Smokey Robinson “could not possibly have experienced everything” he has written about in music.
The 84-year-old musician has penned famous tracks such as ‘My Girl’ and ‘Baby That’s Backatcha’ but when pressed on whether his 1975 song ‘The Agony and the Ecstasy’ was about the affair he was having with Diana Ross at the time, he simply called the ‘Chain Reaction legend a “babe” and thought that it was a “good situation” to write about.
He told The Times: “As a songwriter, I could not possibly have experienced everything I’ve written about, and that song seemed like a good idea because so many people were in that situation.
“I’ve known Diana Ross since she was eight years old, man! She’s precious to me. She’s my longest living friend. Oh yeah, she’s my babe.”
Smokey had been married to Claudette Robinson for more than a decade when he started up the year-long affair in the mid-1970s, but they did not divorce until 1986.
Meanwhile, Smokey – who has Berry , 55 and Tamla, 53, with Claudette but then went on to have Trey, 39, as a result of another affair, and is now married to Frances Gladney – insisted that he still leads a “pretty normal life” despite his decades of success and doesn’t understand when he sees “people tripping” amid fame.
He said: “I lead a pretty normal life. I’m married to a wonderful woman. I drive my own car. I don’t need a chauffeur or anyone else going everywhere I go. I’m in showbusiness, so people recognise me, but I don’t mind it because that’s a part of the life and when I see people tripping on fame, man, that’s so stupid!”