Robin Thicke
Robin Alan Thicke (born March 10, 1977)[4] is an American[5] singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 2013 hit single "Blurred Lines" (featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams), which is one of the best-selling singles of all time.[6][7] At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, he received two nominations for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
Robin Thicke
- Singer
- songwriter
- record producer
- actor
- television personality
1994–present
April Love Geary (2014–present; engaged)
4
Todd Thicke (uncle)
- NuAmerica
- EMPIRE
- Star Trak
- Geffen
- Interscope
Thicke is a son of actress Gloria Loring and actor Alan Thicke. He has collaborated with numerous artists, such as Nicki Minaj, Nas, 3T, T.I., Christina Aguilera, Jessie J, K. Michelle, Pharrell, DJ Cassidy, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Flo Rida, Brandy, Kid Cudi, Mary J. Blige, Emily Ratajkowski and composed songs for Marc Anthony. He worked on albums such as Usher's Confessions and Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III, while releasing his own R&B singles in the United States including "Lost Without U", "Magic", and "Sex Therapy". He is currently a judge on the Fox musical competition show The Masked Singer.
Life and career[edit]
1977–1998: early years and family[edit]
Thicke was born in Los Angeles, California, on March 10, 1977.[8][9] His parents are American actress-singer Gloria Loring, who appeared on the NBC daytime drama Days of Our Lives, and Canadian actor Alan Thicke (1947–2016), known for his role on the TV sitcom Growing Pains, but they composed theme music such as Diff'rent Strokes and its spin-off The Facts of Life. They divorced when Thicke was 7 years old. He has an older brother, Brennan, who worked as a voice actor and voiced the titular character on the animated Dennis the Menace series, and a younger half-brother, Carter.[10] Robin Thicke also appeared in small roles on TV shows: The Wonder Years, The New Lassie, Just the Ten of Us and several episodes of Growing Pains.
Thicke's parents were supportive of his musical inclinations; his father helped him to write and structure his first songs.[11] According to Robin Thicke, his father would not pay for him (then in his early teens) and his vocal group, As One, to record a professionally produced demo tape, wanting Robin to focus on his studies and graduate from school before committing to the pursuit of a career in music.[12][13][14] The demo ultimately was paid for by jazz vocalist Al Jarreau, an uncle of one of the group members.[13] His demo made its way to R&B singer Brian McKnight, who was impressed enough by Thicke to invite him into the studio to work with him.[14] Thicke was signed to McKnight's production company; "Anyway", a song co-written with Thicke, was featured on McKnight's second album I Remember You.[15][16] Thicke's peers jokingly nicknamed him "Brian McWhite".[17] It was Thicke's association with McKnight, who Thicke counts as one of his first mentors, that led him to his acquaintance with Jimmy Iovine and helped him to land his first recording contract with Interscope Records at the age of 16. Thicke later joined a hip hop duo with future Beverly Hills 90210 actor Brian Austin Green.[14][18][19]
Thicke moved out on his own at the age of 17, during his senior year of high school, earning a living and supporting himself as a professional record producer and songwriter.[20][21] Thicke has noted that while his parents did not attempt to dissuade him from his desire to be in the music industry, their own experience with the nature of the entertainment business made them leery in the beginning.[12] As Thicke's list of credits grew so did his parents' confidence in his decision.[12]
While initially signed as a singer and artist in his own right, Thicke first made a name for himself within the industry as a songwriter and producer for other artists before releasing and performing his own music.[22] Among his work for other artists, Thicke co-wrote "Love Is on My Side" on Brandy's eponymous debut album;[23] he also wrote for 3T's Brotherhood,[24] and collaborated with Jordan Knight, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on several songs in Knight's 1999 album Jordan Knight including the Billboard top 10 hit "Give It to You".[25] According to Thicke, Knight also invested in the ability of the young songwriter early on by purchasing studio equipment for him.[26]
He also co-wrote the song "When You Put Your Hands on Me" for Christina Aguilera's debut album[27] and co-wrote and produced three songs for Mýa's sophomore release, Fear of Flying. In 1999, Thicke co-wrote the song "Fall Again" with Walter Afanasieff, which was intended to be a track on Michael Jackson's 2001 album Invincible, but it failed to be presented as a completed song. The demo Michael recorded in 1999 was released on November 16, 2004, as an album track of his limited edition box set The Ultimate Collection.[28][29] As an artist, he recorded and performed solely under his surname, Thicke. He would continue to do so until 2005.
