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Before his days as a singer-pornstar, Thicke had written 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 (album)|Jordan Knight]].'' As an artist, he recorded and performed solely under his surname, Thicke. He would continue to do so until 2005.
Before his days as a singer-pornstar, Thicke had written 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 (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===
===Songwriting, Dickin around and collaborations===
Thicke began his songwriting career by penning hits for popular artists such as 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.<ref>[http://aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-end-of-year-charts-top-100-singles-2003.htm Aria End Of Year Highest Selling Single Chart 2003. Retrieved 27th February 2009]</ref> In 2004, Thicke co-wrote with [[Guy Sebastian]], the #1 Hit "[[Out With My Baby]]" from Sebastian's sophomore album, ''[[Beautiful Life (album)|Beautiful Life]]''. Thicke also produced this single for Sebastian.<ref>[http://www.musicaustralia.org/apps/MA?function=showDetail&currentBibRecord=000017001586&itemSeq=7&total=85&returnFunction=searchResults&scope=scope&simpleTerm=afro&sessionId=reuseSearch18F4AD02995B3EC8FD76F891AF8C05E91240514857503 Music Australia]</ref> Thicke was involved in three tracks on ''Beautiful Life''. Other songs Thicke contributed to on the album include "Fiend for You", co-written with Sebastian, and "How", a Robin Thicke original included on the track listing. 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".
Thicke began his songwriting career by penning hits for popular artists such as 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.<ref>[http://aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-end-of-year-charts-top-100-singles-2003.htm Aria End Of Year Highest Selling Single Chart 2003. Retrieved 27th February 2009]</ref> In 2004, Thicke co-wrote with [[Guy Sebastian]], the #1 Hit "[[Out With My Baby]]" from Sebastian's sophomore album, ''[[Beautiful Life (album)|Beautiful Life]]''. Thicke also produced this single for Sebastian.<ref>[http://www.musicaustralia.org/apps/MA?function=showDetail&currentBibRecord=000017001586&itemSeq=7&total=85&returnFunction=searchResults&scope=scope&simpleTerm=afro&sessionId=reuseSearch18F4AD02995B3EC8FD76F891AF8C05E91240514857503 Music Australia]</ref> Thicke was involved in three tracks on ''Beautiful Life''. Other songs Thicke contributed to on the album include "Fiend for You", co-written with Sebastian, and "How", a Robin Thicke original included on the track listing. 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".



Revision as of 02:18, 29 September 2010

Robin Thicke
SpouseRobin Thicke (2005 - present)

Robin Charles Thicke (/ˈθɪk/; born March 10, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, composer, and occasional actor. Thicke's albums are noted for their feature of a predominantly R&B sound.[1][2]

Early life

Robin was born March 10, 1977, his 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. 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.[3]

Music career

Early years

Before his days as a singer-pornstar, Thicke had written 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. As an artist, he recorded and performed solely under his surname, Thicke. He would continue to do so until 2005.

Songwriting, Dickin around and collaborations

Thicke began his songwriting career by penning hits for popular artists such as 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.[4] 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.[5] Thicke was involved in three tracks on Beautiful Life. Other songs Thicke contributed to on the album include "Fiend for You", co-written with Sebastian, and "How", a Robin Thicke original included on the track listing. During this same year, he wrote a song with the singer and actress Raven-Symoné for the albumThis Is My Time, with the song "Set Me Free".

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.[6][7] Thicke was enlisted by producer Polow da Don to play piano on the Usher track, "Love in This Club".[8] 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. Robin won an oscar,

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 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 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.[9]

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.

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.[10] 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,[9] 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.[6][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.[10]

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.[7] Thicke also performed a one off UK concert in London's Koko Arena on September 24, 2007.

2008–09: Something Else and other 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 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. "Magic" was also used in the evening gown competition of Miss Universe 2008 in Viet Nam. 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.

