Robin Thicke

All Music Guide:

As the son of vocalist Gloria Loring and Growing Pains' Alan Thicke, Robin Thicke grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles during the '80s and '90s. Thicke credits his dad for motivating him to immerse himself in all kinds of pop music. The elder Thicke is popular for writing the theme songs for The Facts of Life and Diff'rent Strokes, so naturally Robin had his head in music. He was an average student; by 13, he was writing songs. Three years later, he befriended the president of Bad Boy Entertainment, André Harrell, and struck a deal with Interscope. Thicke began writing hits for the likes of Christina Aguilera, Mya, Brandy, Marc Anthony, and Jordan Knight. Still, this artist in the making was dying for his own chance. By 2000, Thicke, who was in his mid-twenties, made his dream come true. Thicke issued his debut album, Cherry Blue Skies, in fall 2002. It was later retitled Beautiful World and prepped for a massive media push the following spring. Two years later, Pharrell Williams joined Thicke for the recording of "Wanna Love You Girl." Their collaboration also led Thicke to a contract with Williams' own imprint, Star Trak. Thicke's sophomore album, The Evolution of Robin Thicke, arrived on the label in late 2006. Certified platinum by the RIAA in March 2007, the album made to number five on the Billboard 200 while topping their Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The more focused and refined Something Else, a 2008 release, peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. Sex Therapy, led by its Polow da Don-produced title track, was issued during the tail end of 2009 and narrowly missed the top of the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Love After War, Thicke's fifth studio album, followed in late 2011.

Wikipedia:

Robin Alan Thicke (pron.: /ˈθɪ/; born March 10, 1977) is an American R&B singer-songwriter, musician, composer, and actor. Thicke is a dual citizen, also holding Canadian citizenship through his father, actor and TV host Alan Thicke. Thicke's albums, which he previously released under the name Thicke, are noted for their feature of a predominantly R&B sound. Thicke has written hits for popular artists such as Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, Usher and Mary J. Blige. Thicke has also been acknowledged for his work in popular albums such as Confessions and Tha Carter III. Thicke is a singer, mentor, and judge on the ABC show Duets.

Career [edit]

Early years [edit]

Before his days as a singer-songwriter, Thicke had written "Love Is on My Side" on Brandy's self-titled album and a number of songs for 3T's "Sexual Attention" and collaborated with Jordan Knight, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on several songs in Knight's 1999 album Jordan Knight. He also co-wrote the songs "When You Put Your Hands on Me" for Christina Aguilera's debut album and "No Tears on My Pillow" for Mýa's sophomore release, Fear of Flying. As an artist, he recorded and performed solely under his surname, Thicke. He would continue to do so until 2005.

2002–04: Early commercial success [edit]

In 2000, Thicke, who simply went by his last name, went to work on material for his debut album, initially titled Cherry Blue Skies. The album focused more on soul than his pop-offerings for other artists.

In 2002, 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 received some rotation on MTV2 and BET's Rated Next and was spun moderately on pop and urban radio, peaking at #49 on Radio & Records Pop chart. Globally, however, "When I Get You Alone" became a chart success when it peaked in the Top 20 in Australia, Belgium, and Italy, and reached the Top 10 of the singles charts in New Zealand and the Top 3 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 in 2003 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 only #152 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, eventually selling 63,000 copies.

Runner-up Blake Lewis performed "When I Get You Alone" 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. The song was also performed by Blaine Anderson (played by Darren Criss) on Glee during the Season 2 episode "Silly Love Songs."

2005–07: The Evolution of Robin Thicke [edit]

In 2005, Thicke 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. 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. 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 male artist to top that chart since George Michael. 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 became a commercial success in the United States.

The album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 and number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, garnering Thicke his first R&B number one album of his career. In early 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 peaked at number fifteen on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and at number ninety-nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. On October 2, 2007 the track "Got 2 Be Down" was released as the album's fourth official single. The single peaked at number sixty on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.

Late in 2007, Thicke finished promotion for the album as the featured opening act for the North American leg of Beyoncé's US tour, The Beyoncé Experience. Thicke also performed a one off UK concert in London's Koko Arena on September 24, 2007. As of February 10, 2009, the album was certified Double-Platinum by the RIAA.

