Robin Thicke
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Robin Thicke | |
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| Spouse(s) | Paula Patton (2005-Present) |
Robin Alan Thicke (born March 10,1977) is an American Grammy Award winning R&B singer, songwriter, musician, composer, and occasional actor.
Biography
Early years
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Robin Alan Thicke was born to vocalist and actress Gloria Loring and entertainer Alan Thicke (best known for his role on the sitcom Growing Pains). At a young age, Thicke showed an interest in music and has often cited classic soul singers like Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder as his influences. At the ages of 4 and 6, Thicke was a guest actor on several episodes of The Wonder Years and Growing Pains (Such as the episode "Mom of the Year". He is the kid in the classroom talking about Ben). He decided to pursue a music career at the age of sixteen, Thicke became a friend to the president of Uptown Records, Andre Harrell, and struck a deal with the fledgling Nu America Records, a subsidiary of Interscope Records.
Thicke also penned a wide range of hits for pop artists such as Jordan Knight, writing and co-producing an extensive share of his self-titled album, Usher, Christina Aguilera, Mya, Brandy, Michael Jackson and Marc Anthony. In 2005 Thicke won his first Grammy award for his collaborations on Usher's 2004 release Confessions.
As an artist, he recorded and performed solely under his surname, Thicke. He would continue to do so until 2005.
In June 2005 Thicke married actress Paula Patton, whom he met and began dating when he was 14 years old.[1]
2002–2004: Early commercial success
In 2000, Robin, who simply went by his last name Thicke, went to work on material for his debut album, initially entitled Cherry Blue Skies. The album focused more on blue-eyed soul, than his pop-offerings for other artists.
In 2002, Robin Thicke released his debut single "When I Get You Alone". The track samples Walter Murphy's "A Fifth of Beethoven", which itself is a disco rendition of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. The music video for the song features an unshaven Thicke, with long, wild hair, as a courier racing through the streets of Manhattan on a bicycle. It received some rotation on MTV2 and BET's Rated Next and was spun moderately on urban radio. Globally, however, "When I Get You Alone" became a chart success when it peaked within the top 20 in Australia, Belgium, and Italy, and reached the top ten of the singles charts in New Zealand and the top three in the Netherlands. The tune was featured for the soundtrack of Agent Cody Banks.
The moderate success was enough to signal the release of the album, with its name changed to A Beautiful World. Despite the release of a second single, "Brand New Jones", the album received very little promotion, and debuted at a low number 152 on the Billboard 200, eventually selling 63,000 copies domestically.[2]
The song "When I Get You Alone" was performed by Guy Sebastian the eventual winner of Australian Idol 2003 during the competition. Runner-up Blake Lewis during the 2007 season of American Idol when the top 3 chose a song to sing. Lewis has often put Robin Thicke in his list of musical influences in interviews and on the American Idol website.
2005–2007: The Evolution of Robin Thicke
In 2005, Thicke married Paula Patton. Thicke also performed as a guest on the remix of Will Smith's song, "Switch". After being signed to The Neptunes label, Star Trak, he began working on his second album entitled The Evolution of Robin Thicke. The first single, "Wanna Love U Girl", featured producer Pharrell and experienced chart success on urban radio in the United Kingdom. For the video, Thicke changed his appearance, cutting off his trademark long hair. In 2006, a remix version of the song was filmed with rapper Busta Rhymes.
Nearly a year after the single was released, the album was released on October 3, 2006. The Evolution of Robin Thicke includes songs with Lil Wayne and Faith Evans (on "Got 2 Be Down"), as well as Pharrell. To promote the album Thicke toured with India.Arie, and then opened for John Legend in late 2006.
His second single, the ballad "Lost Without U" began getting a lot of radio airplay in Urban & Rhythmic stations towards the end of 2006 and early 2007. He also sang it on Oprah and American Idol. With the assistance of radio airplay the song became his breakout hit, reaching as high as number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100, and number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, the first caucasian artist to top that chart since George Michael.[3] The singer performed this popular single on Good Morning America in June. He appears in the music video of this single with his wife, actress Paula Patton. The video is currently on Big Ten rotation on MTV, where it is also a Discover and Download artist. The song has also been remixed by Boston's Termanology.
