Robin Thicke, son of Growing Pains actor Alan Thicke, began his entertainment career as a young actor, and later segued into songwriting and producing for artists such as Brian McKnight, Usher, Jordan Knight, Christina Aguilera, Mya, and Michael Jackson.
You also may already know him from:
- Will Smith's "Switch (R&B Remix)"
- That Sprite commercial with the long-haired bike messenger
- Random reruns of The Wonder Years
- The one good song from the In the Mix soundtrack
His 2003 debut album, A Beautiful World, gained popularity with the lead single, "When I Get You Alone," featuring a sample of Walter Murphy's "A Fifth of Beethoven." (If you're a Saturday Night Fever fanatic or even of Beethoven's original piece, you're nodding right about now.)
After collaborating with Pharrell Williams on "Wanna Love U Girl" and signing to StarTrak, Robin's new album, The Evolution of Robin Thicke was slated for a third quarter 2005 release. This was later pushed back to January 2006, then February, and then every subsequent month thereafter, driving fans like me absolutely psycho. The album was well overdue, and it's finally earning the kudos it deserves.
Featuring artists like Lil' Wayne and Faith Evans, this album manages to maintain his point of view, and delves into a bit more mainstream R&B, soul sound.
His hit "Lost Without U" made Robin the first white male artist to top the Billboard R&B charts since George Michael almost 20 years prior.
His unique R&B, blue-eyed soul sound has been attracting some big attention of the music world, and The Today Show is no exception.
Here's an exclusive behind-the-scenes POV of what goes into making a great live performance on TODAY.
As I make my way to the Studio 1 entrance on 48th Street, I encounter a line of devoted TODAY fans with cups of coffee, hats and gloves, and the occasional bonus beach chair, braving the cold for a peek at Mr. Lauer. With suits as dapper as his, I can see why it's worth the wind chill factor!
Flashing my nifty pass through security, I bumped into a very stylish Ann Curry in between segments, who was rocking a fierce pair of patent leather heels.
Next to her was a coat hook with the appropriate labels for all the TODAY talent: Meredith, Matt, Al, Ann, Natalie. Since Ann was filling in for Meredith this morning, I guess she also adopted her hook for the day, too. Either that, or I just totally blew her cover.
As Al and Matt joined Ann in the vestibule area, they were handed green scripts outlining the forthcoming segments. I nonchalantly eyeball the pages as Matt's studying them, and catch a glaring error in the margin: ALAN THICKE. Somewhere, there's an intern crying in a corner and now you know why.
Suddenly, a crew member sprinted through the door with a wireless mic for Natalie outside with seconds to spare. Ah, live television.
The studio door swung open long enough for me to hear Robin doing his soundcheck inside, so I had to investigate. Armed with my Treo and a dream, I went in search of Mr. Thicke.
The studio is smaller than one would think, and it becomes even smaller with all the people bustling around. Producers, crew, band members, managers, makeup and hair artists, guys in suits who you're betting are someone of uber-VIP stature, camera operators, and iVillage flies on the wall like yours truly.
Robin had just completed his soundcheck of "Lost Without U," which, amusingly enough, a lot of the crew happened to know the words to, and did their best impressions of his suave falsetto crooning.
He asked if he could sing part of "Teach U A Lesson" as a teaser, and went over chords and cues with his band to prepare. This struck me as odd considering TODAY is a family program and Robin is definitely not singing about after school tutoring and the Periodic Table of the Elements. But, hey, that'll get you out of bed and watching TV!
Before his segment, he stood in the corner doing some stretches and vocal warm ups. Always the gentlemen, he said "please" and "thank you" to everyone, and made sure to learn all of their names. For someone who was rumored to be out partying the night before in celebration of his new platinum status, consider this girl impressed.
The Evolution of Robin Thicke is available online and in stores now. To snag a copy of one of the best R&B albums of 2007, click here.
Bonus round: Check out Robin's TODAY Vblog and see RT's responses to fan questions!
members say:
I don't usually get up early, but I woke up at 7am just to see him perform (since I can't seem to catch him in concert...he needs to come to Texas!). It was great, but I was hoping he would perform more songs and not just one...
--Posted by Abby, Dallas, TX
I never get tired of seeing Robin Thicke perform.He is such am amazing artist.I was disappoint that he only performed one song. His CD The Evolution of Robin Thicke is perfection from the beginning to end.I was excited to hear him read my question on the take five segment.
--Posted by suzanne, franklinville, NJ
I too went to the Today show. I got there at 6am and was so disappointed to find out that he was performing inside. I stayed until almost 10am hoping that he would come outside and say hi to the few fans that were waiting for him. Unfortunately this didn't happen.
--Posted by thicke'snyfan, New York, NY
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i really seriously truly not kidding love robin but everytime he is on tv or wherever they are always talk about his father Alan i know he loves his dad but could they not talk about him all the time it is ROBINS TIME to shine his father is great but he had his time they should keep the spotlight on ROBIN
--Posted by brittany, atoka, TN
It was great but I am a HUGE fan and was hoping to see an outdoor performance. After waiting in the cold for 2 hours this morning I was dissapointed to see that ithe show was in the studio instead of outside like the Beyonce concert earlier this week.
--Posted by fashion_diva, New York, NY
I heart Robin Thicke! What's up with the intern though? Lame. You are SO lucky you got to see him live ahhh!
--Posted by BarnGirl, NY, NY
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I am the biggest Robin Thicke fan EVER and this article truly brings him to life. Thank you Caitlin. Thank you for being all that you can be.
--Posted by Jpn, New York, NY
I didn't know until recently that Alan Thicke had a famous son. Thanks for the info. on this hottie! I'll be sure to add you to my favorites, so you can keep me posted. Many thanks!!!
--Posted by Amanda, Washington, DC
--Posted by momof3, Cleveland, OH
