Motown’s Smokey Robinson is 2016 Gershwin Prize Winner

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Detroit, MI — Detroit native Smokey Robinson — who helped launch the legendary Motown label with some of the nation’s most culturally significant recordings — is the ninth person to win the Library of Congress’ Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.

“As a singer, songwriter, producer and record executive, Smokey Robinson is a musical legend,” Acting Librarian of Congress David S. Mao said Tuesday in a statement announcing Robinson's selection. “His rich melodies are works of art — enduring, meaningful and powerful.

“And he is a master at crafting lyrics that speak to the heart and soul, expressing ordinary themes in an extraordinary way,” Mao continued. “It is that quality in his music that makes him one of the greatest poetic songwriters of our time.”

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Robinson will be feted as the 2016 Gershwin Prize winner in ceremonies in Washington, D.C., in November. Previous winners have included Paul Simon, the first honoree; fellow Motown legend and Saginaw native Stevie Wonder; former Beatle Paul McCartney; Hal David and Burt Bacharach; Carole King; Billy Joel; and Willie Nelson.

The Gershwin Prize was established in 2007 to honor “living musical artists whose lifetime contributions in the field of popular song exemplify the standard of excellence associated with George and Ira Gershwin, by promoting the genre of song as a vehicle of cultural understanding; entertaining and informing audiences; and inspiring new generations.”

His hits include “The Tracks of My Tears,” which was named to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2007 as one of the nation’s culturally, historically or aesthetically significant sound recordings; “The Tears of a Clown;” “I Second That Emotion;” and many others, both as a singer-songwriter with The Miracles and as a solo act.

Robinson is recognized as a driving force who helped Berry Gordy build his Motown label, which has had enormous influence over both the style and substance of popular music, into a musical dynasty.

He delivered his first million-selling hit, “Shop Around,” in 1960, and followed up with three dozen more Top 40 Motown hits. He also worked as a producer and talent scout, crafting lyrics for the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Mary Wells, Brenda Hollaway, and the Marvelettes, among others.

He became a sought-after songwriter, and his music also influenced, among others, The Beatles, who recorded Robinson and the Miracles' “You’ve Really Got a Hold On Me” in 1963, and The Rolling Stones, who recorded “Going To A Go-Go” in 1982.

Born in Detroit in 1940, Robinson grew up in the dangerous Brewster housing project, founded the Matadors in 1954 while still in high school, added a female singer three years later and eventually changed the name of the group to The Miracles.

He grew up listening to black artists B.B. King, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Sarah Vaughn and Billy Eckstine — who collectively were “the first inspirational thing I had,” he told Rolling Stone.

Robinson retired from The Miracles in 1972, then launched a solo career a year later. His 1975 album, "A Quiet Storm," was critically acclaimed, and in 1987 he won a Grammy for best r&b vocal performance for his single "Just to See Her" from his album "One Heartbeat."

He has received the Grammy Living Legend Award, NARAS Lifetime Achievement Award, Kennedy Center Honors, the presidential National Medal of Arts Award and the BET Lifetime Achievement Award. He was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame.

Cover image credit: Becky via Flickr / Creative Commons