Biography/History of
Robin Thicke
Robin
Alan Thicke (born March 10, 1977) is an American pop and R&B singer,
songwriter, musician, composer, and occasional actor.
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Birth name
Robin Alan Thicke
Also known
as Thicke
Born March
10, 1977 (1977-03-10) (age 31)
Los
Angeles, California, United States
Genre(s)
Pop, R&B
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, actor
Years
active 2002–present
Label(s) Nu
America, Star Trak, Interscope
Associated
acts Pharrell Williams, Busta Rhymes, Yung Berg, Lil Wayne
Website
www.robinthicke.com
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Biography
Early years
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.
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 contains samples
of a recording of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. The music video for the
song features an unshaven Thicke, with long, grungy hair, as a night
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.[1]
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–present: 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.[2] 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 1.4 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 [1],
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. [2] [3] 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.[2
Future collaborations
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". Grammy Award winning singer/actress/author
Ashanti has also stated in many interviews that while in Miami she and
Thicke collaborated on a record called "Things You Make Me Do" produced
by The Neptunes. The track is expected to appear on her upcoming album
"The Declaration" due out June 3, 2008.
Thicke was
the opening act for Beyoncé's U.S. tour in 2007, The Beyoncé Experience.
[4] 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.[3][4]
Thicke was
enlisted by producer Polow da Don to play piano on the Usher track,
"Love in This Club".[5]
Robin
Thicke is listed to make a guest appearance on the anticipated awaited
Lil Wayne album Tha Carter III. The track is titled Tie My Hands and is
also produced by Thicke himself
Something Else
Thicke
plans to release his third solo album, entitled Something Else, in
September, 2008. [6]. 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". "Magic" also features in
a television commercial in Europe for Samsung mobile phones.
Discography
Main
article: Robin Thicke discography
2003: A
Beautiful World
2006: The
Evolution of Robin Thicke
2008:
Something Else
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 Nominated
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 Winner
Personal life
In June
2005 Thicke married African-American actress Paula Patton, who is
pictured on the cover of A Beautiful World.
References
1^ a b
Artist Chart History - Robin Thicke Albums. Billboard. Retrieved on
2006-09-29.
2^ a b c
Artist Chart History - Robin Thicke Singles. Billboard.com. Retrieved on
2007-02-27.
3^ a b
Thicke Penning New Songs As Current Set Sizzles. Billboard.com.
Retrieved on 2007-03-04.
4^ a b Tour
With Beyoncé and New Album. AHotCelebrityMess.com. Retrieved on
2006-05-23.
5^ 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.
6^ Thicke
Sharpens His Soul On 'Something Else'. Billboard.com. Retrieved on
2008-04-16.
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Source:
Wikipedia.org at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Thicke (June 2008) |
