Tag Archives: Smokey Robinson

At 78 years old, Motown legend Smokey Robinson still has it. Looking good and feeling great, Smokey is not letting his age get in the way of him being on the road. Recently, Smokey was performing in Sugar Land, Texas to a packed audience of screaming fans. His performance was so mesmerizing that  it went viral.

Check Out Smokey Getting Down Below:

In case you’re wondering how a man at 78 years old, is still on active, the Motown legend credits his vitality to habits that he developed in his younger years.

Motown’s Smokey Robinson Still Touring At 78:

When Smokey Robinson wasn’t writing hit songs like ” My Girl” and “I Second That Emotion”, he was playing basketball. In speaking with Seattle Times, the iconic singer revealed that he feels great that he’s able to enjoy life with no aches or pains. Because Smokey Robinson led a healthy lifestyle as a youth, it has served him well in his golden years. In addition to playing sports, Robinson also practiced yoga for 35 years. Additionally, Robinson has been a vegetarian longer than that.

I used to run marathons and do those things that I thought were going to be beneficial for me at this time in my life, he said in an interview with Seattle Times. When I got to this point in my life I did not realize … how beneficial it was going to be because I feel great. I’m only going to get this one body so I want to be healthy as long as possible. I believe in taking care of myself, he said.

His Wife Keeps Him Looking Good:

There’s a saying that goes, ‘Behind every man, is a good woman.’ Well, in Smokey’s case, he has a good woman working alongside of him. Smokey’s wife, Frances Gladney, also ensures that her man is lookin’ good and they’re are both firm believers in taking care of yourself. While Smokey still has mommas, aunties and grandmommas everywhere, screaming over his flawless skin and green eyes, he’s been gracious enough to share his anti-aging secrets.

In 2016, Smokey and his wife, Frances, launched a skincare line for women and men. The couple worked with a scientist and a doctor for two years to create simple yet effective products specifically for men and women of color.

“There’s nobody who doesn’t have some sort of skin care problem,” Smokey told Yahoo Beauty. “I used to get a lot of ingrown hairs … and for black guys, that starts making dark marks. I cleared it up before, but this product has enhanced [my skin] so much because the formula is for everything. It’s not just for acne or lines. It’s not just a cover-up for somethings. It’s targeted for people of color, and there’s never been anything like that. It’s a skin healer.”

Smokey Is Not Much Of A Party Person:

Smokey also ain’t much of a party person these days. Oftentimes after his shows, Smokey is asked, ‘Where the party’s at?,’ because people see how active Smokey is, and automatically mistake his vivacious personality as someone someone who drinks or does drugs. However, Smokey left his drugging and partying days alone decades ago and now credits his “high” to being on stage. For Smokey, the party is in the performance.

“When I do concerts, people come to me after the show because they think that show business is just wine, women and songs — you party and that’s it,” Smokey said. “Someone will be like, ‘OK Smokey, where is the party?’ I just had a party for two-and-a-half hours. I was onstage, that was the party to me, he added. Now I’m going back to my hotel room and I’m gonna watch TV until I fall asleep and get some rest and rest my body.”

It seems like many entertainers today, need to take a chapter out of Smokey’s book! Lookin’ great Smokey!

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Twin grandchildren of a soul icon (Instagram)

If you know anything about soul music, then you know their Grandpops really well. He’s only sold millions upon millions of records throughout his impressive career and is one of the realest entertainers of the soul music era. He does not bite his tongue for anyone and is an adamant believer in equal rights for all people. And to prove it, he’s been known to publicly speak out about injustices against himself and his fellow minorities across the world from time to time.

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!!!

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‘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 49 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. Because so little is known about Berry R., we’ll play a bit of a guessing game with these next pics you’re about to see…

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

Smokey Robinson’s son, Barry, with his daughter (L) and son (R) (Instagram)

Possibly The Robinson Twins’ Mother…

Now we guess…and assume that because the woman (below) was posted twice in the same location with the twins, as their father was; and because Berry’s twins seem to resemble her, she just may be their Mother. HOWEVER, take this part with a grain of salt, because we are not sure….this is purely an assumption for any of the ‘fake news’ attackers out there who comment prior to fully reading, LOL. I joke, I joke, I kid, I kid…seriously though, we don’t know who she is, but check out their facial similarities in the pics that Berry Robinson shared below…

A post shared by Berry Robinson (@borope1) on

Smokey’s 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…

Mom & I

A post shared by Berry Robinson (@borope1) on

And there ya’ have it family- the Robinson family in a nutshell…well,we’re missing two in these pics: Berry’s daughter, Tamla, and his other son, Trey.