With album sales over 1.5 million copies sold domestically after the re-release as a Deluxe Edition (with three new bonus tracks) on February 13, 2007, The Evolution of Robin Thicke has become a commercial success in the United States. The album has currently peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 and number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart [2], garnering Thicke his first R&B number one album of his career. From February 24, 2007 to March 3, 2007 the single "Lost Without U" and album The Evolution of Robin Thicke simultaneously spent two consecutive weeks at number one on the R&B singles and albums charts respectively. On the March 3, 2007 issue of Billboard magazine, Thicke simultaneously topped four Billboard charts; Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, and Hot Adult R&B Airplay.
In March 2007, The Evolution of Robin Thicke was certified Platinum by the RIAA. Thicke and his record label Interscope soon considered potential tracks to be released as the album's next and third single. Thicke's preference was the track "Can U Believe", which has since peaked at number fifteen on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and at number ninety-nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. [3] [4] On October 2, 2007 the track "Got 2 Be Down" was released as the album's fourth official single. The single, to date, has peaked at number sixty on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.[3]
Further activities
In April 2007, Thicke co-wrote a song with Mexican-American singer Angela Via called "Wrong for You", a single from Via's forthcoming album. He also appeared on 50 Cent's album "Curtis" (released September 11, 2007) on a song called "Follow My Lead".
Thicke was the opening act for Beyoncé's U.S. tour in 2007, The Beyoncé Experience. [5] He performed during the North American leg of the tour only. He also performed a one off UK concert in London's Koko Arena on the 24th of September in 2007. Thicke is also currently working on his third studio album, which is reportedly "almost done". He is also in the studio with Ashanti working on her new album "The Declaration" due out June 3,2008.[4][5]
Thicke was enlisted by producer Polow da Don to play piano on the Usher track, "Love in This Club".[6] Thicke made a guest appearance on the Lil Wayne album Tha Carter III. The track is titled Tie My Hands and is also produced by Thicke himself
2008–present: Something Else
Thicke released his third solo album, entitled Something Else, on September 30th, 2008. [7] The first single from this album will be "Magic" a further expansion of the sultry, classic R&B sound that powered his 2006 breakthrough, "The Evolution of Robin Thicke". The song was introduced to the universe on July 13, 2008 at the Miss Universe 2008 pagent. It was the background music for the 'Evening Wear' competiton of the pagent. "Magic" also features in a television commercial in Europe for Samsung mobile phones.
The most popular Remix to Robin's single 'Magic' comes from a collaboration with New York based recording artist Michael Brian. The song gained mass popularity in the New York area and quickly gained over 1 Million+ internet plays although it was never publicly recognized as an Official Single.
Discography
Awards and nominations
| Year | Category | Recording | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BET Awards | ||||
| 2007 | Best Male R&B Artist | N/A | Nominated | |
| 2007 | Viewers' Choice Award | "Lost Without U" | Nominated | |
| Soul Train Awards | ||||
| 2007 | Best R&B/Soul Album, Male | The Evolution of Robin Thicke | Won | |
| MTV Video Music Awards | ||||
| 2007 | Male Artist of the Year | "Can U Believe", "Lost Without U", "Wanna Love U Girl" | Nominated | |
| MOBO Awards | ||||
| 2007 | Best Song | "Lost Without U" | Nominated | |
| American Music Awards | ||||
| 2007 | Favorite Breakthrough Artist | N/A | Nominated | |
| VH1 Soul/VIBE Awards | ||||
| 2007 | Breakthrough Artist of the Year | N/A | Won | |
References
- ^ Interview with Paula Patton, The Craig Ferguson Show, 5 August 2008.
- ^ a b "Artist Chart History - Robin Thicke Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 2006-09-29.
- ^ a b c "Artist Chart History - Robin Thicke Singles". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2007-02-27.
- ^ a b "Thicke Penning New Songs As Current Set Sizzles". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2007-03-04.
- ^ a b "Tour With Beyoncé and New Album". AHotCelebrityMess.com. Retrieved 2006-05-23.
- ^ Janeé Bolden (April 4, 2008). SOHH Exclusive: Polow da Don on Beat Jacking Rumors, If a 10 Year-Old Can Save Usher's Career, He's a Genius Like Me. SOHH.com. Accessed April 4, 2008.
- ^ "Thicke Sharpens His Soul On 'Magic'". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2008-04-16.