2008–10: Something Else and Sex Therapy [edit]

Thicke released his third solo album, entitled Something Else, on September 30, 2008. It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 charts and sold nearly 140,000 records the first week. The first single from the album was "Magic" a further expansion of the R&B sound that powered his 2006 breakthrough, The Evolution of Robin Thicke. "Magic" went on to peak at number two on the Urban AC charts. He followed this success with the second single, "The Sweetest Love", which also peaked at number two on the Urban AC charts and remained in the top five for twelve consecutive weeks.

During an interview to promote his third album, Thicke explained:

Thicke appeared on an episode of ABC's The Bachelor to perform “Magic” and “The Sweetest Love” for the remaining female contestants. Thicke wrote and produced a track for the movie Precious in which his wife Paula Patton also starred. He co-headlined a U.S. tour with Jennifer Hudson, which began March 31, 2009 in Albany, New York, and wrapped up 25 shows later in Biloxi, Mississippi. At the start of the tour, Thicke released "You're My Baby" as the official third single from Something Else, despite filming and releasing a music video for the track "Dreamworld". As of April 2009, Something Else has shifted over 435,000 units in the U.S.

Seven months after the release of Something Else, Billboard.com announced that Thicke would release his fourth studio album in the fall of 2009, which would not be self-produced. The album, titled Sex Therapy, had its release date postponed to winter, on December 15, 2009. Jay-Z is featured on the track "Meiple (Me I Play)". The first single from the album was the self-titled track, produced by Polow Da Don and released in October 2009. In November 2009, Thicke premiered the second single to radio, "Shakin' It for Daddy", featuring rapper Nicki Minaj. It was also produced by Polow Da Don.

Speaking of the musical background to Sex Therapy, Thicke told Pete Lewis - Deputy Editor of Blues & Soul - "I'm always gonna have the influence of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Al Green in my music. But with this album I also wanted to show my HIP HOP side. I grew up listening to Run DMC and N.W.A and Biggie and Pac and Jay-Z... So I really wanted to make a record that represented how much that music has influenced me." Earlier in 2009, on October 14, Leighton Meester's debut single "Somebody to Love", featuring Thicke, was released. Thicke told MTV he was glad to have Lil Wayne on the album. He also pointed out that he was featured on Lil Wayne's last two albums, and Lil Wayne was on his last two albums. "We're kind of good luck charms for each other."

Thicke appeared on ABC's New Year's Rockin' Eve on January 1, 2010 and performed three songs in Las Vegas, in a pre-recorded segment. Also in 2010, it was confirmed that he, along with Melanie Fiona, would feature on The Freedom Tour with Alicia Keys. As of October 2011, the album has sold 289,000 copies in the United States.

2011–present: Love After War and Duets [edit]

During 2011, Thicke was confirmed to go on tour with Jennifer Hudson, with whom he toured in 2009. Later that year, Robin Thicke released his fifth studio album, Love After War, on December 6, 2011. The album debuted at #22 on the "Billboard 200" and #6 on the "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums" selling 41,000 in its first week. In an interview to promote the album, Thicke has stated that a lot of the inspiration for the album came from his family:

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The album has produced three singles. The first is the title track, "Love After War" released on October 11, 2011 and has peaked at #14 on the "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs" chart and topped "Urban AC" making it his second song after "Lost Without U" to top that chart. The music video for the song premiered November 21, 2011. The music video features his wife Paula Patton and consist of Thicke making up with his wife after a fight. The second single is "Pretty Lil' Heart", which features Lil Wayne and was released on November 8, 2011. The music video for that premiered on March 2, 2012. It peaked at #51 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. On May 31, 2012, Thicke released a video for his promo single, which was a cover of the "Whitney Houston" classic "Exhale (Shoop Shoop"). The third official single is "All Tied Up" which was released to Urban AC radio on April 10, 2012. The music video premiered on June 7, 2012 on "Vevo".

In July, 2012, Thicke made his feature film debut starring against Jaime Pressly in Jimbo Lee's ABBY IN THE SUMMER produced by Gabriel Cowan, John Suits, Dallas Sonnier and Jack Heller.

