Smokey Robinson Career and Net Worth

Smokey Robinson Career and Net Worth, How much does Smokey Robinson make? are some of the many facts found in this article.

Smokey Robinson is an American R&B and pop singer-songwriter, record producer and former record executive. He has about $150 million in net worth as of this writing. Smokey has the credit for being the brain behind the distinct Motown sound that became hugely popular from the 50s up until the 70s. Smokey was very instrumental in the Miracles- a vocal group that had great success throughout the Motown period.

Smokey Robinson Early Life
William “Smokey” Robinson Jr. was born on February 19, 1940 in Detroit, Michigan. He was brought up in a poor household on the North End of Detroit. He got the nickname “Smokey” courtesy his uncle Claude. He had taken William to see cowboy movies and ended up giving him his own “cowboy name” “Smokey Joe”. Smokey introduced himself from that time on as Smokey Joe before later dropping the Joe. He started a doo-wop group while in school known as the Five Chimes. He was very interested in music as a child. He listened to a wide range of artists no the radio. His doo-woo group was renamed the Matadors later on.

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Smokey Robinson Career
The group, Matadore changed its name to Miracles after they had toured extensively in the 1950s. He linked with a songwriter called Berry Gordy in 1957. Berry helped the Miracles to release their first single “Got a Job”. This was the time when Smokey was studying electrical engineering at college. he dropped out after the success of his first single. He later formed Tamla Records which later became Motown Records. After signing a record deal with the company, The Miracles released “Shop Around” in 1960. It became a hit selling over a million copies. Smokey and the group came with several hits such as “You’ve Really Got A Hold on Me”, “Mickey’s Monkey”, “I Second That Emotion”, “Baby baby Don’t Cry” and “The Tears of a Clown”. Smokey was the group’s main singer, songwriter and producer. The group changed their name to Smokey Robinson & The Miracle in 1965. Apart from his work with the Miracles, Smokey wrote many songs for a number of artists signed by Motown Records as well as played a number of tracks. Some of the artists that worked with him include the Temptations, the Marvelettes and Marvin Gaye. Smokey expressed the desire to retire by 1969. The rigors of the work had taken a toll and he wanted to spend more time with his family. The group released one of their successful hits “Tears of a Clown” shortly after. It lured him to stay with the Miracle for a few years until 1972 when he parted ways with the group.

Smokey Robinson Personal Life
Smokey first married Claudette Roger who was also a member of the Miracles. They had two children together. Smokey later had a third child outside of marriage with another woman. This led to their divorce in 1986. Smokey married Frances Gladney in 2002.