Smokey Robinson Returns to the Apollo as He Jokes 'Retiring Didn't Work for Me, Man' (Exclusive)

Motown legend Smokey Robinson has no plans to put down the microphone anytime soon.

At the age of 84 and with a career spanning seven decades, the legendary singer, songwriter, producer and executive who shaped and defined the soul R&B sound of the legendary Detroit-based record label is still going strong, recording new music and touring the world. , including a performance at Harlem’s historic Apollo Theater on Saturday, June 29.

“I tried to retire once and it didn’t work out, man,” Robinson tells PEOPLE exclusively, referring to the yearlong hiatus he took back in 1972 — after scoring big hits alongside his band The Miracles with songs including “Shop Around “, “Tracks of My Tears”, “You Really Got a Hold On Me”, “Tears of a Clown” and “I Second That Emotion”, along with chart toppers for label mates such as The Supremes, The Temptations and Marvin Gaye — to focus on family and his executive role at Motown.

It didn’t stick. He stayed with Motown until 1990, scoring another string of mid-career hits like “Crusin'” and hasn’t strayed from the recording booth or the stage since. “I’m living my impossible childhood dream,” he says. – I do what I love and that is a blessing.

Smokey Robinson, 82, explains why he’ll never retire from music: ‘It’s what I love’

The singer, who is known for being committed to his health and fitness for decades, says that one of the reasons he has remained vital, vibrant and creatively engaged is his all-encompassing love for music.

“I love music, and I’ve always loved it, before I even knew I’d ever have a career,” he muses. “Fortunately for me, I grew up in a home where there was always music. I grew up in a musical home. I had two older sisters and my mom, and they always played music — blues, gospel, jazz, classical, all. I grew up with a lot of music and have always loved it. Music is very, very, very important in my life and in my life. So yeah, man, I’m a music lover!”

Smokey Robinson performs at the Apollo.

Lewis Bent

After a lifetime of extraordinary success and unimaginable experiences, Robinson says the thrill he gets from making music today is “the fact that I’m still doing it…I’m trying to retire and nothing beats that. Nothing gives me the same feeling of being on stage, being with people and having a good time.”

The singer-songwriter credits his long-time avoidance of a fast-paced, hard-partying lifestyle as fueling his longevity and allowing him to soak up the joy of performing. “When you’re in show business, people think that’s all you do: you’re in show business and your party and that’s it, and that’s your whole life of partying. There would always be someone coming backstage when I was doing it after the show and say, ‘OK, Smokey, where’s the party now?’ I would tell them, ‘I’m alone had Fun! I had a party that lasted two hours. That was fun for me. I was having a great time, so I just had a party. Now I go back to the hotel room, watch TV and fall asleep.”

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He is especially looking forward to returning to the Apollo stage and enjoying the legacy the theater has built over nearly a century of highlighting prominent black performers.

“Apollo is very, very, very precious to me,” he says. “The Apollo is the granddaddy of black music. Ella Fitzgerald won a talent show at the Apollo — that’s how she became popular. For eons they played all the black artists — people who were born before my mother! The Apollo is famous for that. The Apollo is the place… It’s a traditional place for black music. I’ve been a springboard for a lot of black artists, and because of that I think it’s a wonderful place for me.”

Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.

courtesy of the Apollo Foundation

“Also, it’s the first professional date I played with The Miracles,” he recalls. “We were at a Ray Charles show at the Apollo Theater… In the lobby there, there’s a mural on the wall of all these black artists from back in the day to today. So when we first walked in there, I said to The Miracles, ‘God, I hope we will be on that wall one day.’ We finally built a wall!”

“It’s sentimental for me, and they’re about to close it now for three, four years, so I want to play it before they do that, and I’d always go back and play the Apollo… It’s a special place for me, and there is no such place.”

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Robinson says audiences won’t just hear him perform his long list of indelible classics; there will also be plenty of fresh music from his latest studio album, in which he’s added a spicier, sexier flavor to his signature line that has raised eyebrows among some longtime fans.

“I just got the album that just came out about fourteen months ago Gasms — yes, I said Gasms!” he laughs. “It’s out now and doing well, and we play music from it at our live shows. At the same time we were working on it, we were working on one in Spanish. I have two more songs to finish for that.”

Smokey Robinson performs at the Apollo.

Lewis Bent

“I’m always working on music, man,” he says of his tireless creative work ethic. “I do it all the time.”

“There are two days that are profound in my life: the day I met Berry Gordy and the day he started Motown,” Robinson reflects. “I’ve had a wonderful, wonderful life, man, and so many wonderful events and things that have happened. There’s been a lot of negative, but the positive outweighs the negative as far as I’m concerned.”

Tickets for Smokey Robinson’s night at the Apollo are available here.

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Source: HIS Education