Thicke is appearing as a judge on a new ABC television show called Duets which premiered May 24, 2012 and which also features John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, and Kelly Clarkson. The judges double as mentors who search for singers across the country (Robin Thicke's singers being Olivia Chisholm and Alexis Foster) to duet with them as they perform in front of a live studio audience. The premier episode drew in 7 million viewers. The show went live June 28, 2012, allowing the viewers to vote for their favorite contestants.

2013-present: Blurred Lines [edit]

In spring 2013, Blurred Lines video featuring nude models, including Emily Ratajkowski, garnered more than 1 million views in days after release on Vevo. Thicke said he had received an approval of his wife Paula Patton before the shooting of the video.

As Robin explained to the Breakfast Club, "The album is called Blurred Lines. I've realized as I've gotten older that we all think we're living either in a black or white world, or on a straight path, but most of us are living right inbetween those straight lines. And everything you thought you knew, the older you get, you realize, 'damn, I don't know nothing about this. I better pay attention, I better listen and keep learning.' So I think that, that's what I've been realizing these past few years."

The r'n'b singer also explained his foray into a more poppy sound than his usual. "The last year I've been wanting to have more fun. I think I took myself very seriously as an artist and I wanted to be like Marvin Gaye, and John Lennon and Bob Marley and these great artists and songwriters that sang about love and sang about relationships," Robin explained. "And then the last year, my wife and I just really wanted to have fun again, we wanted to be young again and we wanted to dance again and go out with our friends, so I wanted to make music that reflected that culture also."

Artistry [edit]

Songwriting and producing [edit]

Thicke began his songwriting career by writing hits for popular artists. He co-wrote and produced the Color Me Badd hit "Sexual Capacity" in 1996. The Thicke original "When I Get You Alone" was performed by Guy Sebastian, the winner of the first Australian Idol 2003, during the competition and at the Idol grand finale. "When I Get You Alone" was a popular song choice for Sebastian; he put the live idol performance on his four-times platinum debut single "Angels Brought Me Here"; it was the fastest selling single in Australia debuting at #1 and immediately breaking an Aria record. In 2004, Thicke co-wrote "Out With My Baby" with Guy Sebastian, from Sebastian's second album, Beautiful Life. Thicke also produced this single for Sebastian. During this same year, he wrote a song with the singer and actress Raven-Symoné for the album This Is My Time, with the song "Set Me Free".

In April 2007, Thicke co-wrote a song with singer/songwriter Angela Via called "Wrong for You". In 2008, Thicke was enlisted by producer Polow da Don to play piano on the Usher track, "Love in This Club". Thicke wrote and produced the song "Tie My Hands" on Tha Carter III, which went on to win Best Rap Album. Thicke wrote and produced the song "Giving Myself" for the album Jennifer Hudson, which went on to win Best R&B Album.

Collaborations [edit]

In 2007, Thicke appeared on 50 Cent's album Curtis, which was released on September 11, 2007, on a song called "Follow My Lead". The following year, he worked with Ashanti on her fourth studio album, The Declaration, which was released on June 3, 2008. Also that year, Thicke reunited with Lil Wayne and was featured on his album Tha Carter III on a track entitled "Tie My Hands", which Thicke also produced. Thicke also appeared on R. Kelly's Untitled Album (2009) on the track "Pregnant" which also features Tyrese and The-Dream.

Musicianship [edit]

Thicke has been known to be consistently compared to American singer and actor Justin Timberlake, with many feeling that they sound like each other. When Timberlake premiered his new single "Suit & Tie" in January 2013, Thicke's name was one of the trending topics on Twitter with plenty pointing out the comparisons between the two. When asked about his comparisons to Timberlake, Thicke stated: "The thing about Justin and I is that we're inspired by a lot of the same singers - Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Stevie Wonder - so when you're inspired by the same masters, sometimes you're gonna make certain songs that sound alike..."

Personal life [edit]

Thicke's mother is Days of Our Lives actress and singer Gloria Loring and his father is Canadian actor Alan Thicke. They divorced when he was seven. An older brother, Brennan, worked as a voice actor in the mid-80s.

Thicke began dating actress Paula Patton at the age of 17. They were married in 2005 and had a son, Julian Fuego Thicke, on April 6, 2010. In the fall of 2010, Robin Thicke spent several weeks in New York City recording and living in a rented SoHo apartment which he had converted into a makeshift professional studio. Thicke has said he does not like his music being described as "blue-eyed soul".

Tours [edit]