The post Meet The Son Many Never Knew Smokey Robinson Had, With His Celebrity-Ex appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Smokey Robinson and his ex-wife Claudette spent many years together. For those who don’t know, Smokey and Claudette began their relationship during the glory years of Motown Records. Smokey worked as an in-house producer and songwriter, while also singing lead alongside Claudette in their 5-member group, The Miracles.

The two were married for 27 years and although they had some great times together, they also went through some very trying times during their marriage. Sadly, they endured seven miscarriages due to Claudette’s grueling tour schedule. But fortunately, despite the tragedies, she was able to give birth to two children. Most of their fans will probably be surprised to see their son though, because for the longest time, many never knew Smokey and Claudette even had a son.

Meet Smokey’s And Claudette’s Son, Berry

Of course, most fans probably know about Smokey and Claudette’s daughter, Tamla, who was named after Tamla Records- the original name of Motown Records- because she was in the public eye a bit more. But, they also have a son they named after the famous Motown pioneer.

Berry William Borope Robinson was named after none other than Smokey’s best friend and Motown Records founder, Berry Gordy. Check out more recent pics of Berry with his Pops; his sis,’ Tamla; and his beautiful mother below…

Throughout the years there were many cool photos of Smokey and Claudette with their kids back in the day. They looked like the picture perfect family at the time. But unfortunately, things weren’t always all good between Smokey, Claudette, and their children…

Smokey Revealed What He Did To Cause The Divorce

So, what could have possibly led to a massive divorce after 27 years of what appeared to be a happy marriage? Well apparently, Smokey admitted in his book that he’d had an affair. However, that’s not all. He’d gotten his mistress pregnant with his second son and after that, Claudette had it up to HERE and was like ‘Peace out Smokey!’ Smokey’s son, Trey Robinson, was born in 1984 shortly before Smokey’s 1985 divorce battle with Claudette.

Although Smokey expressed extreme remorse and made no excuses for his actions, he also did not turn his back on his third child. He took care of his responsibilities and despite the divorce, and Smokey still has a relationship with ALL three of his children to this day. He’s also remarried.

Wow…Smokey’s Ex-Wife Got Millions!

Smokey made headlines after his bombshell secret was made public. ‘Mr. Tears of a Clown’ had betrayed his then-wife and that led to divorce, but Claudette definitely didn’t walk away empty-handed. In fact, Claudette managed to win half the rights to all of the songs Smokey wrote from November 1958 to May 1985. Those rights equaled half of his whopping $275 million estate.

After 27 years of marriage, and records like “Shop Around,” “Ooh Baby Baby,” “Tracks Of My Tears,” solo classics “Cruisin’, “Being With You,” “Sweet Harmony” and the Temptations’ “My Girl” now partially belong to Claudette, due to legal technicalities. Even after 30+ years apart, Smokey was still paying for the divorce.

By 2014, the two once again battled each other in court over the decades-old hits Smokey had written during their marriage, which he’d just regained the music rights for under the 1976 Copyright Act. Thankfully, they were able to reach and out-of-court settlement…presumably Claudette walked away with many more millions. And all’s well, that ends well.

The post Meet The Son Many Never Knew Smokey Robinson & His Motown Singer Ex Had appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Although his grandkids may not necessarily appear to be African American at first glance, their grandfather makes that known about himself every chance he gets…especially in more recent years, where the prim and proper mode that artists were widely expected to have back in the day, has been erased, now allowing them to freely express who they really are however they see fit.

Scroll down to see who these twins call Pop-pop…well, we really don’t know exactly what name they call him, but Pop-pop just sounds cool…in a Grandpops kinda way. Anyways, check out who he is below and see if your guess was on point…

THEIR GRANDFATHER IS A TRUE MOTOWN MUSIC HISTORY ICON!!!

Embed from Getty Images

‘Mr. Tears of A Clown’ a.k.a. Smokey Robinson is the proud grandfather of his twin grandbabies! Now can you see the resemblance?

We do not know the twins names, so we’ll simply dub them the ‘Robinson twins’ for the duration of this article. They are the children of Smokey’s son, whom many never knew he had…

CHECK OUT SMOKEY ROBINSON’S SON HANGING WITH HIS ROBINSON TWIN KIDS

In case you missed our previous article on him, then meet Smokey’s son, Berry William Borope Robinson. Not much is known about Berry other than the fact that he’s the 53-year-old son of Smokey and his soul singer ex-wife, Claudette Robinson (of The Platters). Berry is named after his godfather/Smokey’s best friend, Berry Gordy- the iconic Motown Records music mogul.

Berry shared these pics of himself, his son, and his daughter…no guessing here…

Smokey And Ex-Wife/Soul Singer, Claudette Robinson, With Their Son

Berry’s legendary soul music mother/Smokey’s ex-wife, Claudette is still just as gorgeous as she ever was…

Watch Smokey Get Real About His Blackness

By the way, in case you’re wondering why we were referring to Smokey as being very one of the realest, it’s because he’s been very vocal about his pride in his African American heritage these days and the plight that comes along with that in America. For your entertainment pleasure, we’ve included a video clip of him expressing himself on Def Poetry Jams. Just a heads up: Smokey drops a few ‘choice words’ within his delivery, so if you’re at work tap that volume (down) button…

https://youtu.be/iIkNsj6cDGc?t=24s

The post These Twins’ Black Grandfather Is One Of The Realest Music Icons Ever…Their Grandmom’s A Legend appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Smokey Robinson and his ex-wife Claudette spent many years together. For those who don’t know, Smokey and Claudette began their relationship during the glory years of Motown Records. Smokey worked as an in-house producer and songwriter, while also singing lead alongside Claudette in their 5-member group, The Miracles.