1999–2003: A Beautiful World and early success[edit]
At the age of 22, after an involvement with Tommy Mottola and Epic Records following the end of his first deal with Interscope, Thicke resolved himself to work chiefly on material for his debut album, initially titled Cherry Blue Skies, planning to use his own money to fund the project.[18][30] As Thicke told Billboard, "I decided I was going to save money to make my album, and I hoped to offer it to labels–take it or leave it–so I didn't have to negotiate how to make my music."[30] While piecing his album together, Thicke began working with veteran producer and label executive Andre Harrell and, under his guidance, eventually signed with Interscope for a second time as part of Harrell's and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds' Nu America imprint label in 2001.[18][31]
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 number 49 on Radio & Records Pop chart.[32] 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 of the Dutch Top 40 in the Netherlands.[33]
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 number 152 on the Billboard 200 albums chart,[34] selling 119,000 copies as of January 2012.[18][35] A Beautiful World fell below the label's commercial expectations.[15][18] The album's under-performance troubled Thicke personally, but it proved enough to make him a wanted collaborator.[21] Thicke has cited Mary J. Blige, Usher, and Lil Wayne, among others, as those who subsequently reached out to him.[21]
Reflecting on A Beautiful World in 2013, Usher told the The New York Times, "I was blown away — I thought Beatles, Earth Wind & Fire, Shuggie Otis, Marvin Gaye — all in one album. [Robin's] got a soul you can't buy, man."[14]
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".[36]
2004–2007: The Evolution of Robin Thicke and commercial breakthrough[edit]
Following A Beautiful World, Thicke was keen to begin work on his sophomore album but financial and creative disagreements stemming from the performance of his first album led to a several month-long stalemate between Robin and his record label.[15]
Regarding this time in his career, Thicke said, "The label pretty much lost faith in my ability to sell. It became a question of, 'Where does he fit? Is he not rock or pop enough? Is he not soul enough?'"[15] Pharrell Williams, having established a distribution deal with Interscope for his record label, Star Trak, expressed to Jimmy Iovine his interest in Thicke, whose talent he thought of highly.[18][37]
Signed to Star Trak in 2005, Thicke continued work on his second album, The Evolution of Robin Thicke.[37] The first single, "Wanna Love U Girl", featured producer Williams and charted successfully on urban radio in the United Kingdom. In 2006, a remix version of the song was filmed with rapper Busta Rhymes.[38] Nearly a year after the single was released, the album was released on October 3, 2006. To promote it, Thicke toured with India.Arie, then opened for John Legend in late 2006.[15]
The video for his second single, the ballad "Lost Without U", was released in fall 2006.[39][40] The song began appearing on Billboard R&B charts in November of that year.[41] With the assistance of radio airplay, it became Thicke's breakout hit. It reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spending 11 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, making him the first white male artist to top that chart since George Michael did so in 1988 with "One More Try".[42][43][44]
In the February 24, 2007, issue of Billboard, Thicke concurrently topped four Billboard charts: Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, and Adult R&B Songs, a feat he would duplicate in the March 17 issue.[45][46] Following its re-release as a Deluxe Edition (with three new bonus tracks) on February 13, 2007, the album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200.[47] On March 23, 2007, The Evolution of Robin Thicke was certified Platinum by the RIAA.[48] With album sales of over 1.5 million copies sold domestically, The Evolution of Robin Thicke became a commercial success in the United States.[49]
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 16 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and at number 99 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[44][50] On October 2, 2007, the track "Got 2 Be Down" was released as the album's fourth official single. The single peaked at number 60 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.[44]
On April 19, 2007, Thicke performed on The Oprah Winfrey Show, singing "Lost Without U".[51] He returned to the show a month later, on May 29, performing "Complicated" and Oprah Winfrey's favorite song from the album, "Would That Make U Love Me", while also promoting Beyoncé's tour, on which he would be an opening act.[52] Winfrey revealed that Thicke's initial appearance garnered a strong reaction, noting that people called the show to say that they didn't know he would be on. Winfrey explained, "So what I wanted to do was to accommodate all of the people who missed it the first time ... In order to do that, I had to do something I've never done before. I got on the phone and asked this very special guest if he would consider coming back."[52]
In late 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.[53] Other notable performances in support of the album and its single "Lost Without U" include the 2007 BET Awards, The 2007 MOBO Awards,[54]
American Idol,[55] and the 2007 Soul Train Music Awards.[56] He also performed a one-off UK concert at KOKO in London on September 24, 2007.[57]
2008–2010: Something Else and Sex Therapy[edit]
Thicke released his third solo album, titled Something Else, on September 30, 2008.[58] It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 charts and sold 137,000 copies in the first week.[59] The first single from the album, "Magic", was 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 Adult R&B chart,[60] number six on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart[61] and number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[62] He followed this success with the second single, "The Sweetest Love", which peaked at number two on the Adult R&B chart and number 20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart.[63][64]
On February 8, 2009, at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, Thicke took the stage alongside Lil Wayne to perform their song "Tie My Hands" from the Grammy-winning album Tha Carter III (the song was also featured on Something Else) which was followed by Thicke and Lil Wayne participating in a medley of "Big Chief" and "My Feet Can't Fail Me Now" led by jazz musicians Allen Toussaint, Terence Blanchard, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band in tribute to New Orleans and the victims of Hurricane Katrina.[65][66]
Thicke appeared on an episode of ABC's The Bachelor to perform "Magic" and "The Sweetest Love" for the remaining female contestants.[67] Thicke wrote and produced a track for the movie Precious in which his wife Paula Patton also starred, though it did not appear on the soundtrack and remains unreleased.[68] 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.[69] At the start of the tour, Thicke released "Dreamworld" as the official third single from Something Else.[69] 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, his first to not be mainly self-produced.[69] The album, titled Sex Therapy, had its release date postponed to winter, on December 15, 2009. The first single from the album was the title track, produced by Polow Da Don, which in March 2010 became Thicke's second song to top the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[42] The lead single for international markets was "Rollacosta" featuring singer Estelle. The second U.S. single was "It's in the Mornin'" featuring Snoop Dogg. "Shakin' It 4 Daddy", featuring rapper Nicki Minaj, produced by Polow Da Don, was supposed to be released as a single at some point, however, its release was eventually canceled.
