DETROIT — This weekend one of the city’s most stunning live music venues will welcome living legend Smokey Robinson to the stage, a show that is being billed as the 35th anniversary of the Fox Theatre’s rebirth.
The sold-out gala event in November 1988 celebrated the return of the refurbished theater. Robinson headlined a hodge-podge lineup of stars that included Daryl Hall and John Oates, Billy Eckstein, the Count Basie Orchestra, magician Harry Blackstone Jr. and “Full House” co-star Dave Coulier.
Of course, Robinson’s history with the venue goes back well-beyond the grand reopening in 1988.
“The Fox Theatre is where we had all those Motown revues, so I’ve played there a thousand times … I’m looking forward to that. It’s going to be a celebration,” he told The Detroit News from a tour stop in Mississippi last week. “We’re coming to have a ball, we’re coming to have some fun and enjoy that night and have a wonderful Detroit time.”
The Detroit native, 83, was the founder and frontman for Motown Records group the Miracles and is a prolific songwriter. He’s still writing tunes, and this spring released “Gasms,” a sultry collection of tracks that was slightly controversial due to the sexy nature of the entire album. It is his first new release in about a decade.
It’s been a busy year for Robinson, who has nearly every accolade a musician can get under his belt, including Grammys, a National Medal of the Arts, two Hollywood Walk of Fame stars, a BET Lifetime Achievement Award, a Kennedy Center honor and induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Ahead of the Grammy Awards this year, Robinson and Motown Records’ Berry Gordy were honored as the 2023 MusiCares Person of the Year by the Recording Academy. They got a special gala days before the Grammys and, not one to just hang out in the audience, Robinson also performed at the televised award ceremony as part of the tribute to he and Gordy.
Robinson said the reaction to “Gasms” — his first since music streaming has really taken off — has been “wonderful” and he feels much more connected to his fans these days because of streaming and social media.
“There was a time when you put out an album like that and they might pick one record to be the lead-off or the single, and radio played that until it was worn out or whatever and then you put out another single,” he said. “But today’s world is so different because people are choosing what they like from online. We actually have four singles on that album out right now … and so they’re all being played and reaction to them has been wonderful, but it’s a different ballgame.”
Fans can expect a few songs from the new album at Saturday’s concert, but Robinson is also excited to give longtime supporters the hits from throughout his long career that started in this very area in the 1950s. He’ll play tunes from the Miracles, solo career favorites and covers by other artists, including some he wrote for, like the Temptations.
“We have six-piece band, two singers, sound and lighting crew,” he said of his stage show. “Come out, it’s going to be a good time. It’s going to be a homecoming for me.”
Robinson has written the backdrop to the 20th century: Songs that are all around us, on the radio, in movies and in commercials. Not just Miracles songs like “Shop Around,” “I Second That Emotion” and “Tears of a Clown,” but hits for other Motown artists like “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” “My Girl” and “My Guy.”
Robinson said he is looking forward to coming back to his hometown to perform. These days he’s based in the Los Angeles area, along with his closest family members, mostly nieces and nephews. Many of his pals from this area he’s either lost touch with or they’ve passed away, he said.