The two were married for 27 years and although they had some great times together, they also went through some very trying times during their marriage. Sadly, they endured seven miscarriages due to Claudette’s grueling tour schedule. But fortunately, despite the tragedies, she was able to give birth to two children. Most of their fans will probably be surprised to see their son though, because for the longest time, many never knew Smokey and Claudette even had a son.

Meet Smokey’s And Claudette’s Son, Berry

Of course, most fans probably know about Smokey and Claudette’s daughter, Tamla, who was named after Tamla Records- the original name of Motown Records- because she was in the public eye a bit more. But, they also have a son they named after the famous Motown pioneer.

Berry William Borope Robinson was named after none other than Smokey’s best friend and Motown Records founder, Berry Gordy. Check out more recent pics of Berry with his Pops; his sis,’ Tamla; and his beautiful mother below…

Throughout the years there were many cool photos of Smokey and Claudette with their kids back in the day. They looked like the picture perfect family at the time. But unfortunately, things weren’t always all good between Smokey, Claudette, and their children…

Smokey Revealed What He Did To Cause The Divorce

So, what could have possibly led to a massive divorce after 27 years of what appeared to be a happy marriage? Well apparently, Smokey admitted in his book that he’d had an affair. However, that’s not all. He’d gotten his mistress pregnant with his second son and after that, Claudette had it up to HERE and was like ‘Peace out Smokey!’ Smokey’s son, Trey Robinson, was born in 1984 shortly before Smokey’s 1985 divorce battle with Claudette.

Although Smokey expressed extreme remorse and made no excuses for his actions, he also did not turn his back on his third child. He took care of his responsibilities and despite the divorce, and Smokey still has a relationship with ALL three of his children to this day. He’s also remarried.

Wow…Smokey’s Ex-Wife Got Millions!

Smokey made headlines after his bombshell secret was made public. ‘Mr. Tears of a Clown’ had betrayed his then-wife and that led to divorce, but Claudette definitely didn’t walk away empty-handed. In fact, Claudette managed to win half the rights to all of the songs Smokey wrote from November 1958 to May 1985. Those rights equaled half of his whopping $275 million estate.

After 27 years of marriage, and records like “Shop Around,” “Ooh Baby Baby,” “Tracks Of My Tears,” solo classics “Cruisin’, “Being With You,” “Sweet Harmony” and the Temptations’ “My Girl” now partially belong to Claudette, due to legal technicalities. Even after 30+ years apart, Smokey was still paying for the divorce.

By 2014, the two once again battled each other in court over the decades-old hits Smokey had written during their marriage, which he’d just regained the music rights for under the 1976 Copyright Act. Thankfully, they were able to reach and out-of-court settlement…presumably Claudette walked away with many more millions. And all’s well, that ends well.

The post Like Father, Like Son…Introducing The Son Many Never Knew Smokey Robinson Had appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

It wasn’t until more recent years that Smokey Robinson finished dealing with a divorce from 30+ years ago. His ex-wife/former group member, Claudette Robinson, feels that he better keep cutting those checks for half of his music royalties, although they divorced in 1986.

In February, 2014, Smokey and Claudette, had been lining up to go to court and battle it out over Smokey’s music royalties and copyrights.

Smokey sued Claudette that same year, claiming that when they divorced in 1986 she was awarded half of all copyrights and royalty rights from songs he wrote between November 1958 to May 1985. Those songs include mega-hits from the group like “Shop Around,” “Ooh Baby Baby,” “Tracks Of My Tears,” solo classics “Cruisin’, “Being With You,” “Sweet Harmony” and even number one hits by other artists, like “My Girl” by the Temptations and “My Guy” from Mary Wells.

But, there was a twist. You see, Smokey claims that per the 1976 Copyright Act, Claudette no longer will have rights to the songs once they are 35 years old.

Smokey was serious about his money! He had begun terminating her name on the copyrights and will continue, as time passes, on the rest. In response, Claudette had her lawyer fire off a letter demanding Smokey cease terminating her rights to the music. He sued his ex and asked the court to terminate her rights to his songs.

Claudette then fired back at this lawsuit, claiming Smokey could reclaim his copyrights per the 1976 Copyright Act, but she was still entitled to her 50% cut from all of his music created between 1958-1985. Claudette admits she had no part of writing any of the songs, but per their divorce settlement, she was awarded the rights. However, she said that per their deal, there is NO termination clause and Smokey can’t cut her out 30 years later.

For those who wonder why would Claudette even think she could get half of the royalties and not just half of his wealth, if you remember, Smokey was lead singer of the group “Miracles” from 1958-1972. Claudette was a member as well and of course his wife.

Her brother, Emerson “Sonny” Rogers, was an original member of the group, which was originally called “The Matadors” before 1957; Claudette took her brother’s place after he was drafted into the Army. After 1967, she stopped touring with the group, but she continued recording with them until Smokey left in 1972.

In 2012, after years of being overlooked, Claudette was finally inducted with the rest of the original Miracles, her cousin Bobby Rogers, Pete Moore, Ronald White, and Marv Tarplin, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, alongside her former husband, Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson.

The trial was scheduled to begin in February, 2015, but Smokey settled with Claudette a few months prior. As of today, there are no reports of what is in the settlement…but pretty sure he likely paid a pretty penny to get this settled.

Geesh!  Sometimes it’s just “cheaper to keep her!” LOL. As a matter of fact, this reminds us of an Old School classic…take us out Johnnie Taylor…

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