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."[70] Earlier in 2009, on October 14, Leighton Meester's debut single "Somebody to Love", featuring Thicke, was released. Thicke told MTV he hoped to have Lil Wayne on the album. He also pointed out that he was featured on Lil Wayne's last two albums Tha Carter II (2005) and The Carter III , and Lil Wayne was on his last two albums. "We're kind of good luck charms for each other."[71]
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.[72] On February 5, 2010, Thicke participated in BET's SOS Saving Ourselves: Help For Haiti telethon concert, held in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake.[73]
Artistry[edit]
Influences[edit]
Thicke is a self-taught pianist.[12] Some of the first songs he learned to play and sing along with as a child were by gospel artists such as Commissioned, Take 6, and John P. Kee, studying their licks and harmonies.[133][134] Thicke has drawn influence from a variety of artists including James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Sting, Prince, Alanis Morissette, The Beatles, John Lennon, Bob Marley and Michael Jackson.[135] Thicke has said that he considers himself a soulful singer but does not like his music being described as "blue-eyed soul", finding the term too pigeonholing.[15][136]
Personal life[edit]
At age 14, Robin Thicke first met actress Paula Patton, who was then 16, in 1991 at an under-21 hip-hop club called Balistyx (co-founded and co-hosted by David Faustino) on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, when he asked her to dance.[20] They were married in 2005 and their son was born in April 2010.[172] Thicke and Patton separated in February 2014, after 21 years together and almost nine years of marriage.[173] On October 9, 2014, Patton officially filed for divorce, which was finalized on March 20, 2015.[174][175]
In 2014, Thicke met April Love Geary, who is 17 years younger than he, at a party. They first appeared in public together in 2015.[176] In February 2018, their first child, a daughter, was born.[177] In August 2018, Geary announced that the couple was expecting their second child,[178] a daughter, born in February 2019.[179] They became engaged on Christmas Eve 2018.[180] In December 2020, the couple announced the birth of their third child and first son together.[181]
Thicke is a close friend of fellow performer Usher. Thicke was present for Usher's engagement to Tameka Foster, serenading the couple with his song "The Stupid Things" as Usher proposed among family and friends.[182]
On November 10, 2018, Geary revealed in an Instagram story she and Thicke had lost their Malibu, California home to the Woolsey wildfire that had been consuming the area.[183] Two days later, Thicke returned to his property, describing the totality of the fire in a video for Entertainment Tonight: "It's funny, [from what] you see in movies, you'd think there would be one doll left over, or a book of course, something. [But] it's just rubble. There's nothing left."[184]
Controversies[edit]
Performance with Miley Cyrus at MTV Video Music Awards 2013[edit]
In 2013, Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus caused an uproar following their performance during the MTV Video Music Awards. During the performance, in which the singers performed "Blurred Lines" and "We Can't Stop", Cyrus twerked in such a way as to mimic a sexual act with her colleague.[185] Afterwards, Cyrus said that Thicke had explicitly asked her to be "as naked as possible" during the performance. According to the same source, "Thicke was angry with Cyrus for 'going too far' during the VMAs, and that he thought the 'Wrecking Ball' songstress had 'hijacked the performance.'"[186][187]
Marvin Gaye plagiarism[edit]
After the success of "Blurred Lines", the heirs of singer Marvin Gaye sued Thicke and Pharrell Williams, claiming that the song had plagiarised Gaye's "Got to Give It Up". Jurors awarded Gaye $7.4 million, but United States District Judge John Kronstadt reduced the sum to $5.3 million, while adding royalties.[188]
Emily Ratajkowski's book[edit]
In early October 2021, fragments from model and actress Emily Ratajkowski's forthcoming book, My Body, were leaked online, where she claimed that Thicke groped her breasts without her consent[189] in 2013 during the filming of the music video for the song "Blurred Lines".[190][191]
According to Time magazine and other sources, Ratajkowski was frustrated about the leaked chapter and said it was taken "out of the essay's context".[192][193] She said, "It's been hard for me. I really like to have control over my image and I wrote this book of essays to share the whole story and all sides of it, and I feel like it turns into a clickbait frenzy and all of a sudden words like 'sexual assault' and 'allegations' are getting thrown around rather than people reading the actual essay... I'm just looking forward to when people will be able hear things in my own words." Thicke has not publicly responded.[194]
Studio albums