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…

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.

Singer Smokey Robinson and wife Claudette Rogers attending 'Stevie Wonder Lifetime Achievement Awards' on October 6, 1985 at the Century City, California. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage)
Smokey Robinson and then wife, Claudette Rogers, October 6, 1985  (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage)

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 recent pics of Berry with his pops, his sis,’ Tamla, and his beautiful mother below…

View this post on Instagram

Mom & I

A post shared by Berry Robinson (@borope1) on

Photo: Rachel Worth / WENN2; via ContactMusic
Smokey Robinson with his daughter, Tamla and son, Berry (Photo: Rachel Worth / WENN2; via ContactMusic)

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.

HOLLYWOOD - MARCH 20: (L-R): Members of the musicall group The Miracles: Smokey Robinson, Pete Moore, Claudette Robinson and Bobby Rogers attend the ceremony honoring them with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on March 20, 2009 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images)
(L-R): The Miracles: Smokey Robinson, Pete Moore, Claudette Robinson and Bobby Rogers attend their Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony; 2009. (Photo: Vince Bucci/Getty Images)

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!!! She Got Millions!

Smokey made headlines after his bombshell secret was made public. ‘Mr. Tears of a Clown’ had betrayed his 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 nearly 30 years apart, Smokey’s still been paying for the divorce.

“Real Housewives of Atlanta” star, Nene Leakes and the legendary Smokey Robinson were just a few of the celebs that set it off at Johnny Gill’s 50th birthday party yesterday, but Smokey and Nene were the two that made the highlight of the b-day party when they sang together. And we’ll just put it like this ILOSM fam’- Not everyone is a songbird, some of us are vocally challenged. With that said, take a look at a short video clip of Nene and Smokey singing their “woo-woo-woos” with Jeffrey Osborne and Kenny Lattimore…

[kkgallery kid=”1750″ title=”RHOA’s Nene Tries To Sing w/Smokey At Johnny Gill’s B-Day & Uh…She TRIED”]

Tamla Robinson, (photo credit: Facebook)
Tamla Robinson, (photo credit: Facebook)

This gorgeous lady is the offspring of R&B royalty. This one might be easy for some of you old schoolers, but this was a bit tough for me as I couldn’t put together who were a couple back in the day, on a legendary label that had a child together. It’s not Berry Gordy and Diana Ross or Jermaine Jackson and Hazel Gordy because Berry, nor Hazel Gordy were singers. So now that we’ve possibly narrowed it down to Motown Records, flip the page to find out who her parents are.

Screenshot 2015-06-29 09.12.20

Screenshot 2015-06-29 09.12.20

Okay ILOSM family, we’ve gotta call it how we see it and how we see it is sometimes when it comes to these new school/old school collaborations, some of these youngins can hold their own and some of them need to step away from the stage and stay in their lane…at least when the Old Schoolers are on it. We don’t mean to sound so harsh, because we have no problem giving credit where credit is due, but we still have to give our honest opinions.

With that said, let’s take a look at how these Old School artists showed up and showed OUT at the 2015 BET Awards last night.

First up is Patti LaBelle! Patti stepped onto that stage to sing “If Only You Knew” with K. Michelle and Tamar Braxton, that’s when it was clear to see the difference between a seasoned artist, who’s been doing it for 57 years, and two artists who are pretty new at this (in comparison to Patti). Don’t get me wrong, K. and Tamar can sing, but Patti showed up and showed OUT and I ain’t mad at that one bit! In case you missed it, check out Patti kiilin’ it on stage. You can start it at the 4:44 mark if you want to skip through the other two ladies’ performances.

A major congrats to Janet Jackson for…

berry and smokey blog pic

Raynoma Gordy Singleton revealed that there was some major drama going down with she and her then-husband, Berry Gordy, and that one night the you-know-what really hit the fan, causing Smokey Robinson to step in.

All I can say is that we can no longer blame the term “ratchet” on just the younger generation. Before you judge Berry and his ex-wife though, check out the details on the next page…

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Smokey Robinson had a hidden addiction that didn’t surface until the age of 41. When he fell, he fell hard. Typically we hear of addictions like this starting at a younger age, when peer pressures are more prevalent, but Smokey explained how his hidden addiction started so late:

“I think it happened to me so late because of the fact that I was …” He exhales. “I was always, and I still am, open to somebody in my camp saying, “No, that’s not right, or what do you think you’re doing?’ I have those kind of people around me. Berry Gordy being the main one of them. I appreciate that as a person and I’m very happy that that’s’ there.

