The legendary Smokey Robinson sits down for an interview to preview his new duets album.
Iconic Motown musical legend Smokey Robinson has teamed up producer Randy Jackson and some of the biggest names in music, including Elton John, James Taylor just to name a few, to create a hotly-anticipated new duets album called Smokey & Friends.
Smokey came to ET first to announce the upcoming release of Smokey & Friends and Brooke Anderson recently sat down with him and Randy Jackson to discuss their collaboration, the creation of the album, and what the legendary singer sets out to accomplish whenever he writes music.
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"When I sit down to write a song, that's exactly what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to write a song. I want to write a song that, if I had written it 50 years before then, it would have meant something to the people," said Robinson, explaining his writing process. "It's going to mean something to people now, and 50 years from now, it's going to mean something. So that's my goal as a songwriter."
As for their collaboration, Jackson says he's always wanted to work with Robinson since he started his career in music.
"I've known Smokey for a while, I met him years ago and loved him all my life," said Jackson. "When I got a call about working with Smokey, I was like, 'Yo. Let's go. When we going? We starting now? Tonight? When?'"
Robinson explained that Smokey & Friends will be a series of duets with huge artists who chose which of his song's they wanted to perform with him, and he just rolled with whatever they chose.
Check out the video for more from Robinson and Jackson about their time working together, and why so many artists were excited to perform on the album.
Smokey & Friends is due to be released in September on Verve Records.