Smokey Robinson

One of the most influential artists of the last 50 years, Smokey Robinson not only recorded two of the tracks that defined the Motown sound - "Tears of a Clown" and "Tracks of My Tears" - he was effectively second in command (to Berry Gordy) at the label for over three decades. Born William Robinson Jr.  on February 19, 1940, in Detroit, Michigan, he was strongly influenced by Detroit singer Nolan Strong and formed the vocal group The Five Chimes, later re-named The Matadors, before meeting Berry Gordy. When Gordy founded Motown, he made Smokey Robinson vice-president, and he co-wrote their first number 1 "Shop Around." As songwriter and producer, he played a key role in the careers of many other great Motown artists, including The Temptations, Mary Wells and Marvin Gaye. His own group, The Miracles had a string of hits throughout the 1960s before Smokey Robinson started recording as a solo act, juggling his music with his role as a record company executive and his supreme talent as a songwriter and producer for other artists. After fading through the 1970s, his career was revitalised by the 1987 hits "Just To See Her" and "One Heartbeat." In 1988, Smokey Robinson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist—a milestone that sparked criticism for excluding the other members of The Miracles. It wasn’t until 2012 that the Hall of Fame corrected the oversight by inducting The Miracles as a group, with Smokey Robinson scheduled to present the honor to his former bandmates at the ceremony. That same year Motown was sold to MCA, prompting Robinson to step down from his role as vice president. After releasing Love Smokey in 1990, he signed with SBK Records for Double Good Everything (1991), which failed to chart. The 1990s saw him largely retreat from the spotlight, though he made a brief return in 1999 with Intimate on Motown, featuring the song "Easy to Love." He parted ways with the label again in 2003 and issued the gospel album Food for the Spirit in 2004 on Liquid 8 Records. He followed up in 2006 with Timeless Love, a collection of standards on Universal Records. Smokey Robinson returned to original songwriting with Time Flies When You're Having Fun in 2009, released on his own label Robso Records, which reached number 59 on the Billboard charts—his best placement in two decades. In 2010, he followed up with Now And Then, peaking at number 131. His 2014 duet album Smokey & Friends, featuring collaborations with Elton John, Linda Ronstadt, and James Taylor, debuted at number 12 on the Billboard chart. In 2017, he released his first Christmas album, Christmas Everyday, and performed with country singer Cam on CMT Crossroads in 2018. Smokey Robinson has remained an active figure in music and pop culture into the 2020s. In 2018, he appeared on Beat Shazam and served as a mentor at a California elementary school under the Turnaround Arts program. In 2019, he featured on Anderson .Paak's song "Make It Better" from the album Ventura. He returned with a new solo project in April 2023 titled Gasms, his first album in nearly a decade, led by the single "If We Don’t Have Each Other." This was followed by 2025's What the World Needs Now, a collection of renditions of classic songs and original material.