Robin Charles Thicke
(born March 10, 1977) is an American Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter, musician, composer, and occasional actor. Thicke's albums, which feature a predominately R&B sound, [1] have sold two million copies in the United States alone. [2] [3]
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ROBIN THICKE TICKETS
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Biography
Early life
Robin was born March 10, 1977, and is the son of actor
Alan Thicke and his first wife,
Days of our Lives
actress and singer,
Gloria Loring. They divorced when he was seven. Throughout his childhood, he would be exposed to music by
Bruce Springsteen courtesy of his father, as well as
Luther Vandross and
Whitney Houston courtesy of his mother.
[4]
Personal life
On June 11, 2005 Robin Thicke married his high school sweetheart, actress
Paula Patton, whom he met in a teen club at age fourteen.
Music career
Early years
Before his days as a singer-songwriter, Thicke had written songs for 3T's "Sexual Attention" (from 1995's
Brotherhood
, which Thicke shares co-writing credit with one half of the
The Underdogs, Damon Thomas), Brownstone's "Around You" (from 1997's
Still Climbing
) and collaborated with Jordan Knight, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on several songs in Knight's 1999 album
Jordan Knight.
As an artist, he recorded and performed solely under his surname, Thicke. He would continue to do so until 2005.
Songwriting, producing and collaborations
Thicke began his songwriting career by penning hits for popular artists such as
Christina Aguilera,
Mya,
Brandy,
Marc Anthony, and
Jordan Knight.
In 2004, Thicke won his first
Grammy Award for his contributions on
Usher's 2004 release,
Confessions
. During 2006, Lil Wayne was featured on the track "Shooter," which is a remake from one of his earlier albums;
Lil Wayne also has this track on
Tha Carter II
.
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 Final. "When I Get You Alone" was a popular song choice for Sebastian and he put the live idol performance on his four-times platinum debut single "
Angels Brought Me Here" which was the fastest selling single in Australia debuting at #1 and immediately breaking an
Aria record.
[5] In 2004, Thicke co-wrote with
Guy Sebastian, the #1 Hit "
Out With My Baby" from Sebastian's sophomore album,
Beautiful Life
. Thicke also produced this single for Sebastian.
[6]. Thicke was involved in three tracks on
Beautiful Life
. Other songs Thicke contributed to the album include "Fiend for You", co-written with Sebastian, and "How", a Robin Thicke original included on the track listing.
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. That same year, Thicke appeared on
50 Cent's album
Curtis
, which was released on September 11, 2007, on a song called "
Follow My Lead". He worked with
Ashanti on her fourth studio album,
The Declaration
, which was released on June 3, 2008.
Thicke was enlisted by
producer Polow da Don to play piano on the Usher track, "
Love in This Club".
[7] 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.
At the
2009 Grammy Awards, Thicke was most recently recognized for his work on Lil Wayne’s sixth studio album
Tha Carter III
, as well as
Jennifer Hudson’s
self titled debut album. 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.
2002–2004: Early commercial success
In 2000, Thicke, who simply went by his last name, went to work on material for his debut album, initially entitled
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 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.
[8]
Runner-up
Blake Lewis performed it 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 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. 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.
[9] 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. 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 peaked at number fifteen on the Billboard
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and at number ninety-nine on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart.
[10] 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.
Later in 2007, Thicke finished promotion for the album as the featured opening act for the North American leg of
Beyoncé's U.S. tour,
The Beyoncé Experience.
[11] Thicke also performed a one off UK
concert in London's Koko Arena on September 24, 2007.
2008–present: Something Else
and future projects
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 sultry, classic 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.
Thicke recently 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
, a film based on a novel by
Sapphire , in which his wife Paula Patton also stars.
[12] [13] He is currently co-headlining a U.S. tour with Jennifer Hudson, which began March 31, 2009 in Albany, N.Y., and wraps up 25 shows later in Biloxi, Miss.
[14] 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".
According to Billboard.com, Thicke is set to release his fourth studio album in the fall of 2009, which will feature production from producers aside from Thicke himself, with the new album's first single potentially being released in the summer of 2009.
Discography
- A Beautiful World
- The Evolution of Robin Thicke
(2006)
- Something Else
(2008)
- 4th Studio Album
(2009)
Tours
- ''The Beyonce Experience As an opening act for the North American leg.
- ''Jennifer Hudson and Robin Thicke Co-Headline Tour.
Awards and nominations
Recording artist
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
|
Songwriting and production
Year
| Category
| Recording
| Result
|
Grammy Awards
|
2004
| Best Contemporary R&B album
| Confessions
; songwriter, producer
| Won
|
2009
| Best Rap album
| Tha Carter III
; songwriter, producer
| Won
|
Best R&B album
| Jennifer Hudson
; songwriter, producer
| Won
|
References
- Robin Thicke Biography
- Fennessey, Sean (April 2007). "Natural Selection". ''Vibe'' magazine, p. 98.
- Concepcion, Mariel. "Thicke Says World Needs 'Something Else'". ''Billboard''. July 2, 2008.
- Du Lac, J Freedman. "Robin Thicke Pretty Fly for a White Guy". ''The Washington Post''. [1]
- Aria End Of Year Highest Selling Single Chart 2003. Retrieved 27th February 2009
- Music Australia
- 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.
- Artist Chart History - Robin Thicke Albums
- Artist Chart History - Robin Thicke Singles
- Thicke Penning New Songs As Current Set Sizzles
- Tour With Beyoncé and New Album
- Robin Thicke reflects on race, music and Something Else
- Paula Patton on 'Push'
- Robin Thicke Readies New Album For 2009