But when you divorce yourself from these types of people in your life, then you have a tendency to be able to run amok, when you surround yourself with yes people. And that’s what most people who go amok do – they surround themselves with yes people. Anything you do is fine ’cause you’re you and you’re popular. And that’s dangerous.

He continued:

“I thought that it couldn’t happen to me. That’s the cunning of drugs. I could never become addicted! ‘I love sports, and I run, and I take care of myself. I can overcome this.’ Because when I was younger I used to smoke a whole lot of weed. But weed was always manageable for me. I could have some killer weed and put it away for a year and not touch it! It never had the handle on me. I had the handle on it.

“But when I started dibbling and dabbling on the cocaine, that was a whole other animal. And I never thought I could become an addict. But I did.” He ignored his friends.

Although Smokey was heavily addicted to cocaine, he had a thing against heavy alcohol drinking because when growing up, he said he watched his Dad and his other family members, some of whom were prostitutes and junkies, all become addicted to alcohol and have horrific results in life:

“If I have some sushi, I’ll have Saki. But I never drank. First of all, I never liked the taste of it. And I grew up in my neighborhood, seeing everyone, everything. Alcoholics, junkies, prostitutes, what have you. And many of them were in my family, OK?

And the alcoholics were the most pitiful of them all. They’d be standing there talking to the wall. Cussing the wall out – there was nobody there! Peeing on themselves. They were pitiful.

Then alcohol had an adverse effect on me because [of] my dad … [He] was “Clark Kent” Sunday to Friday – just mild-mannered, sweetie-pie! Friday, he’d get paid, him and his friends – who were buddy-buddy all week long, they were brothers, they loved each other – they’d be drunk, fighting each other. It was just an adverse kind of drug for me, alcohol.

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He said actor Leon Isaac Kennedy (best known for his films Penitentiary and Body and Soul and being married to Jayne Kennedy) did something for him that he’ll always be grateful for:

“I have two best friends, Leon Isaac Kennedy and Berry Gordy. God sent Leon to

Smokey and Leon
Smokey and Leon

“come get me and say, ‘Hey man, what are you doing to yourself?’ So Leon came and got me and took me to a prayer service.

The night I went I hadn’t done any drugs beforehand because I knew I was going to a prayer service. However, I was still a junkie. [He rubs his hands on his knees anxiously as though he’s still amazed at what transpired that night.]

During the service, Smokey says the pastor prayed for him.

“And she told me that God had told her I was coming. And she told me all the things that were happening to me, physically and emotionally and mentally – which I shared with no on one earth! No one knew. She told me every one of ’em that night. She said God had showed her what was going on.

Smokey Robinson; actor, Leon Isaac Kennedy Smokey Robinson; actor, Leon Isaac Kennedy

And I walked in that church an addict, and I came out free. May of 1986. Never looked back.”

Smokey started speaking at gang meetings and juvenile detention centers, giving them this message:

“When you turn it over to God, you have turned it over…and you don’t have to worry about it anymore after that.”

Source: Jet Magazine; TheTelegraph

Today Smokey has turned over a new leaf and continues to live a healthy lifestyle. He hasn’t eaten red meat since 1972 and he does yoga regularly.

Major props to Smokey for kicking his drug habit cold turkey like that. He’s a great example of if we want to do something bad enough, it’s possible to acquire the will, the drive, and the mindset to conquer any uphill hurdle placed before us, regardless of how late in life we may start that journey. The skill to know how to conquer it, will come through our persistent determination to make it happen.

-ILoveOldSchoolMusic, Old School news with a new point of view

Smokey Robinson and Claudette Robinson
Smokey Robinson and ex-wife, Claudette Robinson (Getty)

It wasn’t until recent years that Smokey Robinson finished dealing with a divorce from almost 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.

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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.

Poll Question:
Do you think it is fair for ex-spouses of hit singers/songwriters, who made no contributions to their ex-spouses’ musical work, to get paid off of their ex’s work indefinitely?
[paq_poll id=4259]

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.

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…

Smokey Robinson

Smokey Robinson did an interview where he let the cat out of the bag and revealed that he dated a very popular soul singer, whom he says he had a lot of love for back when they were coming up together in Detroit and that he still has a lot of love for her to this day. This was news to a many folks because most of us always thought they were friends, not lovers. Flip the page to see who she is.