radar Online - Mar 29, 2013

Remember when boys ruled the roost on American Idol? Those days are clearly over, as all three of the bottom vote-getters of the eight finalists were male, with one getting sent home. Keep reading to find out who it was. Devin Velez was bounced off Thursday night, despite a strong showing on Wednesday’s episode singing Smokey Robinson’s “Tracks of My Tears.” He’s the third male contestant to face the chopping block out of the top ten, as Paul Jol...
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Timeline

Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of Smokey Robinson.

CHILDHOOD

1940 Birth Born on February 19, 1940.

TEENAGE

1955 15 Years Old 1 More Event

Robinson led the group from its 1955 origins as The Five Chimes until 1972 when he announced a retirement from the stage to focus on his role as Motown's vice president. … Read More

1957 17 Years Old In August 1957, Robinson and The Miracles met songwriter Berry Gordy after a failed audition for Brunswick Records. … Read More

1959 19 Years Old 1 More Event

During this time, Robinson attended college, starting classes in January 1959, studying electrical engineering. … Read More

TWENTIES

1960 20 Years Old Between 1960 and 1970, Robinson would produce 26 top forty hits with the Miracles as lead singer, chief songwriter and producer, including several top ten hits such as "You've Really Got a Hold on Me", "Mickey's Monkey", "I Second That Emotion", "Baby Baby Don't Cry" and the group's only number-one hit during their Robinson years, "Tears of a Clown", while other notable hits such as "Ooo Baby Baby", "Going to a Go-Go", "The Tracks of My Tears", "(Come Round Here) I'm The One You Need", "The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage" and "More Love" peaked at the top twenty. … Read More

1962 22 Years Old Between 1962 and 1966, Robinson would also be one of the in-demand songwriters and producers for Motown, penning several hit singles such as "The One Who Really Loves You", "You Beat Me to the Punch" and "My Guy" for Mary Wells, "The Way You Do The Things You Do", "My Girl", "Since I Lost My Baby" and "Get Ready" for The Temptations, "When I'm Gone" and "Operator" for Brenda Holloway, "Don't Mess With Bill", "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" and "My Baby Must Be a Magician" for The Marvelettes and "I'll Be Doggone" and "Ain't That Peculiar" for Marvin Gaye. … Read More

1969 29 Years Old By 1969, Robinson had voiced his opinion on wanting to retire from the road to focus on raising a family with wife Claudette and their two children, and also focus his duties as Motown's vice president, a job he earned by the mid-1960s after Esther Gordy Edwards had left the position and began mentoring Motown acts on the label's Motortown Revues.

THIRTIES

1972 32 Years Old 1 More Event

However, the late success of the group's track, "Tears of a Clown", caused Robinson to stay with the group until 1972.

1973 33 Years Old After a year of retirement, Robinson announced his comeback with the release of the eponymous titled Smokey album, in 1973. … Read More

1974 34 Years Old 1 More Event

In 1974, Robinson's second album, Pure Smokey was released but failed to produce hits. … Read More

FORTIES

1981 - 1983 2 More Events

1986 46 Years Old After Robinson admitted this, he filed for legal separation and, later, divorce, which was granted in 1986.

1987 47 Years Old In 1987, following a period of personal and professional issues, Robinson made a comeback with the album, One Heartbeat and the singles, "Just to See Her" and "One Heartbeat", which both peaked at the top ten, with "Just to See Her" winning Robinson his first Grammy Award in 1988. … Read More

1988 48 Years Old After Motown was sold off to MCA in 1988, Robinson relinquished his position as vice president.

FIFTIES

1990 50 Years Old Following the release of the album, Love Smokey, in 1990, Robinson left Motown for a deal with SBK Records in 1991. … Read More

1999 59 Years Old Robinson remained virtually quiet during the nineties making a brief comeback in 1999 when he re-signed with Motown and issued the album, Intimate, which included the song "Easy to Love".

LATE ADULTHOOD

2003 63 Years Old In 2003, he once again split ties with Motown, releasing the gospel album, Food for the Soul on Liquid 8 Records in 2004. … Read More

2004 64 Years Old In 2004, Robinson married his second wife, Frances Robinson. … Read More

2006 66 Years Old 1 More Event

At its 138th Commencement Convocation in May 2006, Howard University conferred on Robinson the degree of Doctor of Music, honoris causa.

2009 69 Years Old 1 More Event

In 2009, he issued the album, Time Flies When You're Having Fun on his own label, Robso Records. … Read More

2012 72 Years Old Though Robinson was not listed as an inductee, the musician is due to induct his former group at the ceremony in April 2012. … Read More

Original Authors of this text are noted on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smokey_Robinson.
Text is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.