Speaking in October 2008 to UK R&B writer Pete Lewis of "Blues & Soul", Thicke explained his reasons for titling his third album Something Else: "There's so many meanings behind that title. Number one, it reflects what we're going through as a nation here in America. I just felt, with Barack Obama and the new energy he's bringing, that it is time for some fresh hope and new attitudes. Then, in terms of me as an artist, because I'd been singing all these songs about self-reflection - like '2 The Sky' and 'Angels' - I just thought it was time for me to start singing about something ELSE! Also, I felt that - with my music being a little different from everything else you can get out there - the music IN ITSELF is also something different and something else!"[11] Thicke also spoke to music journalist Jason Blasco, of http://www.songwriteruniverse.com/robinthicke123.htm and discussed the experiences he had that helped catapult his creativity. He told songwriteruniverse.com “I think this album was so different than my last album,” said Thicke. “The last album I did, I spoke about my personal life and the things that I was going through at that time. However, since I've been on the road, you just see how many people are either in poverty, or are not able to live the life they want to live, have just given up on their dreams, or have had it taken away from them. What I thought were problems are not problems at all, and I think when I made this record a little perspective kicked in." The article in Blues and Soul and Songwriteruniverse.com help accelerate excitement to the upcoming album that bolstered sales worldwide.[citation needed]

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[when?] 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".[14]

2009–present: Sex Therapy and future projects

Billboard.com announced that Thicke would release his fourth studio album in the fall of 2009, which would not be self-produced.[14] The album, titled Sex Therapy, had its release date postponed to winter, being released 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', in March 2010 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 NWA and Biggie and Pac and Jay-Z... So I really wanted to make a record that represented how much that music has influenced me."[15]

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", he said. Thicke says having Lil Wayne on his next album will keep the good luck alive.

Thicke appeared on ABC's New Year's Rockin' Eve on January 1, 2010 and performed three songs from Las Vegas, in a pre-recorded segment. It is confirmed that he, along with Melanie Fiona, will set to go on The Freedom Tour with Alicia Keys.

Robin Thicke interview by Jason Blasco,http://www.songwriteruniverse.com/robinthicke123.htm , August 2008

Discography

Personal life

On June 11, 2005, Thicke married his high school sweetheart, actress Paula Patton, whom he met in a teen club at the age of 15. It was announced at an Alicia Keys concert in Los Angeles at the Staples Center that the couple had their first child, a boy named Julian Fuego Thicke, on April 6, 2010.

Thicke has said he does not like it when his music is called "blue-eyed soul", calling the label "small-minded and stereotypical."[16]

Tours

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
2009 Best R&B/Soul Male N/A Nominated
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

  1. ^ "Robin Thicke Biographmagazine, p. 98". {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  2. ^ Concepcion, Mariel. "Thicke Says World Needs 'Something Else'". Billboard. July 2, 2008.
  3. ^ Du Lac, J Freedman. "Robin Thicke Pretty Fly for a White Guy". The Washington Post. [1]
  4. ^ Aria End Of Year Highest Selling Single Chart 2003. Retrieved 27th February 2009
  5. ^ Music Australia
  6. ^ a b "Thicke Penning New Songs As Current Set Sizzles". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2007-03-04.
  7. ^ a b "Tour With Beyoncé and New Album". AHotCelebrityMess.com. Retrieved 2006-05-23.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ a b "Artist Chart History - Robin Thicke Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 2006-09-29.
  10. ^ a b c "Artist Chart History - Robin Thicke Singles". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2007-02-27.
  11. ^ Robin Thicke interview by Pete Lewis, Blues & Soul, November 2008
  12. ^ Mitchell, Gail (2008-08-29). "Robin Thicke reflects on race, music and Something Else" ([dead link]). Reuters.
  13. ^ Lee, Michael J. (2008-08-12). "Paula Patton on 'Push'". Radio Free Entertainment.
  14. ^ a b c "Robin Thicke Readies New Album For 2009". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
  15. ^ Robin Thicke interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' April 2010
  16. ^ Miller, Mitzi (November 2008), "on the record with ... ROBIN THICKE". Essence. 39 (7):66

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