Smokey Robinson

At the age of 15, Smokey Robinson joined forces with the first members of what would eventually be the powerhouse group, The Miracles. The group was one of the first to be taken on by the Motown Record label and The Miracle’s first single, “Shop Around”, became the first million-copy-selling track for the label. As lead singer and songwriter for the group, Smokey Robinson single-handedly drummed up extensive success for Motown after producing 26 top 40 hits for the band, including the number one single, “Tears of a Clown”.

Smokey Robinson’s golden song-writing touch saw him quickly become Motown’s go-to writer and he was sought to write songs for artists such as Mary Wells, The Temptations and Marvin Gaye. Many of Smokey Robinson’s songs for other artists, such as “My Girl” and “Operator”, became legendary and are still well known today.

In 1972, Smokey Robinson left The Miracles to focus on his job as Vice President of Motown. Unable to stay away from the music, though, he returned to the limelight in 1973 to launch his solo career. His debut solo album “Smokey” shot to the number 10 spot on the US R&B charts, but a bout of writers block meant that Smokey Roninson was unable to score a top twenty single on the US Billboard 200 until the release of “Cruisin’” in 1979.

The release of “Cruisin”, which got to number four on the Billboard 200, seemed to reignite Smokey Robinson’s career and his 1981 album, “Being With You”, hit the number 10 spot on the Billboard 200 and shot to number one on the US R&B chart. The album’s lead single of the same name is Smokey Robinson’s most successful solo track, going to number two on the US Billboard 200 and hitting the number one spot on the US R&B chart and on the UK singles chart.

Smokey Robinson’s talents have been recognized all over the world. The recipient of a Grammy Award and an Ivor Novello Award, the singer also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.